He’s Baaaaack!!

Well, maybe. Senator Larry Craig says that he is reconsidering his decision to resign. Urged on by the ever-helpful Arlen Specter, who doubts that Craig would have been convicted of a crime, Craig has hired the same lawyer who represents Michael Vick in his dog-fighting case and is talking about running for re-election in 2008.
I think it’s true that Craig probably would not have been convicted if he had chosen to go to trial. His reputation, however, would have been ruined by the circumstances of his arrest. So Craig made a rational decision to forgo trial and plead guilty to disorderly conduct, in hopes that his misdemeanor conviction wouldn’t come to light. After all, the arresting officer promised Craig that he wouldn’t call the press.
However, now that the cat is out of the bag, the calculation has changed. Now, Craig has little to lose by trying to re-open the case, seek dismissal of the charges or an acquittal at trial, and claim the result as vindication. It is, so to speak, a second bite at the apple.
I don’t blame Craig for pursuing this strategy, although it’s hard to understand the basis on which he could now change his mind about his guilty plea. (I am not a criminal lawyer, so I could be missing something here.) Be that as it may, there is nothing noble or heroic about Craig’s change of heart. His decision to resign was the right one, and he should resist the temptation to try to prolong the inevitable. Idaho’s voters will not be as anxious to keep Craig in office as fellow Senators like Arlen Specter.
Via Power Line News.
PAUL adds: Maybe Specter advised Craig to invoke Scottish law and change his plea to “not proven.”
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