Unconventional Wisdom

One might be on the way out sooner than the next election, the other isn’t even going to run for relection. Both are from FoxNews.com.

First people are already lining up to replace Sen. Craig Thompson…

Idahoans are beginning to coalesce around Lt. Gov. Jim Risch as the consensus candidate to replace Sen. Larry Craig FOX News has learned, and the Idaho Statesman is reporting that Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has made Risch his choice.

Craig, a Republican, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct after being arrested in a men’s restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Tuesday, Craig denied he did anything wrong but is facing a rapidly strengthening move to force him out of office.

Risch, like Craig, is a rancher by trade. Risch briefly served as Idaho governor in 2006 when then Gov. Dirk Kempthorne stepped aside to become the U.S. Interior Department secretary. Risch also is an attorney who was first elected to the Idaho Senate in 1975, a position he held for 22 of the following 28 years, and was first elected lieutenant governor in 2002.

Otter’s office is not yet officially saying anything.

“The governor has made no promises and no commitments to anyone. We don’t deal in hypotheticals, and for the time being, Idaho still has a senior senator, and his name is Larry Craig,” Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said.

“He’s made no decision because there’s no decision to be made,” Hanian added.

House Minority Leader John Boehner also reportedly is making moves to field possible replacements, inquiring to see if Idaho Reps. William Sali or Mike Simpson could fill the seat should it open.

Earlier in the day, FOX News learned of the strongest effort yet to push Craig out of office. The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned Craig privately that if he does not resign, he will not receive financial support in the upcoming election and it will recruit a Republican opponent to run against him.

The news comes on the day after police released the transcript and audio tape of Craig’s June 11 interview with arresting officer Sgt. Dave Karsnia. Craig denied trying to solicit sexual acts and told the officer, “I am not gay. I don’t do these kinds of things.” Karsnia accused Craig of lying.

Oh and then there might be a Senate Seat opening up in Virginia. So if you’re interested and you live in Virginia you might want to check out this oportunity and then avoid the aforementioned pratfalls of being a Senator.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., announced Friday that he will not seek re-election in 2008, concluding a long military and political career that has hoisted him to one of the pre-eminent positions on U.S. foreign policy.

The announcement leaves open a seat that is likely to be hotly contested in the Republican-leaning state that has recently had a tendency to elect Democrats to statewide offices.

Warner chose to make his announcement on the campus of his law school alma mater, The University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.

“All of you have joined me these many years to enable this humble soul to have a magnificent and very rewarding career in the United States Senate,” Warner told a crowd gathered there. “My work and service to Virginia as a senator will conclude upon the 6th of January, 2009, when I finish — as the Constitution of the United States (says) on the first Tuesday of a new Congress — my career of then 30 years in the United States Senate.”

Warner, a former Navy secretary, said his age was the largest factor in his decision to step aside. He is 80.

Cracking a joke, Warner said a doctor recently told him: “Your 80s are your golden years. Enjoy them. … On some days, the bells say go full speed ahead. … And on other days, the whistles say postpone that until next week.”

Then, more seriously, he said: “I want to be fair to this wonderful state. … You have given me my best shot and I am quietly going to step aside and clear the way for others.”

He said he also weighed his seniority on the Senate, and his strength as a voice in foreign policy. It wasn’t enough for him to decide on another term.

Last year Democrats attempted to put the whole Mark Foley situation onto the Republicans. Yeah there were other factors that placed them in control of Congress, but that whole scandal didn’t help. Though it seems in their new positions the Democrats haven’t proven themselves to be that capable either. The Craig Thomas situation is just added ammo and it doesn’t seem like Sen. Thomas is going away as easily as former Rep. Foley did last year.

From FoxNews.com…

A top Democratic fundraiser wanted as a fugitive in California turned himself in Friday to face a grand theft charge.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge H. James Ellis ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Sept. 5, at which the judge will consider reducing his bail to $1 million.

Hsu appeared in court accompanied by a lawyer and publicist, both of whom declined to say whether the New York apparel executive would immediately post bail. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he skipped the sentencing for a 1991 grand theft charge.

In the ensuing years, Hsu became a top donor to numerous Democratic candidates, including presidential contenders Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

After reports surfaced this week of Hsu’s fugitive status in California, Clinton joined other candidates in returning thousands of dollars he raised, but the allegations distracted her campaign just as it prepared to ramp up for the intense post-Labor Day stretch.

The campaign announced Wednesday it would return $23,000 in contributions that Hsu made to her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to HillPac.

On Thursday, Obama’s campaign said he would give to charity the $2,000 Hsu contributed to his 2004 Senate campaign and the $5,000 Hsu gave to his political action committee, Hopefund. Hsu’s $43,700 in donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also will go to charity, both groups announced Thursday.

I saw this story on CNN today. I saw this article in the Chicago Tribune (btw, reading this story may require free registration). So what’s up with this…

A government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Idaho Sen. Larry Craig Tuesday after Craig said he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men’s room.

The conservative three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn’t said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Senate ethics committee seeking an investigation into whether Craig violated Senate rules by engaging in disorderly conduct.

Craig, who has voted against gay marriage, finds his political future in doubt in the wake of the charges, which have drawn national attention.

A spokesman, Sidney Smith, was uncertain late Monday if Craig’s guilty plea in connection with an incident at the Minneapolis airport would affect his re-election plans.

“It’s too early to talk about anything about that,” Smith said.

A political science professor in Idaho said Craig’s political future was in jeopardy. And a spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Hannah August, said Craig’s guilty plea “has given Americans another reason not to vote Republican” next year.

Craig said in a statement issued by his office Monday that he was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.

“At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions,” he said. “I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.”

The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he has engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.

From the Washington Post. I’m surprised he hadn’t done this sooner…

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced his resignation today, ending a controversial cabinet tenure that included clashes with Congress over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and over the use of warrantless wiretaps in the war on terror.

The first Hispanic to hold the job, Gonzales will step down on Sept. 17. In a brief statement, he called his 13 years in public service a “remarkable journey,” but he gave no explanation about why he chose to resign now after resisting months of pressure to quit.

An administration official said that Gonzales had told President Bush of his decision on Friday, but the announcement was withheld until the two met face to face on Sunday at Bush’s ranch in Crawford. Bush planned to make a statement shortly before noon from Waco, Tex.

Gonzales took no questions from the press as he announced his plans, but he said that even his “worst days” as attorney general were “better than my father’s best days” as a migrant worker in Texas.

“I have lived the American dream,” said Gonzales, 52.

His resignation marks the loss of another Bush loyalist at a time when the president’s support in public opinion polls has been lagging and amid a fight with Congress over the future of Iraq war policy. Although Bush consistently expressed confidence in Gonzales, arguing that his longtime Texas ally was being targeted by Democrats for political reasons, the attorney general’s support in Congress had withered after a series of run-ins.

His testimony on issues such as a federal wiretap program required follow-up explanations and was contradicted by documents or the statements of other federal officials. At hearings on the U.S. attorney firings, Gonzales frequently said he could not remember details about key events — frustrating members of Congress who felt he was trying to minimize his role in what they regarded as politically motivated dismissals. Some suggested that the nation’s top law enforcement official had committed perjury.

“Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove,” said Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), referring to the belief among many Democrats that political strategist Rove engineered the ouster of the U.S. attorneys to make room for appointees more loyal to Bush.

“This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House.”

Back in 2003 I saw C-Span coverage of the Florida Democratic Convention and I must say, it was almost a religious revival. Most of the speeches involved some form of screaming and we saw a very angry ex-congresswoman in Carrie Meek. It was almost a freakshow. Then this news from The Swamp…

Democratic Party leaders voted today to strip Florida of its presidential nominating convention delegates, if the state’s Democrats proceed with a planned January primary election.

At the same time, leaders voiced some optimism that a compromise might be reached in the next 30 days allowing Florida to send all of its 210 delegates to the national convention in Denver next summer.

“We’re Democrats. We’re optimist,” said Jim Roosevelt Jr., co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, after a vote to allow Florida 30 days to comply with party regulations governing primaries or forfeit all of its convention delegates.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman did not sound so optimistic, however.

“We’ll see,” she told reporters.

If the ruling today holds, Florida’s four million Democrats could have no say in the selection of the party’s 2008 nominee. However, a candidate with enough delegates to win the nomination could ask that Florida’s delegates be seated at the convention in the interest of party unity.

This was for much different reason than I could have assumed, but these states moving up their presidential primaries are causing some problems aren’t they?

From Peoria Pundit…

Castro may be dead. One of our leading presidential candidates may be dead from the brain up.

When an Iowa resident asked former senator John Edwards Thursday whether the United States should follow the Cuban healthcare model, the 2004 vice presidential contender deflected the question by saying he didn’t know enough to answer the question.
“I’m going to be honest with you — I don’t know a lot about Cuba’s healthcare system,” Edwards, D-N.C., said at an event in Oskaloosa, Iowa. “Is it a government-run system?“

Billy Dennis closes with this…

And anyone who thinks Cuba’s ruling communist bosses have to wait in line for a cot and an aspirin is a bit delusional.

From MSNBC’s First Read…

At last weekend’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton once again made this argument in criticizing Barack Obama for saying that nuclear weapons should be off the table when dealing with Al Qaeda in Pakistan: You need to be careful what you say. “We shouldn’t use hypotheticals. You know, words do matter. And this campaign just like every other thing that happens in the United States, is looked at and followed with very great interest.”

So given those remarks, it’s striking that she made this hypothetical yesterday: “It’s a horrible prospect to ask yourself ‘What if? What if?,’” she said. “But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world. So I think I’m the best of the Democrats to deal with that as well.” Clinton’s comment came as she was touting her experience and how that would benefit her in a general election.

Apparently her fellow Democrats aren’t too pleased with those remarks.