September 06, 2007
Winning Back GOP Was Losing Battle For Craig
The Gate doesn't care if Larry Craig is in the closet. But last we checked, being closeted isn't grounds for stripping a senator of his committee assignments or forcing his resignation.
It's become clear that while the Republican leadership may have overreacted -- as Sens. Arlen Specter, Ted Stevens, Jim Bunning and Mike Enzi believe -- there is little desire to reach out to the 27-year congressman. The GOP would pack and ship Craig's belongings back to Idaho themselves if they could, and the threat of total isolation may have compelled Craig to agree yesterday that he would stick by his Sept. 30 resignation date if his legal battle isn't resolved by then.
Spokesman Dan Whiting basically stated the obvious to AP today, that legal cases like the one Craig's about to pursue tend to be lengthy affairs. The cable networks jumped all over Whiting's comments as if they were breaking news, but the prospect that a judge or jury won't decide Craig's legal petition by the end of the month isn't necessarily an admission of guilt. He remains determined to battle a Senate Ethics Committee probe, and his attorneys will challenge his misdemeanor plea before a Minnesota court.
Tellingly, not one of Craig's 50 (give or take) staffers has resigned, even as their boss' name becomes a national punchline. "People are sticking around through this," Whiting told The Gate. "They believe in Larry Craig. He's a great guy to work for."
Part of the reason, of course, is that Idaho's senior senator will be replaced by a fellow Republican who may opt to retain some of the experienced Hill staffers in Craig's office. That doesn't mitigate the pressure-cooker aspect of political scandal, though. Whiting, who's been busy fielding media calls, said he hadn't had time yet to mull his plans for the future.
As for Craig's legal case, which we laid out yesterday, attorneys are in the beginning stages of preparing a petition. Defendants seek to have pleas vacated all the time and rarely win. The publicity Craig's case has received, however, on top of the legal criticisms of his plea, may compel a judge to hear the senator out. "In high-profile cases like this, everything sort of works differently. The usual rules get thrown out the window," said Ted Sampsell-Jones of the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.
Craig's back-and-forth on his resignation created complications for Senate Republicans as well as Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, who will pick his successor. In that sense, setting a deadline for himself is prudent. In the meantime, he has a strong case before the Ethics Committee because, once again, there is no proof that Craig engaged in gay sex acts and a simple disorderly conduct misdemeanor is relatively trivial. (To wit: California Rep. Bob Filner, who faces a court date after he allegedly assaulted an airline employee.)
And once the adolescent twitterings over toe-tapping and nasty, bad, naughty boys dies down, the Beltway may take a second look at Craig's plight. J. Jennings Moss, the journalist whose reporting led to Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe's coming out, says he believes Craig is closeted, but applauds the senator's decision to fight the disorderly conduct charge.
"It was shitty for the GOP conference to push him out the door when it slapped [David] Vitter on the back and asked him which hooker was his favorite," said Moss. But hypocrisy isn't the only issue, Moss continued. "If a cop found Craig actually having sex, that would be one thing. But Craig didn't even expose himself and he didn't force himself on anyone. In his own toe-tapping way, he was asking for a date. And that shouldn't be illegal."
For now, Craig won't be showing his face on the Hill until things cool down a little. The senator may make his return as late as the 17th, owing to next week's abbreviated work week. "All things considered, he's actually doing pretty well," Whiting said.
Posted at 4:49 PM
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Congress, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Senate
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