Finding scandal where there isn’t

First, it was revealed that the White House orchestrated a job offer to senate candidate Joe Sestak, in the hope that he would stand down from the Pennsylvania primary. Now, there are reports that White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina encouraged Colorado Democrat Andrew Romanoff to pursue one of three international development jobs, instead of running against senator Michael Bennet for the Democratic seat.

This is apparently a big scandal. Republican Darrell Issa, representative from California (and publicity seeker), said "Just how deep does the Obama White House's effort to invoke Chicago-style politics for the purpose of manipulating elections really go?"

This story boils down to "Leading Democrats try to ensure their favored candidates are nominated." Excuse me, but where's the scandal? There's nothing illegal here. Nor is there anything unethical either. At most, someone might argue that Obama promised a squeaky-clean, "no more politics as usual" regime, and these behind-the-scenes moves prove he's no different than prior politicians. But even that's a big stretch.

What's really going on is another attempt to score party political points via scandal-mongering, rather than by political argument. That's the real politics as usual.