Recent allegations that the White House tried to persuade Joe Sestak to abandon his Senate aspirations rely on two things that make no sense; that someone at the WH thought this was a good idea, that someone thought it would work.
The brouhaha about Joe Sestak and what job offer he did or did not get is beyond ridiculous. There is a lot of criticism people like to throw at Barack Obama. Some is justified and some is just crazy but one thing people do not call him is stupid. To engage in the same quid pro quo deal making that will probably send Rod Blagojevich to jail would be stupidity raised to the nth degree.
The story, however, fits perfectly in with Mr. Sestak’s preferred narrative. That he is the ultimate Washington outsider. He is so committed to his ideals and beliefs that he upsets everyone, even his own party. He has even upset the White House! Dang, if he is willing to take on such important forces, he will do wonders for his constituents!
Except that while his story makes sense in his narrative, it lacks credibility when put in the context of reality. One Senate seat is not worth the law breaking that Mr. Sestak alleges, nor would anyone who has ever met Mr. Sestak even think for a millisecond that this would be a good way to keep him from doing anything he had his mind set to do. Don’t take my word for it. Find the footage, I am sure it’s on YouTube, of him responding to Arlen Specter’s party switch announcement. You can see the anger radiating off him like heat off pavement. Really. It’s some of the most entertaining television ever. That’s my catty example but seriously, he is a very determined man.
I think the White House did talk to Sestak and my experience in politics has them saying something like this:
“Look Joe, we want you to know that we get why you supported Hillary in 2008. We understand your reasons and don’t hold it against you. Hell, we don’t even hold her campaign against her. We even made her Secretary of State. So, if you think that your only way to advance your career is by running for the Senate, well, that’s just not true. A lot of positions will open up and you are a very qualified candidate for all of them so we just wanted you to know that we see that.”
To be fair to Mr. Sestak, I don’t think he got up one morning and decided to accuse the White House of illegality either. I think his stance on this issue evolved over some time. It is true that when he ran for the House, the Democratic Party tried to get him to stop. They did the same thing when he continued his Senate bid after the Specter switch. I suspect, and believe a review of his campaign speeches would bear this out but am too lazy to read them all; he started with a more moderate statement. First it was "the Party does not want me to do this” – this became “the White House does not want me to do this” and eventually it was “The White House told me that if I do not run for the Senate, Joe Biden would resign and I would be appointed VP.” Ok, that last part is an exaggeration but the idea is no less absurd than what is being bandied about these days.