Image courtesy Senator Craig’s official homepage.
Larry Craig, Republican Senator for Idaho, has recently been embroiled in public scandal. It’s not the first time an elected official has been taken to task publicly, and it likely won’t be the last.
I don’t know if Senator Craig is guilty or innocent, but nevertheless, it is no doubt an extremely difficult situation to go through in the public eye.
What is the right answer to a situation where elected officials, or other highly visible individuals, find themselves “caught” in their mistakes publicly?
September 5, 2007 at 11:14
There needs to be reason on both sides. I feel that these individuals should be held to high standards. However, they shouldn’t be so scrutinized such that a slip up on a segway or an over-excited yell leads to their downfall (remember the Howard Dean scream, anyone?).
For senator Craig in particular, since he plead guilty, it seems like his only option is to resign. Regardless of why he plead guilty, the fact is that he did it. I’m really not interested in his personal life, but it is just a waste of time when he should be doing his job. So, let him resign and figure it out from there.
September 6, 2007 at 08:09
Being not from anywhere even remotely close to Idaho, I am merely wondering why people think their elected officials should be held to higher standards than themselves? Politicians are human like everyone else. So unless public officials are doing something overtly corrupt, why should it cause them to resign?