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Talk of Craig unnerves conservatives
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[September 06, 2007]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fastest way to clear a room of the leaders of the conservative establishment, it seems, is to ask about the great unpleasantness surrounding Sen. Larry Craig.
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 Gathered to praise one of President Bush's judicial nominees, they fell silent Wednesday when asked who would like to see Idaho Republican stay in office.
Not Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council or Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America or David Keene of The American Conservative Union or Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.
None was willing to tackle the subject of Craig's future; the lawmaker has pleaded guilty in connection with a men's room sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.
One man quickly left the podium rather than answer. The rest glanced at reporters, then gazed into space, then turned to each other and began shaking hands.
The press conference was over, the Craig matter settled by a silence whose message was unmistakable: Even the party's faithful conservative base will not support any effort by Craig to reverse his guilty plea and stay in the Senate seat he has held for three terms.
It was a striking turnabout in line with Senate Republicans, who have spent this week giving Craig unsubtle rhetorical shoves toward the chamber's ornate doors.
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 Craig has given conservative groups no policy-related reason to abandon him en masse. Many of those present have given Craig near-perfect approval ratings. Also, Craig's Senate votes have supported Bush's policies more than 95 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly.
But with Idaho's Republican governor likely to replace Craig with a Republican, those same groups apparently see no reason to toss the troubled senator a political lifeline.
Republicans and conservatives in recent days have had few words fit for family news outlets to express their outrage over Craig's vow to fight.
Even the lone Republican senator who first suggested Craig should fight, former prosecutor Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, twice went before the cameras Wednesday to say he had nothing to say.
In another rare instance of a senator with scant comment, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters that Craig's future is up to Craig.
[Associated Press; by Laurie
Kellman]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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