Craig's Missed?

While others shun him, an embattled "not-gay" senator has a friend in Arlen.

by Paul Fain

The theater of the absurd surrounding U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) could only be news to someone living off the grid, so a few quotes from the senator himself to reporters and police should suffice as a summary:

"[I] have a wide stance when going to the bathroom."

"Thank you all very much for coming out today."

"I am not gay. I have never been gay."

Enough said.

Nope, it sure didn't take long for prominent Republicans to ditch Craig. Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate whom he supported, called the Craig imbroglio "disgusting" the same day Craig was discussing his sexual orientation with reporters. Congressional Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, quickly followed, calling for Craig's resignation. But not Arlen Specter. Even Specter's many critics have to admit that he's a loyal friend for sticking with Craig during this epic implosion.

The night before Craig was slated to announce his resignation, Specter reportedly called Craig and urged his Senate colleague to fight to clear his name. Craig said the call persuaded him to stick it out.

"Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I've been railroaded and all of that," Craig said in a voicemail obtained by Roll Call, the Washington newspaper that originally broke news of Craig's bathroom arrest.

Craig later sought to withdraw his guilty plea to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He has said that he will serve out the rest of his term, through 2008, if he can reverse the plea by month's end. Still, Republicans are worried about the political liability of having Craig hanging around on Capitol Hill, and some are reportedly angry at Specter for boosting Craig's confidence.

For his part, Specter appears unfazed. He noted that Craig's plight reminded him of a sting case he prosecuted as a rookie district attorney in Philly 43 years ago. The case, he said, involved the ensnaring of gay men at the former Family Theater, on Market.

"I believe Larry Craig's rights," he recently told the Inquirer, "are more important than avoiding an embarrassing political issue."

Has Casey Lost Pro-life Cred?

Democratic strategists liked Robert P. Casey Jr.'s chances in knocking Rick Santorum out of his U.S. Senate seat because he shares both a name and a strong stance against abortion with his father, the late two-term Pennsylvania governor. The thinking was that if Casey could appeal to both the left and Catholic moderates, Santorum wouldn't have a chance. They were right, and Casey won in a landslide in 2006.

But now, some pro-life conservatives are calling Casey a fraud. The criticism is in response to a Senate vote earlier this month over the so-called "Mexico City policy," a Reagan-era rule that U.S. foreign aid may not go to organizations that perform abortions. The Senate, with Casey's vote, overturned the rule.

A Casey spokesman has said that the senator remains opposed to abortion, but the National Review, a conservative publication, called that assertion "disingenuous" and said the senator had gone against his father, who was "revered in the pro-life movement."

Bloggers, as is their wont, were less restrained in bashing Casey. Deal W. Hudson, a "theocon" blogger, said the real Casey is the "guy who ran back to floor [sic] to make sure all his Planned Parenthood supporters knew he was FOR taxpayer money being spent to kill the unborn."

Casey cast another abortion-related vote that day: He joined a winning effort by Republicans to uphold a Bush administration policy that denies U.S. aid to the U.N. Population Fund because of its tolerance of China's use of coerced abortions and sterilizations. Casey went against Planned Parenthood on that one, but batting 1-for-2 apparently doesn't cut it with the pro-life crowd.

Schwartz Gains Hill Clout

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, a Philly Democrat whose district also includes Lansdale and Jenkintown, is getting some of her influence the old-fashioned way: She's paying for it.

In only her second term on Capitol Hill, Schwartz this summer moved $150,000 from her campaign coffers to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to CQPolitics.com. She topped all other members of Congress in July with her donation, giving three times more than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Schwartz has money to share because of her fundraising prowess, which yielded $4.6 million in campaign cash in 2004. Making party leaders happy is good for congressional careers and, as The Morning Call reports, Schwartz became the only second-term lawmaker on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after forking over a couple-hundred grand last year.

(pfain_dc@yahoo.com)

Paul Fain is a reporter in Washington, D.C. Philly on the Potomac will sporadically appear in the news section.