strange quoted csv behavior with COPY

what would you expect the following command to insert into column a:

copy foo (a,b) from stdin with csv;
"bar"   , 3
\.

i was expecting to see 'bar', but instead i get 'bar   ' (the spaces
between the double quote and the comma get inserted.

select length(a), * from foo;length |   a    | b
--------+--------+---     6 | bar    | 3

is this by design? what is the use of the quote in this context?

i am on 8.0.6.

george