I think if Craig decides to stay in Senate that would be good for the Democrats. I don’t think the actual actions of what he did are so bad, but his hypocrisy on gay issues makes it very bad for him. It will also provide a great tool out on the campaign trail, as him being in the spotlight also reminds people of Mark Foley and David Vitter.
The real problem of Craig sticking around is for the Republicans. They were quick to hang him out to dry on the issue, so they won’t be able to circle the wagons and protect him next year like they wish. It also keeps the hypocrisy of the Republican party overall in the spotlight. The GOP leadership ignored Mark Foley going after children for years, yet they jumped on Craig for something involving another adult. Zing against the GOP. Numerous Republicans went out defending David Vitter’s problems with an escort service, yet jumped on Craig. Another zing, and one that needs even further explaining.
There is a reason why Vitter’s case is much worse than Craig’s. It is one thing to hide your sexual orientation and try to secretly act upon it. It is another thing to use an escort service for what could be considered blatant adultery. Either way this really harms the family values platform, but I think Vitter’s case puts a bigger ding in it if the case is presented to the people in the right way.
I did notice some interesting reactions on cable news last night. First off, Pat Buchanan seemed intent on making this a Democratic issue. He kept talking about how the Democrats would handle Craig not resigning. The problem is the Democrats have been playing this great all along. They have essentially remained silent on Craig and left the talking points to the GOP. The Democrats need to maintain this silence, no matter how hard Buchanan tries to drag them into the fight.
The other thing I heard that really shocked me was on CNN. Joe Johns was talking about Craig and said “if you listen to the interview tapes he never admitted guilt to the officer”. That would be a great point if this was at trial, but the fact that Craig pleaded guilty means he didn’t have to tell the officer he was guilty.
Over all I find what Craig is doing to be a total mockery of our system of justice. Will Craig go back to the judge and say “I want to pull my verdict out. I wasn’t guilty. Instead I chose to lie to the court to try and save my career”. And what kind of career can a lawmaker, who apparently knows so little about the law, have. Craig’s own actions and statements in this entire fiasco proves he has no understanding of the law and shouldn’t be involved in writing them.
Finally I suspect we will see the GOP leadership playing the polls very closely on this. If Craig looks vulnerable in the next couple of weeks, then they will push to get him removed from Senate. They already stripped him from his committees, which I found odd. They sure didn’t strip Duke Cunningham from his committees even though he was under indictment for crimes which he committed in his committee positions. The GOP could hurt themselves in Idaho by taking this tough stance against Craig if the polls show he has support, yet still drops out. It could even be the kind of hurt that makes Idahoans elect a Democrat just to get back at the GOP.
It is going to be very interesting to watch this, but I must emphasis again the Democrats need to maintain their silence on it. Let the GOP tear itself apart over this then we can swoop in like the heroes.
Thanks Larry (and I mean that!)