No, it is the Left who is playing this for all it is worth, giddy with the delight that the "true and principled" would come from their lairs and rip up the non ideal. They aren't defending her, they are playing to the go,Pat, go crowd and doing a damn fine job of it, playing the "true and principled" likea fiddle.
I agree. You are right. The answer is not to put yourself in this position in the first place. Bush's instinct for strategery failed him this time.