Larry Craig Reconsiders Resignation, GOP Aide: "He's Lost Grip With Reality"

Posted by Pam Spaulding at 5:58 AM on September 5, 2007.

This post, written by Pam Spaulding, originally appeared on Pam's House Blend

UPDATE: Larry Craig leaves a message about his resignation retraction on the wrong voicemail. Listen to the message here.

Hooboy, does he really want to be investigated? Mitch McConnell, who threatened to investigate Craig, may have to pull the trigger anyway. What will he say now?

Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.

"It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign," said Sidney Smith, Craig's spokesman in Idaho's capital.

"We're still preparing as if Sen. Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight -- and stay in the Senate."

As I said earlier, the GOP is now forced to make a choice -- defend its witch hunt as conditional upon whether someone is convicted of (or pleads guilty to) a tawdry misdemeanor, or affirm that same-sex behavior is fine as long as you don't get caught.

UPDATE: GOP aide says Craig decision to reconsider resignation 'defies reality'

This post, written by Adam Doster, originally appeared on Raw Story

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) apparently didn't call his colleagues in the Senate before expressing his intent to change his mind on resigning his seat.

GOP leaders are shocked; one Senate aide told Politico Craig's announcement "defies reality."

Craig is "losing any goodwill built up among his colleagues," a senior Republican strategist told the Capitol Hill website. "He is simply a fish out of water, floundering right now to get his last gasp of political air."

"It simply defies reality," declared a Senate GOP aide. "You can't make this up even if you are heavily medicated. The American people heard from Larry Craig that he would resign, and using the word 'intent' as a back door doesn't work with them."

UPDATE II: Craig says he will resign if he can’t reverse plea

Republican's lawyers ask Senate panel to dismiss ethics complaint

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Updated: 1 hour, 25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. Larry Craig sought the dismissal of a Senate ethics committee complaint on Wednesday and relayed word that he will resign his seat only if he fails to withdraw a guilty plea stemming from an airport men’s room sex sting by Sept. 30.

“He said he is going to try and get the case in Minnesota dismissed,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, telling reporters he had heard from the Idaho lawmaker earlier in the day.

McConnell spoke several hours after Craig’s lawyers appealed to the ethics committee to dismiss the complaint against him, saying it stemmed merely from personal conduct, and did not relate to his official duties.

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

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.