As was posted earlier, U.S. Senator Larry Craig has stepped down as Romney's liaison with the Senate. For the full story, go here. Craig claims he is not gay and that it was all just a misunderstanding. However, this seems unlikely considering the fact that he already entered a guilty plea. If it were a misunderstanding, there would have been no wrongdoing. I can't imagine why Craig would plead guilty if he were innocent.This is especially surprising to me because I did an internship for Senator Craig when I was in college. My impression was that he was a very hard working, intelligent and principled man. It looks as though I was at least partly mistaken.
In Romney's interview on CNBC today, he tore into Larry Craig and went further by attacking Bill Clinton for his indiscretions. For the full interview, go here. Here are the best parts:
KUDLOW: ...What is your comment on the Craig problem, sir?
Gov. ROMNEY: Well, very disappointing. Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence. Very disappointing. He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine. He resigned just today. And you know, he was one of those who was helping my effort, and I'm sorry to see that he has fallen short.
KUDLOW: ...Apparently, a couple years ago, a professional man close to the Republican Party reported having oral sex with Craig at Union Station in Washington in 2004. Apparently, there are allegations and charges going back to 1982, where Mr. Craig was forced to deny having sex with pages. Isn't this the sort of thing that reminds us all of the Mark Foley episode last fall, before the elections, that was devastating to the Republicans?
Gov. ROMNEY: Yeah, I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we'll just forgive and forget. And the truth of the matter is, the most important thing we expect from elected--an elected official is a level of dignity and character that we can point to for our kids and our grandkids, and say, `Hey, someday I hope you grow up and you're someone like that person.' And we've seen disappointment in the White House, we've seen it in the Senate, we've seen it in Congress. And frankly, it's disgusting.
KUDLOW: ...What does it say about the morality of public figures?
Gov. ROMNEY: Well, it does say, in my view, that some people in the public sphere expect that once they've been elected to something, they're prominent, that they're--that they're above the law, that they won't get caught, that people will give them a break, that they--that they somehow can live a different morality. And the truth of the matter is, if there's a different morality they should live, it should be a high--a higher level of morality. And if they've been involved in any discretion in their life, they should cease that discretion by the time they become elected, and should try and set an example in the way they live, which is consistent with the things they say. And you know, that's hard for everyone. But certainly, expecting people to live a life consistent with the dignity of the office to which they're elected is something which the American people should be able to count on.
The way Mitt brought Bill Clinton in was brilliant. It completely turned the direction of the conversation from focusing on how this news will affect the Republicans in 2008 to contrasting Bill Clinton's bad example with the good example Romney will bring to the White House.
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