[Vision2020] Craig's Support in Idaho Appears To Be Eroding

[Tom Hansen]

Watch how GOP leaders are coming down hard on Craig:
http://tinyurl.com/37bnyy

>From CNN.com at:

http://tinyurl.com/394vt2

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Craig's support in Idaho appears to be eroding

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Larry Craig is under increasing pressure to resign,
with support in his home state of Idaho apparently eroding in the wake of
his arrest in an airport men's room and subsequent guilty plea.

The Idaho Statesman newspaper on Thursday added its voice to those calling
for the Republican's resignation. 

Meanwhile, a SurveyUSA poll shows that 55 percent of Idaho respondents think
Craig should step down. The poll of 475 registered Idaho voters was
conducted Tuesday. 

Thirty-four percent of the 475 respondents said Craig should remain in
office.

The poll also found that Idaho residents' rating of Craig's job approval had
plummeted from 60 percent in November to 34 percent today. 

The Idaho Statesman -- a newspaper the senator has accused of conducting a
"witch hunt" -- was frank in calling for his resignation.

"We cannot abide an elected official who didn't disclose a lewd conduct
arrest until the story broke 77 days later -- a lie by omission and a
violation of the public trust," the Statesman said in an editorial published
in Thursday's editions. "We cannot afford ... to have a senator who merely
provides fodder for bloggers and late-night talk show hosts."

In its editorial, the Boise newspaper pointed out that it had endorsed Craig
for re-election in 2002. But in recent months, it had been investigating
allegations that Craig had made sexual advances to men.

Craig also has come under harsh criticism from party colleagues, with two
Republican senators and a leading GOP congressman calling on him to leave
office.

Sen. John McCain, a GOP presidential candidate, called Craig's case
"disgraceful."

"My opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime, then you shouldn't
serve," McCain, of Arizona, told CNN. "And that's not a moral stand, that's
not a 'holier-than-thou,' it's just a factual situation."

Another Republican senator, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, said Craig pleaded
guilty to "a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator."

And Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence
Committee, said Craig should give up his Senate seat.

"The voters of Idaho elected Senator Craig to represent their state, and
will decide his future in 2008 should he fail to resign," the Michigan
congressman said in a statement issued by his office. "However, he also
represents the Republican Party, and I believe that he should step down, as
his conduct throughout this matter has been inappropriate for a U.S.
senator."

On Thursday, former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee said Craig's actions, if
true, are "despicable." Frist, a Republican, is a former Senate majority
leader.

Craig has agreed to give up his leadership posts on Senate committees
temporarily, Republican Senate leaders announced Wednesday.

Craig is the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
and on two key subcommittees -- the Appropriations Committee's panel
overseeing the Interior Department and the Energy and National Resources
subcommittee on public lands.

"This is not a decision we take lightly, but we believe this is in the best
interest of the Senate until this situation is resolved by the Ethics
Committee," the Senate's GOP leaders said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Earlier this week, news surfaced of Craig's August 8 guilty plea to a
misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from his June arrest in a
men's room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The married,
62-year-old senator pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after being picked
up during a police sting targeting "lewd behavior" in the airport's
restrooms.

Craig told reporters Tuesday that he did not take part in any "inappropriate
conduct" and said he had "overreacted and made a poor decision" in pleading
guilty. No sexual contact is alleged to have taken place, although the
officer who arrested the senator said Craig moved his foot to touch the
officer's foot while they sat in adjoining restroom stalls.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, for whose presidential campaign Craig
was a Senate liaison, told CNBC on Tuesday that Craig "has disappointed the
American people."

Craig has stepped down from his role in the Romney camp -- the third
official from a leading GOP campaign to be ensnared in a sex scandal this
summer.

McCain's campaign co-chairman in Florida, state Rep. Bob Allen, was arrested
in July on charges he offered an undercover police officer money for a sex
act. Allen called the arrest "a very big misunderstanding."

The same month, Craig's Senate colleague, Louisiana's David Vitter, admitted
to having patronized a Washington escort service run by accused "D.C. Madam"
Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Vitter served as the southern regional chairman of
former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has run well behind those rivals,
told Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson's cable network CBN that the
spate of scandals "very much concerns me."

"Frankly, Americans will forgive us for being sinners. They won't forgive us
for being hypocrites," said Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister.

Craig -- a three-term senator who has aligned himself with conservative
groups that oppose gay rights -- appeared Tuesday with his wife, Suzanne, to
deny he is gay. 

The White House also has voiced its displeasure over the scandal.

"We're disappointed in what's going on," Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel told
reporters. But Stanzel said the issue was "a matter for the senator and the
Senate Republican leadership to address."

He added: "We hope that it will be resolved quickly, as that would be in the
best interests of the Senate and the people of Idaho."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in
chat-room forums are neither brave nor clever."

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21, 2007)