CT The Emperor's confidence

I disagree. I believe that Palpatine's interference had a lot to do with it.

 

I don't know. From the way I see it, there was a lot more to Palpatine's seduction of Anakin. Palpatine was a kindly uncle figure to Anakin, and it probably made Anakin feel pretty important to have the Chancellor of the entire galaxy as his uncle-figure. He was constantly stroking Anakin's ego, telling him that he'll be the greatest Jedi ever, while at the same time, the Jedi were trying to keep Anakin's ego in place. In the beginning of ROTS, Palpatine persuades Anakin to act on his anger and kill Dooku, an act that went against the Jedi code, telling him, "You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be left alive," and this murder was another important step for Anakin towards the dark side.

Palpatine put the idea in Anakin's mind that the Jedi were keeping things from him, that they were traitorous, and that they were considering forcefully removing Palpatine from power even though he was democratically elected (and they actually were considering this option). He then asked Anakin to keep an eye on the Jedi for him, and so, when the Jedi asked Anakin to spy on Palpatine, they seemed no better than Palpatine, and the more ways Palpatine can successfully give the appearance that less and less separates the light and the dark sides, the less reason Anakin has not to pick the dark side over the light side.

When Palpatine reveals that he is a Sith, he directly suggests to Anakin that he inform the Jedi that he is a Sith, knowing that they will try to arrest him and that Anakin will see their attempt to arrest him as an act of treason, and since Mace is the top Jedi on Coruscant at the time, that makes Anakin choose between Palpatine, who appears disfigured and is faking weakness, and Mace, who hasn't treated Anakin with much respect from the beginning. Also, Palpatine pushes Mace to the point that he's also willing to break the Jedi code and try to kill Palpatine in cold blood, and when Anakin protests, saying "It's not the Jedi way," Mace responds, "He's too dangerous to be left alive," using the same rationale that Anakin used to justify his killing of Dooku. Dark side impulses got the better of Anakin when he killed Dooku, and since Palpatine's provoking of Mace pushes him to act in the same way that Anakin acted while under the influence of the dark side, this makes even the core beliefs of the light side and the dark side seem equivalent, leaving Anakin with no real reason to stay true to the light side when the dark side might be able to save the life of Padme.

Finally, when Palpatine suggests that Anakin learn about the dark side, he doesn't even say it as if he tries to flip Anakin to the dark side. He basically says, "To be wise, you must know both sides of the Force -- the dark side and the light side." So while Palpatine is really solely trying to turn Anakin to the dark side, he makes it seem like he's going to teach Anakin about another way to look at the Force and let Anakin decide which approach is better.

Sorry for being so wordy, and I certainly agree that protecting Padme was the most important factor for Anakin, but I think there were a lot of subtle nuances to Palpatine's plan beyond saving Padme.

 

Anakin had a healthy-sized, but very fragile ego. He was full of bravado but ultimately crippled by fear. Such people aren't particularly difficult to manipulate and Palpatine did so by telling Anakin exactly what he wanted to hear. You are misunderstood. You are under-appreciated. I understand you. I can make you powerful enough to allay all of your fears. It was like taking candy from a baby.

Luke was a different animal altogether. Although he had some of the same issues as his father, he was not fearful in the same way. He throws his lightsabre down and says kill me, and kill my friends, but you will never own me. The Emperor was aware of Luke's power in the force and his confidence was based on that. His over-confidence came from underestimating his character.