timely thoughts

Tim Padgett, Time's Miami Bureau Chief, has some strongly-worded analysis (although it's not labeled as such) of the DNC's decision to penalize states that unilaterally change their primary dates

I don't know where the Democratic National Committee chairman was in late 2000, but I was here in Florida, shuttling between Miami, Tallahassee and Palm Beach County to cover the surreal presidential vote recount. You didn't have to have a Ph.D. in political science to learn from that crisis that Florida, because of its burgeoning size and centrist electorate, can swing a general election. It was also clear that Florida's losing Democratic Party had suffered wounds, some of them self-inflicted, that would take years to recover from. Until this year, in fact, Democrats seemed virtually irrelevant in the state legislature, and their 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial candidates had all the charisma of Gulf sea sponges. While the party triumphed all over the country in last year's national elections, the only major Republican opponent it defeated in Florida was Senate candidate and former Secretary of State Katherine Harris — an erratic lightweight who most G.O.P. leaders privately hoped would lose.

So now, just as that state party is regaining full use of its limbs, it defies credulity to watch Dean and the DNC go out of their way to chop them off. This past weekend the DNC threw the book at the Sunshine State's Dems for signing on to Florida's recent move to hold its 2008 presidential primary election two months earlier than usual and a week earlier than DNC rules allow. Florida's Democratic Party has 30 days to back out of the new Jan. 29 primary or face forfeiting all of its delegates and votes at the Democratic National Convention next summer, according to the draconian DNC ruling. (The Republican National Committee's rules also frown on the earlier primary, but the RNC hasn't demanded that Florida's G.O.P. reschedule it for a later date.)

and, in fact, the RNC had not demanded that when Mr. Padgett's much-viewed think piece came out on Monday.

They demanded it on Tuesday

The Republican National Committee plans to penalize at least four states holding early primaries, including New Hampshire and Florida, by refusing to seat at least half their delegates at the party’s national convention in 2008, a party official said Tuesday.

Much of the focus in the primary scheduling fight up to now has been on the Democratic National Committee’s moves to penalize Florida by not seating its convention delegates because of the state’s decision to move up its primary. But the Republican rules are even more stringent, and the national party said today that it would not hesitate enforcing them.

The actions by Republicans and Democrats to move against states holding early contests is a rare instance of the two parties moving in concert, in this case to regain control over a rapidly evolving primary calendar that has thrust the nominating system into deep uncertainty just months before it is to begin.

“The rules are clear,” said Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. “Any state that holds their primary outside of the window shall be penalized delegates.”

It appears that Mr. Padgett's sources were less than forthcoming with him.

I'm sure we'll be seeing an equally fierce article castigating the Republicans for their lack of judgment and listing their missteps over the past six years (the phrase "Florida vote" didn't become a joke in a vacuum. Neither did Florida child protective services or Florida education) in next week's edition.

Because that's how Mr. Padgett sees his job

[Wabash Magazine] In your experience, what is the greatest misconception the public has about your vocation (or field of study) or the people in that vocation?

[Mr. Padgett] That journalists are supposed to look at the world through an impossibly objective lens. Objectivity is an illusory aim for any chronicler—but fairness, which is really the edifying goal we aspire to, isn't.

I'd have to agree with that.

Looking forward to next week.

toujours not gai

Larry "In light of my recent arrest, I would like to reiterate that I am a heterosexual" Craig, a Senator from the socially-conservative red state of Idaho (a state with a potentially Senator-appointing Republican governor by the delightful name of Butch Otter) is not very popular with his usual allies right now (Sen. Vitter, who has a Democrat as a governor, is not having this problem)

But while Democrats look to exploit the incident for political gain, Republicans too are saying they are displeased with the turn of events. On Monday, Craig quit Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, where he was a co-chairman. Romney said Tuesday he didn't know whether Craig should resign from the Senate but he was very disappointed to read about the guilty plea.

"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," Romney told CNBC. "He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine."

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Following Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea of disorderly conduct, a top Idaho conservative leader says the Republican senator should resign.

Bryan Fischer, executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance said if Craig engaged in the act he pled guilty to, he should step down.

“Character is an essential qualification for public service, and the essence of character is what you do when you do not think anyone is looking,” said Fischer in a prepared statement.

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a selection of elegantly-framed online conservative opinion:

“Craig’s behavior is so reckless and repulsive that an immediate exit is required…He has to go.” - Hugh Hewitt

“I’m inclined to agree with Hugh Hewitt. The Senator did, after all, choose to plead guilty.” - Mark Steyn of National Review Online

“Hugh Hewitt calls for his resignation. At the least, he should confirm that he will not run again.” - Captain’s Quarters

“He’s a lying crapweasel. Should he resign? Well, yeah. If he cared about the dignity of his office, he would. But he obviously doesn’t, does he?” - Michelle Malkin

“He’s pled guilty. And we’re just finding out about it today. I can only say he must resign.” - Erick Erickson of Redstate

with more here and here

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Another Republican running for president, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, distanced himself from Craig and his guilty plea. "It's disgraceful," McCain told host Jay Leno during a taping of NBC's "The Tonight Show" for broadcast Tuesday night. "It harms our reputation with the American people."

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Echoing his sentiments on his radio show Sean Hannity repeated his call for Senator Larry Craig’s resignation on tonight’s Hannity & Colmes. “If he knows in his heart that he was guilty of this, I would say he needs to resign,” Hannity said in Part 2 of a two-part discussion about Craig’s arrest for lewd conduct in a men’s bathroom. Since Hannity is nothing if not a loyal foot soldier for the Republican Party it’s hard to imagine he made those statements without their backing.

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and the one that's gotta really hurt

Moments before Sen. Larry Craig held a news conference to declare "I am not gay," Senate Republican leaders Tuesday requested an Ethics Committee investigation into the Idaho Republican's arrest in a public restroom.

The unusual move underscored the political difficulties facing Craig, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to a disorderly conduct charge and now says he regrets it. The senator was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by a plainclothes officer investigating reports of "sexual activity in the public restroom," the police report said.

"This is a serious matter," said a statement issued by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his four top deputies. "Leadership is examining other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required."

 

Why does that last one gotta really hurt? Two reasons.

Because Larry Craig was at one time considered a shoo-in to be the Republican whip until Mitch McConnell kicked his ass. He hasn't had a sniff of leadership since. He got that close because he was a protege of Trent Lott's.

Trent Lott signed McConnell's statement.

Second, while we don't know for sure what happened in the restroom, we do know what happened in court. Senator Craig's Petition of Guilt (in which he agrees that the deal he's taking is not available to anyone who claims to be innocent) is here (pdf). Now he says he wants to back out of the deal.

Unfortunately, if he backs out of the guilty plea on the misdemeanor, the gross misdemeanor is back in play

In Craig's case, he was sentenced to pay $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year, with a stayed 10-day jail sentence. He had pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. A gross misdemeanor charge of interference to privacy was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

...

Even if the judge allows Craig to withdraw his plea, the prosecutor can re-file the gross misdemeanor charge that was dismissed, Simon said.

That charge -- invasion of privacy -- was based on an allegation that Craig gazed into the police officer's bathroom stall through the crack between the door and the frame. And while Craig has claimed that the officer misinterpreted his foot and hand motions under the stall wall, he has not addressed the allegation that he looked into the officer's stall.

which means that if Sen. Craig tries to prove he's innocent, Sen. McConnell is going to have other aspects to look at soon. Me, I think Sen. Craig is going to be spending more time with Andy Card's family soon.