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Actually, it is not the politics of winning or losing Kansas, it’s the principle of the situation, if Boeing was trying to rip off the US Govt and by extension the US Taxpayer, then they should have lost the contract.

If the pentagon told Boeing they needed a plane that could do “x” then changed that to a plane that could do “y”, then the deal should be scrubbed.

Another tidbit from a Euro paper..

Nor do EADS’ woes end there. Northrop Grumman, EADS’ bidding partner for a U.S. Air Force contract potentially worth as much as $100 million, has thrown its toys out of the pram too. Northrop is threatening to pull out of the bid altogether unless the Air Force alters the terms of the bid, which it argues is biased toward Boeing, because the contract looks at cost simply in terms of initial outlay, not ongoing operation. Ironically, Boeing was originally awarded the contract, way back in 2001, but it was retracted after a procurement scandal.

"If the pentagon told Boeing they needed a plane that could do “x” then changed that to a plane that could do “y”, then the deal should be scrubbed."

Things changed already June last year according to Aviation International News (AIN).

Boeing vice president and general manager for global mobility systems Ron Marcotte wasn’t impressed by size, however. “In the final request for proposals, it became clear that the Air Force wants an agile, medium-size tanker,” he said. “It’s all about the number of booms in the sky,” he added.
(http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/tanker-competition-a-real-dogfight)

Maybe the Air Force thinks also it's all about the booms but not about the sole number in the sky.

Crude example: small plane B can stay 1 hour at the theater; plane A more than 2 hours. Plane A is 20 % more expensive. With the same amount of money you may have more booms but not more there you need them.

From the end of that article:

Boeing displayed a KC-767 here two years ago and had a head start with orders for four each from Italy and Japan. But development ran into aerodynamic problems with the wing-mounted refueling pods and the digital fuel-transfer system. Deliveries of KC-767s to both countries are seriously behind schedule, though Boeing said that fixes are in hand and about to be flight-tested.