Count Idaho Senator Larry Craig among the latest in a series of right-wingers who have been caught in a compromising position. The anti-gay Craig held a news conference Tuesday and declared, "I am not gay. I never have been gay." This, less than 24 hours after it was reported that Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge earlier this month, stemming from his arrest in a June police sting operation in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport.
Craig's case is part of a growing number of ethics and financial charges involving mostly Republicans and has really become one heap of a hypocrisy scandal. In public office for 25 years, Craig has voted against gay rights legislation and for anti-gay legislation throughout his entire tenure. As recently as this summer he was defending the military's homophobic "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, according to reports – all the while, apparently living a double life, or at least seeking an occasional sexual thrill. Okay, well maybe Craig's bisexual. Who knows? Who cares?
The Idaho Statesman reported this week about page Leroy Williams's 1982 allegations that he had sex with three House members when he was 17. In the House at the time, Craig pre-empted those rumors when he publicly denied involvement in the congressional page scandal before charges had been leveled against anyone. The next year, Craig married his current wife.
The people of Idaho should care, not that their senator is an apparent closet case, but that he's a hypocrite – someone championing "family values" for everyone except himself. That's what makes these alleged ethics violators too big to ignore. Craig's right up there with former pastor Ted Haggard (now 100 percent straight, according to him), disgraced former Florida Representative Mark Foley (who acknowledged he is gay, thereby confirming what has been reported as the worst kept secret in Washington), and Louisiana Senator David Vitter (who copped to having his phone number in the "black book" of an alleged D.C. madam).
What all these men have in common is that they say one thing in public, but do another in private. And then they got caught.
Like Foley, who resigned after his sexually explicit e-mails to former male pages became news last year, Craig is now affected by the decisions and actions he himself made.
Although honesty is increasingly rare in politics today, voters are still entitled to expect it from their government representatives. Craig is learning the hard way that reaction can be swift, if a recent poll is any indication. According to a SurveyUSA poll, 55 percent of Idaho registered voters think Craig should resign, compared to 34 percent who think he should remain in office. The survey was of 475 registered voters. Idaho, one of the most conservative states in the country, isn't likely to elect a Democrat if Craig decides not to seek re-election next year. By comparison, the same poll found that his Senate colleague, Mike Crapo, enjoys a 61 percent approval rating, with only 29 percent disapproval. As Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo noted on the site's Election Central blog, the polling results demonstrate that "the Republican brand is not damaged in Idaho, just the Larry Craig brand."
Christian conservatives are beside themselves this week. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told the New York Times , "There is an expectation that leaders who espouse family values will live by those values. And while the values voters don't demand perfection, I do believe they want leaders with integrity."
In Craig's case, his integrity has been shattered. At his Boise news conference Tuesday, he started blaming the media for putting him under pressure, as if to suggest that influenced his decisions, and was in complete denial of the airport incident. His claims are difficult to reconcile, with the police report and his own guilty plea that was entered in early August. He's the one who resolved the court case, and now he claims it was a mistake and wants to recant his plea. Legal experts believe that is unlikely to happen.
Gay bloggers have been aware of rumors of Craig's sex life since his college fraternity days. There are some, such as BlogActive's Mike Rogers, who have stated that they will out closeted politicians who vote against gay rights bills. In this Internet age, we can't help but wonder what Craig was thinking – that no one would find out? He almost got away with it: it took three weeks for the news to leak out, first to Roll Call , a Capitol Hill newspaper; now, of course, the world knows.
So, the news is out. Craig can protest all he wants, although he, apparently, is still in the closet.