I found it singularly amusing watching the big talking heads on CNN and MSNBC last night offering their positively correct analysis of why Arlen Specter went down in defeat to Joe Sestak. I was amazed that each and everyone of them blamed President Obama for not rushing into Pennsylvania in the last few days to fire up the base to vote for Arlen. They made much out of Obama's flying over PA on the way to Ohio like it was Bush peering down at the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. So aloof, aloft, and unconcerned. But I never bought the party line that the Democrats welcomed Specter eagerly and with open arms. It was raw politics that motivated them, not any love for old Arlen.
It was hilarious too to watch Andrea Mitchell who is always almost either wrong or incoherent claim that Joe Biden and Harry Reid had actively wooed Arlen to switch sides. Upon hearing this Chuck Todd immediately corrected the record (and smacked down Andrea at the same time) by correctly stating that it was Specter himself who sought to join the Dems. It was a marriage of convenience. Specter knowing that he would surely be defeated if he ran as a Republican saw the move as insuring his reelection. Obama and the Dems saw it as a chance to secure the Holy Grail known as the 60th vote in the Senate. And to sweeten the come-on, they swore that they would back Specter 110% in his reelection bid and would ward off any and all challenges in the primaries.
Then Joe Sestak happened. The former admiral and newly elected representative saw an opening and he ran with it. Initially, the Democratic leaders hooted and hollered at him that he would never get their backing and they would make his run difficult, etc, etc. But I think that that was pretty much window-dressing. When they put their hearts and backs into it, they can deflect any and all challenges to their chosen candidate like they've done with Kirsten Gillibrand in New York. In their heart of hearts they loathed Specter but would string him along for the sake of expediency. And when they saw that Sestak was in a position to topple Specter, Obama and company decided to tiptoe quietly out the door.
All the pundits this morning with their powerful x-ray vision are seeing inside the White House which is embarrassed by the backing of a dead horse. I think their actually happy as clams.
Update: Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
WASHINGTON — Voters rejected one of President Barack Obama's hand-picked candidates and forced another into a runoff, the latest sign that his political capital is slipping beneath a wave of anti-establishment anger.
Sen. Arlen Specter became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high-profile race despite the president's active involvement, raising doubts about Obama's ability to help fellow Democrats in this November's elections.