The Craig Story, Day Two

Keeping the blog light this week may prove difficult, alas, but one can try.

The developments as of midnight:

Item -- Sen. Larry Craig steps down as an honorary co-chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Craig volunteered to relinquish the title so as not to distract the presidential campaign.

Item -- It's August; Craig's arrest will indeed distract the presidential campaign through Labor Day. Look for every candidate to be asked about Craig today and virtually every candidate to decline to say anything.

Item -- The pressure on Craig to retire at the end of his term increases.

Item -- The Outer -- Mike Rogers -- told you so. He will almost certainly appear on television today.

Item -- Craig can compartmentalize.

"On Aug. 8, the day he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the Minnesota court, Craig appeared via satellite at a ceremony that took place in Idaho in which former Idaho federal Judge Randy Smith was invested into his new position as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."

Item -- Questions, actually. Who gave Roll Call the story? Surely the publication does not randomly make beat calls to Hennepin Co. court clerks.... why did the story come out on a Monday? Why didn't any local Minneapolis/St. Paul police reporter get wind of the arrest of the a U.S. senator?

Comments

"Craig volunteered to relinquish the title so as not to distract the presidential campaign."

Um, sure. Like there was a chance he would have been kept on if he hadn't been so unselfish.

From Craig's statement: "I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

I don't think that was the only thing he was trying to handle.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | August 28, 2007 12:11 AM

Actually, Andrew Sullivan is on vacation, so it's not his take, but mine. (Just saying this because I have no idea what he thinks about this, and in particular no reason to think that he'd share my take.)

Posted by hilzoy | August 28, 2007 1:07 AM

There is a dairy on the front page of DailyKos you may have seen that suggests the leak to Roll Call may have to do with the long-anticipated and extremly researched investigation of the gay rumors concerning Larry Craig by a local columnist. The story had been whispered about for months but has been stalled by the Idaho Statesman for so long someone may have thought it necessary to use another outlet to let the word out.

Posted by nhuixnhuix | August 28, 2007 1:45 AM

Isn't it morally binding for a GOP senator resign right away? Can you imagine a US senator who discriminates against gays and who thinks that gays are dangerous to marraige, is crusing public restroom for sex? Why doesn't Romney demand Craig's resignation? or this behavior is ok with Romney?

Mark Folley, Bob Allen, Davide Vitter, Larry Craig, the GOP's list of hall of fame goes on.

Posted by Roger | August 28, 2007 8:09 AM

Larry Craig, a married GOP senator, who was trying for sexual encounter with another man in a public loo, is a big supporter of Romney.

Bob Allen, the Florida GOP rep who offered $20 to an undercover cop for oral sex, was the co-chair of McCain campaign.

Ravnel, the guy who was busted for cocaine distribution, was the chairman of Guiliani's South Carolina campaign.

The GOP should be proud of their Family Values candidates and Family Values legislators.

Remember neither Romney nor Guiliani nor McCain condemned their actions. No wonder they support it because they are strong leaders an believe in family values.

Posted by Mike | August 28, 2007 8:44 AM

I heard he gave the best reach around
on the Hill,
now we know it's true.

i can't stop laughing here
at the Idaho dirt farmer.

have a good day fellas
this is funny, funny stuff!

good luck

W's boy loves the Co-K!

Posted by Steve Real | August 28, 2007 8:53 AM

Why did this story come out on a Monday? Yes, that's the question that needs to be answered. It's all the media's fault. They practically forced a U.S. senator, a Republican U.S. senator, to peer into an occupied men's room stall, to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, and to lie about not having consulted a lawyer. Mark, dude, is that your bias showing?

Posted by Alan Vanneman | August 28, 2007 10:08 AM

Romney tried to deflect the fallout onto Hillary.

He said: “I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we’ll just forgive and forget. And the truth of the matter is, the most important thing we expect from elected–an elected official is a level of dignity and character that we can point to for our kids and our grandkids, and say, `Hey, someday I hope you grow up and you’re someone like that person.’ And we’ve seen disappointment in the White House, we’ve seen it in the Senate, we’ve seen it in Congress. And frankly, it’s disgusting.”

What Romney is transparently attempting it to conflate the legal if stupid behavior by Clinton, and Lewinsky who solicited sex with him ("What do you think of my thong?, Mr. President," she asked as she flashed him.) with the sexual solicitations by Foley of House pages and the solicitations by Craig in a public bathroom.

We should remember that Craig suffered similar allegations to Foley's 25 years ago when he served in the House. Last fall he was accused of soliciting public sex in D.C.'s Union Station.

While all three men were obviously suffering from uncontrollable and unfortunate compulsions, for Romney to deliberately to compare the sexual behavior of behavior of the President with the legislators is simply "disgusting" as he himself puts it.

The behaviors are most decidely not the same. In addition Foley's and Craig's behavior and Vitter's behavior were well known on Capitol Hill, had been published in alternative and smaller newspapers long before they were finally outed in the major media. Romney chose Craig despite those persistent rumors about Craig, just as Giuiliani chose Vitter to front his own campaign in Louisiana.

Their choices of spokespersons and chairpersons should be disturbing to the American public, just as Bush's choices of Chertoff, Eliott Abrams, John Poindexter, etc., etc., should have been. Some of these guys had criminal records. When will these Republicans cease insulting the electorate and then trying to defer blame onto others?

Posted by Frank | August 28, 2007 6:15 PM

He, like many Republicans, is not only gay but a hipocrit as well.

Posted by Tyler Roberts | August 28, 2007 8:22 PM