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| Idaho: Sen. Larry Craig answers questions in an interview at his home in May. On Tuesday a government watchdog group filed
an ethics complaint regarding Craig's guilty plea to charges of lewd conduct. Kerry Maloney/Idaho Statesman/AP |
GOP reacts quickly to latest scandal
Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho pleaded guilty in June to lewd conduct in a restroom.
from the August 31, 2007 edition
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The Craig story follows last month's admission by Sen. David Vitter (R) of Louisiana that his name was in a D.C. madam's "little black book," and his apology for "a very serious sin in my past." Senator Vitter, like Craig, is married with children and supports a socially conservative agenda. But Vitter is not up for reelection next year and stands a chance of surviving politically. Craig is up for reelection, and if he does not resign or retire, the GOP would likely lose his seat, analysts say. A SurveyUSA automated poll of Idaho adults taken Tuesday found a 34 percent job approval rating for Craig. Of the 89 percent familiar with the news on Craig, 55 percent think he should resign.
News of Craig's troubles hit the GOP like a kick in the gut. But at least there's time for the party to recover before the next election, political experts say.
"It's a long way till November '08," says Carroll Doherty, editor of the Pew Research Center. "But at a time when the GOP's facing a lot of disadvantages already – enthusiasm, money, political values, party ID – it sure doesn't help."
A Pew report looking at voter attitudes over the past 20 years finds that opposition to the social safety net and support for traditional social values have steadily declined since 1994. Perhaps most alarming for Republicans is voters' shift away from identifying with the GOP. Pew found that 50 percent of voters are either Democrats or lean Democratic, versus 35 percent who are Republicans.
Republicans are quick to point out that Democrats have their own ethics issues in the form of Rep. William Jefferson (D) of Louisiana (under indictment for corruption) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D) of West Virginia (whose finances have faced scrutiny). Further, they say, while Republicans typically resign when they get in trouble, Democrats get reelected, as both Representative Jefferson and Representative Mollohan were last fall.
Have the Republicans set themselves up for harsh judgment and charges of hypocrisy by portraying themselves as the party of "family values"? Gary Bauer, a social conservative activist and one-time presidential candidate, thinks not.
"If my choice is between being governed by hypocrites and being governed by people who will be very consistent in what they put through – same-sex marriage, condoms, and birth control pills in the schools, etc., etc. – that would be a horrible choice, but I'd still go with politicians who are willing to vote for the correct things," he says, after saying he thinks Craig should resign.
"I don't think that's our choice, though. I think that the majority of office-holders in Congress are decent men and women who don't have secret lives and that the big thing that distinguishes them is not what they do or don't do in bathrooms, but whether or not they're willing to defend Judeo-Christian values."
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