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Posts published in “Day: September 6, 2007”

Craig watch: Day 11/?

The perils of second-guessing what any individual may do: This morning's take from D.C. runs, "Sen. Larry Craig has all but dropped any notion of trying to complete his term, and is focused on helping Idaho send a new senator to Washington within a few weeks, his top spokesman said Thursday."

Maybe so. We'll just watch and see. Would you really want to bet on what happens next?

LATER IN THE DAY A few more odds and ends of note, as we watch all this play out.

bullet 2nd District Representative Mike Simpson, who also today took himself out of the running for a Senate appointment (or was he already out by then? We may never know) had a pungent but totally pertinent remark about the way Craig has been thrown overboard by his Senate caucus leadership. Speaking to The Hill, he said, “I hope I never stub my toe and they throw me under the bus. It kind of makes you wonder what party you want to be a member of . . . If that’s how they treat their own, that tells me they’re more interested in party than individuals, and the party is made up of individuals. How you treat them says a lot about your party . . . They have people over there [in the Senate Republican Conference] in far worse trouble that they haven’t said a thing about.” Simpson, we should note, always has been about as loyal a Republican as you could find; does this fit into a sense that he may be better off where he is?

bullet From that same Hill article: "Reflecting the scandal’s unpredictable nature, however, one member of Craig’s legal team said he believes Craig should stay in office 'for as long as it takes in Minnesota.'” See also this, from Politico: "'My view would be if something is proceeding on a good-faith basis, don't quit until it gets resolved — whether it takes 15 days or 50 days,' said Stanley Brand, a Washington attorney who is part of a high-powered legal team assembled by Craig. 'Come Sept. 30, if you don't have a resolution, wait for one. If the ethics committee wants to open a Pandora's box, bring it on.'"

bullet Today's consensus take is much like that on, oh, Sunday, that Craig will in fact be leaving the Senate at the end of the month. There are alternative views. Here's one we received from someone in Idaho who knows Craig fairly well: That Craig will "say he 'can’t' leave office – that the arrest was 'unconstitutional' and that he has a duty to keep serving (at least though Jan 09 – and most likely w/o a re-election need). It “deletes” the smudge on his record (at least in his mind) and would free him to stay there…retiring unsullied. Odd as it may seem, I’m leaning toward the possibility of this happening."

bullet Finally, in the unexpected consequences department, there's the case of the Craig daughter who, it turns out, had an Ada County bench warrant out: A point exposed when she went on national television in defense of the senator. All of this comes by way of the superlative Boise blog Boise Guardian.