May As Well Get Used To It

There's not a danged thing the Senate Republicans can safely do, under the circumstances, regarding Larry Craig's decision to stay:

The Idaho Republican's decision gives his GOP colleagues two unpleasant choices. They can resume pressuring him to leave, and risk being seen as disloyal politicians who go harder on alleged homosexual misdeeds than on heterosexual wrongdoings.

Or they can basically ignore him for months, and endure more TV comics' taunts about a conservative senator convicted in a case involving public bathroom stalls.

Judging from comments in the first hours after Craig's announcement, Republican senators were unsure exactly where to land. Outright confrontation with Craig, however, seems unlikely.

Craig's lawyer Stanley Brand said the Senate traditionally has shied away from disciplining members for misdemeanors unrelated to their duties and might be unwise to cross that line now.

"Are they going to begin to take up misdemeanor cases as a matter of course?" Brand said Friday on NBC's "Today" show. "That's going to put a lot of other people in serious jeopardy down the road."

Five weeks ago, Craig announced his intent to resign Sept. 30 if he could not have his guilty plea rescinded. But Craig, who bridled at colleagues' not-so-subtle hints to leave, reneged on the deal Thursday.

..."Senator Craig gave us his word" that he would resign by Sept. 30 if he could not overturn the guilty plea, said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who chairs the GOP campaign committee overseeing next year's Senate elections. "I wish he would stick to his word."

"It's embarrassing for the Senate, it's embarrassing for his party," Ensign said. Asked if Craig's staying would be a distraction for the party, Ensign said: "It may be a personal distraction for me."

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who faces a tough re-election campaign next year in a state where opposition to the Iraq war is strong, spoke with reporters Thursday before Craig announced his plans to stay and fight.

"I would hope that he would live up to what he said he would do _ not put the Senate through the wringer on this, respect the institution," Coleman said. "Clearly, his ability to serve his people was severely compromised."

The White House stayed out of the controversy Friday. "We think this is a decision between Senator Craig, his constituents, his colleagues in the Senate," deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.

Some Republicans feel that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., went too far in late August when he called Craig's actions that led to his arrest "unforgivable."

Commentators and activist groups contrasted the reaction to the welcome that GOP leaders gave Sen. David Vitter, R-La., after he apologized for his phone number turning up in a list of clients for an alleged call-girl operation.