Several well-placed GOP sources in Washington and Idaho have told CNN that embattled Republican Sen. Larry Craig is likely to resign soon, possibly as early as Friday.
A GOP source with knowledge of the situation told CNN’s Dana Bash that the Republican National Committee was poised to take the extraordinary step of calling on Craig to resign.
However, that move was put on hold, the source said, because top party leaders have received indications that Craig himself is preparing to step down.
Sources have confirmed that high-level meetings on the matter were being conducted in Idaho on Thursday.
Craig has been under pressure to quit since news surfaced this week that he was arrested in June at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and later pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.
The following is NOT a joke or meant as a pun. But if Craig did run, no matter what it would be poison for the GOP. And (not meant as a joke) you can just see the graffiti or handwritten sign from some of his opponents: “Craig Sucks.” It would have been a brutal campaign with the whispering campaign the worst part of it and Craig and the GOP would come out a lot more battered than if he looked for an exit, got out and let another GOPer make the race — a race the GOP would normally be expected to win.
See the late night comedians’ jokes below. Late night jokes always reflect developing conventional wisdom. And if you read the full list it’s clear he’d be a boon more to the comedians than to GOPers in Ohio.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.