Under the headline:

Obama, Ma, Where's My Pa.? Staying in the White House, Ha Ha Ha

James Taranto goofs on Obama's distancing himself from Specter

Sen. Arlen Specter (R2D2, Pa.), facing a tough primary challenge today, is getting a little help from President Obama--and we do mean a little help, as Politico reports:

The 80-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat will have to settle for Obama's image on a campaign ad proclaiming "I love Arlen Specter"--and a weekend conference call the president held with black Pennsylvania clergy.

This raises an interesting epistemological question: When Obama says, "I love Arlen Specter," is he lying? Or is this like the parody ad that Chief Justice William Rehnquist described in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988): "That speech could not reasonably have been interpreted as stating actual facts about the public figure involved"?

Politico reports that Specter wants a presidential visit but has been "deemed too shaky to risk Obama's direct involvement":

"It's hard to see how he pulls this thing out," said one top Obama aide of Specter, by way of explaining why Obama would not be in the Keystone State before Specter's Tuesday Democratic primary showdown with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.). "Public and private tracking [polls] are all running away from him."

Would an Obama visit help Specter? Gov. Jon Corzine, Gov. Creigh Deeds and Sen. Martha Coakley would probably say yes, if they existed. Of course, given the president's track record as a campaigner for Democrats, Obama will end up looking even worse if Specter manages to pull off a victory after Obama stayed away.

Maybe this is Obama's way making good on his offer of a job to Joe Sestak. Turns out to be Arlen's.