[media id=17012] Well, now that the big news about the White House's offer to Joe Sestak has been revealed -- that is, it was simply the usual D.C.
May 28, 2010

Well, now that the big news about the White House's offer to Joe Sestak has been revealed -- that is, it was simply the usual D.C. horsetrading that's been part of American politics since the Founders -- there seem to be a lot of disappointed right-wingers wondering where to take it all next.

Sure, it's a luscious tidbit that Bill Clinton was involved. But unless someone can find some "there" there, this is yet another hyperinflated non-story.

Over at Fox, watching coverage throughout the morning was like listening to the hot air seep out of a hyperinflated balloon -- which is pretty much what the story was anyway. Fox had invested great amounts of breathless rhetoric in blowing the story up the past several days, particularly on Sean Hannity's show.

Wonder how that "Reagan Republican" will explain away the fact that his idol engaged in precisely the same kind of horsetrading?

Ken Rudin at NPR notes:

Meanwhile, Matt Ortega, on Twitter, has unearthed an Associated Press story from 1981. Here's the first paragraph:

Sen. S.I. Hayakawa on Wednesday spurned a Reagan administration suggestion that if he drops out of the crowded Republican Senate primary race in California, President Reagan would find him a job.

Hayakawa, who was seeking a second term at the time, was being urged by GOP officials to withdraw from the 1982 primary, a race that included, among others, Reps. Barry Goldwater Jr. & Bob Dornan, San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson, and First Daughter Maureen Reagan. The last thing the White House wanted was a split-conservative field that would end in the nomination of Rep. Pete McCloskey, a longtime anathema to the Right.

Hayakawa ultimately decided not to run for re-election. Wilson won the primary and was elected in November.

Ah well. No doubt the minds at Fox are working on figuring out their next fake controversy. Maybe, if Glenn Beck has his way, they'll investigate Malia's "improper lobbying" of her father.

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