Some thoughts from Larry Sabato to National Review Online:
The one comment on the New York Times site is pretty funny: “So Bill Clinton was the Luca Brasi of this situation…”
The key word is “unpaid.” That almost certainly gets them off the hook legally and defuses much of the controversy.
I must say, I’ve had a hard time mustering any moral outrage about this one. Presidents and their aides do this kind of thing all the time. It’s one of the great advantages of White House incumbency. In trying to get the ballot line-ups you prefer, you actually have bargaining chips in the form of appointments, both paid and unpaid jobs.
The critics in this case sound a lot like a certain police prefect in Casablanca who is “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on” in Rick’s café.
I suppose Pat Toomey can try to use it, but Sestak said no to the offer.
I think this just goes away.
Now we know one of the subjects Obama and Clinton discussed at lunch this week.