Mitt Romney attempted to distance himself yesterday from Sen. Larry Craig, who until this week held a place on the campaign. Speaking on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company," Romney said, "Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence."
The former governor also linked the scandal, deftly or not, to another campaign: "I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we'll just forgive and forget."
Hit with yet another scandal, Senate Republicans took swift action and called for an ethics investigation of Craig, reports the Washington Post's Paul Kane. Issuing a "rare" joint statement, the GOP leadership said, "This is a serious matter. Due to the reported and disputed circumstances, and the legal resolution of this serious case, we will recommend that Senator Craig's incident be reported to the Senate Ethics Committee for its review. In the meantime, leadership is examining other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required."
Republicans have reason to worry. A SurveyUSA poll found that 55% of Idaho voters say Craig should resign. This for a senator who was on the verge of becoming Idaho's longest serving member of Congress.
In GOP primary news, the national party plans to follow its Democratic counterpart and penalize states that move their primaries earlier, reports the New York Times' Marc Santora. States are not allowed to hold a primary before Feb. 5 -- Super Tuesday. "The rules are clear," said RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. States that violate the rules will be penalized at least half their delegates at the national convention. The states facing punishment include Florida, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan and South Carolina.
In what is "likely to be interpreted by opponents as a desperate move," reports The Politico's Kenneth Vogel, John McCain became the first 2008 presidential candidate to qualify for federal funds. McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker denied that this was an act of desperation and pointed out that the campaign had just hired former commerce secretary and top fundraiser Robert Mosbacher as "evidence of the fact that we continue to attract well-respected leaders to assist in our effort."
Although buttressing the campaign with cash, receiving federal funds, reports Vogel, "is a trade-off, since it would also cap at about $50 million the amount of cash his campaign can spend during the primary -- a limitation that would go into effect immediately." Moreover, the other candidates would quickly eclipse McCain in spending.
Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee were the only two GOP candidates to attend Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong presidential forum on cancer yesterday in Iowa, reports the Des Moines Register's Grant Schulte. Both candidates defended the Bush administration's record on funding cancer research, but differed on whether to implement a nationwide smoking ban in public places. Huckabee said he would support a ban, while Brownback said he would leave it to the states.
Rudy Giuliani will attend the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, as he has every year, reports the AP's Sara Kugler, "but some relatives of those who died said the solemn ceremony is no place for presidential politics." Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision to invited Giuliani and said "it was appropriate for Giuliani to attend because he was there on Sept. 11, 2001," reports Kugler.
The Wall Street Journal follows up on Tuesday's story about suspicious fundraising activity from one of Hillary Clinton's top donors with a story today asking, "Who is Norman Hsu?"
"Until three years ago, Mr. Hsu never made a campaign contribution to a presidential candidate, according to federal election records. Now, though, several people involved in raising money for White House candidates say Mr. Hsu is a major player," report Ianthe Jeanne Dugan and Brody Mullins.
In endorsement news, Clinton and Chris Dodd picked up two big ones from labor unions yesterday. Newsday's Glenn Thrush reports that Clinton "scored the first major national union endorsement of the 2008 primary season Tuesday, but one of her rivals, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, announced an even bigger prize: the backing of a powerful firefighters' union."
The Hill's Sam Youngman writes that the Dodd endorsement was "not entirely a surprise" for the International Association of Fire Fighters, whose president Harold Schaitberger told the Hill earlier that poll numbers would not be a factor in the union's decision.
As Youngman reports, the endorsement will come as a setback to John Edwards, who "has sought to build much of his 2008 campaign around his solidarity with labor unions."
Speaking of Edwards, the candidate took issue with an ABC News story saying he was "angrier" this campaign season than in 2004, reports USA Today's Martha Moore. "I'm the same person I've always been, very positive, very optimistic by nature. And I always speak true," Edwards said.
Get these and more election news at RCP's Politics and Elections page.
