Larry Craig: I’m Not Going Out Like That

Its looks as though Larry “I have never been gay” Craig may just stick around the senate for a while longer. Emboldened by comments from Senator Arlen Spector, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Craig is sending out the message that he is going to fight like hell to reverse his guilty plea and clear his name and if he is successful then he might not resign his senate seat after all.

During his speech on Saturday which you can view here Craig did not say that he is resigning, he said that it was his “intent” to resign. As reported in Roll Call, Craig planned to resign at that press conference, but after an agreement from Senator Spector to come out in Craig’s defense he asked one of his advisers to amend his statement.

Craig makes that point in this voicemail left for someone named “Billy.” One of the lawyers that Craig has hired to plead his case is Billy Martin, the lawyer who is also defending dog fighting aficionado Michael Vick. The message was left as Craig was heading to his press conference announcing his intent to resign. Unfortunately he left the message on the wrong voicemail number.

Craig voicemail

I can’t imagine that a decision by Craig to retain his senate seat would go down well with the Republican leadership.

From the Politico:

A senior GOP Senate strategist said Republican leaders want him gone now and will press for him to keep his promise to resign. The strategist warned Craig is “losing any goodwill built up among his colleagues,” adding, “He is simply a fish out of water, floundering right now to get his last gasp of political air.”

“It simply defies reality,” said a Senate GOP aide. “You can’t make this up even if you are heavily medicated. The American people heard from Larry Craig that he would resign, and using the word ‘intent’ as a back door doesn’t work with them.”