Editorial: Sen. Craig should tender resignation

3 Sep 2007 // Is it about family values or is it about sex?

When a politician gets arrested, it's certainly a time for scrutiny, but get beyond the sex and the he-said/he-said of it all. While there are those who think U.S. Sen. Larry Craig deserves his day in court, he's had it. And he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The question isn't whether he's gay, but rather is he honest with his constituents?

If his integrity is not intact, state GOP leaders need to act quickly and ask Sen. Craig to resign to make way for an appointment that would create an incumbent candidate to be seated before the 2008 election campaign begins.

Those charges stem from a sting operation in a men's restroom in the Minneapolis airport set up to probe complaints of lewd conduct.

Craig maintains he will be making a decision on whether to run in the 2008 elections, and said he will wait until his appointed time to announce whether he would seek re-election.

He has held his stance on family values - again, he declared those sentiments in last week's press conference - he insists that he did nothing wrong, his statements were misconstrued, he lacked proper counsel and attempted to put the incident behind him as quickly as possible. He also laid blame on a newspaper investigation.

If anyone were to stand outside a bathroom stall for two-plus minutes, peering through the crack in the door at someone using the stall, as the police report states in this incident, wouldn't that raise a red flag? And if you are a U.S. senator who feels that a local newspaper is investigating alleged sexual misconduct, wouldn't you shy away from peering through bathroom stall doors? If nothing else, his choice to do that shows poor - if not disturbing - judgment.

Now, as we are going to press on Aug. 30, two Senate Republican colleagues called for Sen. Craig to resign. The White House, too, expressed disappointment in the incident and Craig's action.

U.S. Senators John McCain of Arizona and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the state where Craig was arrested, became the first senators to join Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra in urging Craig's resignation.

Biting comments from his fellow senators resounded on television and across the news wires.

McCain told CNN the decision was Craig's to make, "but my opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime, you shouldn't serve. That's not a moral stand. That's not a holier-than-thou. It's just a factual situation. "

And, then, he flat out said, "I think he should resign. "

Coleman, too, said in a statement to the national press, "Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator. "

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee asking for an examination of the arrest and admission of Republican Sen. Craig to charges of disorderly conduct.

He's been stripped of all Congressional duties until after the investigation.

And both houses go back into session this week weighed down by this latest incident on their minds.

Even local officials, while stalwart in their friendship, are wavering in the decision of their friend, Craig. Many are still looking at the conservative three-term senator and how he has represented Idaho for more than a quarter century.

But even his most ardent supporters have to agree that his integrity and credibility have come into question and have eroded his effectiveness as a leader. He would better serve the Republican Party and the state of Idaho by stepping aside and letting Gov. Otter name a successor.