Larry Craig sure isn’t making this easy on the GOP. I’m sure Republican leadership in Congress wants ol’ Wide Stance out of the public eye as quickly as possible, but with Craig fueling new rumors almost daily that he is reconsidering his resignation (is that allowed?), it looks like this sordid drama might be drawn out for a while.
From what can be deciphered from news reports, it appears Sen. Arlen Specter made a courtesy phone call to Craig after Craig announced his intention to resign, just to tell the disgraced Idaho senator to keep his chin up. Craig interpreted that as meaning he has the support of his colleagues (which he doesn’t). He may hold off on giving up his seat while he seeks to have his conviction overturned.
Now, it’s unclear why Larry Craig wants to undo his guilty plea so he can take this case to court, because a public hearing is only going to put the senator’s conduct, which is already a joke, under harsher light. Everyone familiar with the details of cruising seems to say Craig followed the patterns of a man seeking anonymous gay sex perfectly.
Maybe that’s why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had this to say about the will-resign-won’t-resign rumors: “I think the episode is over. We’ll have a new senator from Idaho at some point in the next month or so, and we’re going to move on.”