Word: scandal
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...Scandals of the sort that brought down Craig have a demoralizing effect on the Republican base, leaving the party even more vulnerable in the 2008 elections. In putting Democrats in control of Congress for the first time since 1994, voters last November cited corruption scandals that had led to the resignation of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, California Rep. Duke Cuningham and Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, coupled with a sexual harassment scandal involving underage male congressional pages that led to the abrupt resignation of Florida Rep. Mark Foley...
...Just last spring, Senator Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Alaska Republicans, were linked to an ongoing bribery and money laundering investigation. And Senator David Vitter of Louisiana admitted to inappropriate conduct with the D.C. Madam. Now, the G.O.P. must digest the Craig scandal...
...greater danger in the Craig scandal is that it could further alienate the party's social conservative base, said Stephen Schneck, head of the politics department at Catholic University in Washington. "Republican leaders are frantic, fearing a cataclysmic collapse of the perceived moral high ground vis-?-vis the Democrats among Evangelicals and Catholics - not only among swing voters, but among the base," said Schneck...
...Republican candidates have weighed in on the scandal. Rudy Giuliani's campaign declined to comment, as did the exploratory committee for former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who is weighing a run. Meanwhile, two conservative GOP presidential hopefuls, former Mike Huckabee and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, have, ironically, taken a more moderate stance on Craig. Brownback told MSNBC that "we ought to look and see what the facts actually are and then build and move forward off of that... Larry's a colleague. He is somebody that I know. I want to hear what he has to say." And when asked...
...Republicans, meanwhile, are tripping over themselves to get away from Craig as yet another scandal risks further depressing their base. The effect of the Craig scandal "will be to intensify their anti-gay rhetoric," said Becky Dansky, federal legislative director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, pointing to the contrast between the treatment of Craig and that of Louisiana Senator David Vitter, who admitted to being involved with the infamous D.C. Madam. "Vitter received a standing ovation from his party caucus; Senator Craig is immediately forced out of his committee positions just because of the gender involved...