I'm not an expert at crisis management, but Senator Craig's press conference yesterday struck me as terribly inadequate - especially this part:

For a moment, I want to put my state of mind into context on June 11. For 8 months leading up to June, my family and I had been relentlessly and viciously harassed by the Idaho Statesman. If you've seen today's paper, you know why. Let me be clear: I am not gay and never have been.

"Still, without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, the Statesman has engaged in this witch hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman's investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho.

So a story that hadn't been published yet - about rumors which Craig says aren't true - was responsible for his funny business in the men's bathroom in Minneapolis? That doesn't pass the laugh test.

Craig wants the public to believe his actions in the bathroom of the Minneapolis terminal were somehow misinterpreted or misconstrued by the arresting officer. The problem with this line of argument is that we're not talking about some abstract situation that leaves much room for reasonable doubt in the mind of the public. Everyone in America has been in a public restroom, and everyone knows what kind of behavior to expect there. The sort of behavior described by the officer is way out of the norm and defies simple or alternate explanations like "I have a wide stance." It's just creepy, and everyone knows it.

So Craig faces an impossible task. He's already browning up nicely in the toaster of public opinion (see John's post below), and trying to blame the Idaho Statesman for what happened in Minneapolis is as futile as it is disingenuous. Somebody get the butter.