Opinion: Re-Breaking News: Is Sen. Craig reconsidering?

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Now, we know why Republican Sen. Larry Craig announced Saturday that it was his ‘intent’ to resign from the Senate on Sept. 30.

According to the Associated Press, his spokesman in Boise, Sidney Smith, said this evening, ‘It’s not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign.’

This news will bring back nightmares to Republican Party and Senate leadership who thought their intense pressure on the Idaho senator last week had resulted in his resignation and an end to all the bathroom jokes about the senator’s June arrest for lewd behavior in a Minneapolis airport men’s room. Craig, who later pled guilty to disorderly conduct, maintained he was not gay and did nothing wrong, despite his plea.

Most Republican colleagues quickly distanced themselves from Craig. But over the weekend and today Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, a former prosecutor, suggested Craig fight the case. Specter said based on the evidence he’d heard without the guilty plea, Craig would have been convicted of nothing. ‘The more people take a look at the situation, there may well be second thoughts,’ said Specter.

Craig has hired a prominent Washington attorney to explore his legal options, including overturning his guilty plea. ‘We’re still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign Sept. 30,’ Smith said, ‘but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we’re able to stay in the fight--and stay in the Senate.’

‘It was a little more cut and dried a few days ago,’ Smith added. ‘There weren’t many options. He was basically going to have to step aside. Now, there’s a little more to it.’

A three-term Senate veteran, Craig would be up for re-election next year and, given strong local reaction to the arrest story last week, could face a tough political battle in an otherwise sure Republican state.

Additionally, Gov. C.L. ‘Butch’ Otter, a Republican, has remained conspicuously silent on naming a replacement yet for Craig since the official resignation remains 26 days away.

Update: Late this evening a Craig spokesman tells The Times’ Richard Simon, ‘if the wheels of justice are able to turn quick enough, meaning before Sept. 30, he may--and I emphasize may--not resign.’ Simon’s complete story appears here on this website and in Wednesday’s print editions.

--Andrew Malcolm