Perhaps the third time will be the charm when it comes to President Obama's pick for commerce secretary.
U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) withdrew Thursday as the nominee for the post, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with Obama over his economic-stimulus plan and fear of what many Republicans view as the politicization of the 2010 census.
What a turn of events. Initially, Gregg's nomination was much lauded as an act of bipartisanship after Obama's first pick, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, withdrew because of a pay-to-play probe of a donor who received a no-bid state contract.
But the Gregg choice was undercut almost immediately. On the day of the announcement, a "senior White House official" told Congressional Quarterly that the director of the Census Bureau would no longer report to the commerce secretary, but to the White House. This was later changed to say that the still-unnamed census boss would work "closely with White House senior management."
By then it was still a shot at Gregg's integrity and a threat to the fairness and accuracy of the census.
Every 10 years, the census determines the reapportionment of congressional districts, each state's share of seats in the Electoral College, and the distribution of hundreds of billions in federal aid.
Granted, a lot of politicking is traditionally connected with those decisions. However, politics is usually kept out of the actual data collection.
Perhaps that would still be the case if supervision shifted from Commerce to the White House. But it is hard to imagine that politics would not seep into the process, given that Obama's chief of staff is Rahm Emanuel, a political operative extraordinaire and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when his party took back the House in 2006.
If any White House is going to oversee the census, who would trust the numbers to be free of politics? In addition, why give such a huge responsibility to an administration that has had trouble properly vetting high-profile job applicants?
Turn the tables for a minute, as one Republican congressman did in a press release. "Would Democrats trust Karl Rove to control Census?" he asked. Or Dick Cheney?
You get the picture.
If there are problems with the census, let's fix them. But the changes should not take place inside the White House. Instead, let's debate any recommendations, including one bill that would make the bureau an independent agency, in public. Or use the confirmation hearings for the next Commerce nominee - if anyone will take the job - to discuss how the census will be done in a fair and accurate way.
But before the confirmation hearings begin, the president - and not an afraid-to-be-named "senior White House official" - should make two things clear:
That he will let Census Bureau professionals do their job without political interference, and that he trusts his nominee to oversee that process.