Larry Craig Resigns, But Won't Go Away Quietly

Posted by Steve Benen at 5:55 AM on September 3, 2007.

This post, written by Steve Benen, originally appeared on The Carpetbagger Report

As political scandals go, Sen. Larry Craig's (R-Idaho) was incredibly efficient. The story broke late Monday; Craig resigned early Saturday. The start-to-finish timeline was almost impressive.

That is, if it is finished.

After his speech yesterday, a CNN correspondent asked Craig if he stood by his claim of innocence. "Absolutely," he said, adding: "We'll be fighting this like hell."

At first blush, this sounded a bit like O.J. vowing to catch the real killer, but Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) indicated yesterday morning he'd actually like to see Craig clear his name, withdraw his guilty plea -- and stay in the Senate.

"I'd like to see Larry Craig go back to court, seek to withdraw his guilty plea and fight the case," Senator Arlen Specter said on 'Fox News Sunday'. Drawing on his earlier experience as District Attorney of Philadelphia, Specter said, "On the evidence Senator Craig wouldn't be convicted of anything. And he's got his life on the line and 27 years in the House and Senate, and I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated."

Specter also said it was not too late for Craig to change the status of his resignation.

"He said he intends to resign. When you have a statement of intent to resign that intent could change," he said. "And if he could change the underlying sense of the case, feel of the case."

"Listen you can go to court and withdraw a guilty plea, of course disorderly conduct is not moral turpitude," Specter said. If he went to trial "he wouldn't be convicted of anything. And if he went to court, was acquitted, all of this hullabaloo would have no basis."

Seriously?

Sure, if we want to get technical about it, Craig did, in fact, say, "[I]t is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30th," which I suppose could suggest Craig has left himself a little wiggle room.

And sure, I don't doubt that Craig's new legal team will do everything possible to get the senator's plea changed and challenge the whole mess in court.

But as a practical, political matter, Specter's vision of a Craig comeback seems more than a little far-fetched. The party turned on him, his constituents are glad to see him go, Idaho's governor is already mulling his replacement, and the political world is ready to move on. Yesterday was a period, not a comma. Craig's done.

If, at some point before Sept. 30, Craig issues another statement saying, "About that resignation..." I suspect it would not be well received.

Tagged as: homophobia, republican hypocrisy, spector, craig, gay republicans

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Crooks & Liars, The American Prospect, and the Guardian.