He’s just trying to make points with Obama and the Progressives. he will go no place—he will be tarnished by it. He’s hoping the voters will have a short memory—I think he’s betting on the wrong horse this time.
Good ol' Joe has delusions of grandeur since he made it to Washington. Word in the West Virginia press is that he sees himself as the next Bill Clinton, a "moderate" folksy former Governor from a rural state, and is trying to position himself for the VP spot or perhaps even a presidential run in 2016. Unfortunately, (for Joe) he needs to move left to have any chance nationally as a Democrat, he has way to much conservative baggage right now, an A rating from the NRA (or at least he did), pro-life and anti-gay marriage. (expect a lot of "evolving" on those issues in the near future.)