Unlike House Republican leaders last year during the Mark Foley sex-related scandal, their Senate counterparts this week showed that they know exactly when to fold their cards in such matters: immediately, or sooner, if possible.
GOP colleagues publicly isolated Idaho Sen. Larry Craig within hours after news surfaced on Monday that he had pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. And yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stripped Craig of his committee assignments.
This is all happening with lightning speed compared with the foot-dragging by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois last year over revelations about former Florida Rep. Foley’s improper approaches to House pages. McConnell clearly gets the lesson that Hastert’s bumbling response hurt Republicans at the ballot box more than the details of Foley’s behavior.
GOP damage controllers also are in better shape with this scandal because they have more than a year to recover, while the Foley matter broke within the final weeks before the 2006 midterm elections.
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