In an ABQJournalopinion piece by Michael Coleman, Sen. Pete Domenici is compared to someone he would rather have no connection to -- Sen. Larry Craig from Idaho.
Craig, as you may know, is the Idaho Republican arrested on June 11 by an airport police officer and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Craig, according to police, used "a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct" while in a men's airport bathroom according to the police report. You can read the full police report here. Craig has since said he would like to rescind his guilty plea.
hidely-ho there neighboreenos, I'm trying to collect instances of infidelity and super-fidelity (is that a real term?) from both parties. By infidelity, I mean republican and democratic instances of cheating, prostitution, gay affairs, etc. etc. for "super-fidelity" I mean instances where the couples stays together despite overwhelming odds, or stays together in the face of tragedy. These should have been within the last ten years, unless that person is an important figure on the scene now.
for the repubs infidelity there is of course:
"Larry-boy" Craig soliciting gay sex
Diaper man Vitter, prostitution
newt Gingrich leaving his wife when she had cancer
Rudy Giuliani three wives
Fred Thompson trophy wife
Mark Foley well, I don't need to get into that HERE do I?
While I'm sure there's super-fidelity with the repubs, I don't know off hand.
democrats infidelity
John Kerry 1 divorce
Bill Clinton Monica-gate
Russ Feingold 2 divorces (I think, it might be 1)
superfidelity
Clinton's staying together (though if for love, or political standing we may never know)
John Edwards loving Elizabeth and standing by her through cancer
That's all I can think of, I'm trying to get a handy chart for when the republicans claim to be the party of family values. Thank you in advance for contributions
While rumors have been around for awhile, it looks like Sen. Larry Craig has been busted:
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
Craig is up for re-election in 2008 and something tells me this isn't gonna play well back home in Idaho. Whether Craig chooses to resign or stick it out, Democrat Larry LaRocco should be able to make a race of it.
Update: In the event that Craig retires early, a quick check of Idaho statutes shows that the replacement process is fairly standard. Republican governor "Butch" Otter has the full authority to appoint someone who would serve through November 2008.
In early February, the Guru offered his first Retirement Watch rundown, and in mid-March there was the first Retirement Watch Update. Allow the Guru to present you with the brand new May Retirement Watch Update.
Key Statistic: Courtesy of Swing State Project, since the 1988 election cycle, mid-term election cycles have seen an average of 4.8 Senate retirements per cycle, while Presidential election cycles have seen an average of 7.7 Senate retirements per cycle. With only Colorado's Wayne Allard officially out, statistical trends suggest that we should see a few more retirement announcements.
About a month and a half ago, the Guru offered you his first Retirement Watch post, looking at any GOP Senators who might be considering retirement over a re-election bid for any number of reasons. Here is the Guru's first update of the Retirement Watch:
UP New Mexico's Pete Domenici: Pajamas Pete was on the RW because of his advanced age (he is turning 75 this May) and questionable mental state. Over the last several weeks, his role in the U.S. Attorney firing scandal has come to light, as well as his subsequent hiring of lawyers as a result. Ethics complaints have been filed against him. It is unclear what ramifications await Domenici, but it does suggest that this previously strong possibility for re-election has undermined his own chances with one very inappropriate phone call. Should he retire (or otherwise not seek re-election), GOP Rep. Heather Wilson would have been the likely front-runner for the GOP nomination to replace him, but she apparently made an inappropriate phone call similar to Domenici's, leaving super-conservative Rep. Steve Pearce as the go-to Republican, a man who is likely too conservative to win statewide in New Mexico. So the NM-GOP's likely choices are a politically damaged Domenici or a too-conservative-for-statewide Steve Pearce. If a prominent Democrat steps up early to challenge Domenici, it may put enough pressure on him to opt for retirement.
UP Idaho's Larry Craig: Since the last RW, voices both liberal and conservative have suggested that Larry Craig is not long for the Senate. Whether the ID-GOP is trying to urge him out or are prepping a primary challenger is unclear, but the rumors are growing.
UP Virginia's John Warner: Before the last RW, J. Warner had publicly gone back-and-forth as to where he was leaning between retirement and a re-election bid. It has appeared that J. Warner would take another term if he didn't have a tough challenge for it. He has even planned a little bit of fundraising. However, former Governor Mark Warner may be more interested in a 2008 Senate bid than previously thought. Also, former Senator George "Macaca" Allen has held a meeting to gauge support for a 2008 Senate bid should J. Warner retire. One wouldn't think that Allen would hold such a meeting unless he had info that the likelihood of a J. Warner retirement was stronger than the 50-50 conventional wisdom.
EVEN Nebraska's Chuck Hagel: Before the last RW post, questions existed as to whether Hagel would run for President, run for Senate re-election, run for both, or retire from politics. Then, Hagel held a big press conference and answered none of those questions. He did say that "he would actively raise money for a Senate re-election bid in 2008." It did come out that Hagel, before he served two terms in the Senate, made it crystal clear that he felt twelve years was enough and that he supported term limits. Does he still support such limits? (Probably not.) However, GOP state attorney general Jon Bruning has already begun putting together an exploratory committee for a Senate bid. Is he just getting a head start in case of a Hagel Senate retirement, or does he enjoy inside info?
EVEN Mississippi's Thad Cochran: Cochran had been publicly undecided on a re-election bid, holding off on a decision until late 2007, as of the last RW. Since then, he has planned some moderately aggressive fundraising, but he has also moved even further back his declared deadline for announcing his 2008 intentions and stated that being in the minority party would make him "less inclined" to run.
DOWN North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole: Her age, health issues, and failure as NRSC Chair had led many to consider her a strong possibility for retirement. Nevertheless, she says she is running for re-election and has begun aggressive fundraising. Also, while polling for her has been pretty weak for her overall, they are polling her as the expected Republican in the race, indicating that the media outlets expect her to run again as well.
We know that the numbers favor Senate Democrats in 2008. 21 GOP vs. 12 Democratic Senators up for re-election gives the GOP a great deal more territory to have to protect. And, as hard as it can be to hold incumbent seats, it's even harder to retain open seats. This again favors the Democrats, as there are many more Republican Senators on "Retirement Watch."
DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer has said that he has gotten assurances from every Democratic Senator that they are all running for re-election, except for Iowa's Tom Harkin, who has since demonstrated public steps toward a re-election bid.
Aside from Harkin, I'm not sold that New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg is definitely going to run for re-election, which might not be a bad thing given Lautenberg's low approval ratings and NJ's wealth of Democratic Congresspeople waiting for a promotion, not to mention that Lautenberg is the Democrats' oldest 2008 incumbent by just over a decade.
Also, Delaware's Joe Biden is looking at the White House, but is hardly a favorite to win the nomination in 2008, meaning that he will likely opt for Senate re-election and have plenty of time to do so.
This leaves only the recovering Tim Johnson of South Dakota as a significant question mark, and even his camp is showing signs, from staffing to fundraising, that a re-election bid could still be on the horizon, health-permitting.
Meanwhile, more than half of the GOP's 21 incumbents are on the retirement watch spectrum. After spending much of the last decade-plus in the majority party, many of these Senators will find that spending 2007 in the minority will make for a less pleasant work environment. And with many states, like Colorado and Virginia, on a blue-trend, some Republican Senators may opt for retirement rather than risking ending their career on a loss. Beyond that, many Republican Senators are just really old.
2) Maine's Susan Collins: Is under a self-imposed term-limit-pledge, but is planning a re-election bid. However, if Tom Allen gets in the race and Collins' broken promise becomes a major issue, with polling going strongly Allen's way, it's not inconceivable that Collins would step aside
9) North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole: her staff has claimed that she's planning on re-election, but she has not made any definitive comments; meanwhile, many factors, including her age, her horrible job as NRSC Chair, and her recent hip replacement, suggest that retirement may be a strong possibility - also, polling has the reluctant Mike Easley ahead of Dole; if he got in, maybe she'd prefer to avoid a tough re-election campaign
10) Texas' John Cornyn: While he is very clearing planning a re-election bid, he is also one of Bush's top choices (if not Bush's first choice) for a Supreme Court opening should there be one more before the end of Bush's term - granted, I'd rather have Cornyn in the Senate running for re-election than enjoying a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court
11) Oklahoma's Jim Inhofe: Rumors exist that he is considering retirement, though this is a rare situation (perhaps akin to NJ's Lautenberg) where the non-incumbent party might have an easier time beating the incumbent than a replacement (say former Governor Frank Keating)
12) Idaho's Larry Craig: Another situation of more rumors circulating while Craig waits on a formal public announcement one way or the other
Running (or most likely running) for re-election: Saxby Chambliss (GA), Norm Coleman (MN), Mike Enzi (WY), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mitch McConnell (KY), Pat Roberts (KS), Jeff Sessions (AL), Gordon Smith (OR), John Sununu (NH)
Though only one retirement is announced, if the stars aligned well enough, the GOP could face a meltdown with more than a half-dozen retirements. While we can't hang our hats on that many open seats, we can probably expect a couple more to follow Wayne Allard.
