unmistakable what their preferences are. that's a relatively new phenomenon in politics, as you know, joe. it used to be the party committees in washington which are stay out of intraparty challenges. the playbook has changed. they really see the smart strategy as making it clear who the stronger candidate is, what the preference is. that was effective in 2006 and 2008. it cleared the field for some of their candidates. it made them better funded and better organized for the general election. there's risk to it. we're seeing potentially those risks today where the effort to sort of anoint somebody doesn't work and sort of embarrass es washington and then doesn't help the candidates. >> speaking of embarrassments, mika, the republicans got behind him, a lot of people thought it was a smart play a year ago, got behind a contested -- in a contested florida race, one charlie crist. >> oh, right. >> how's that working out for him? >> he's not a republican