Sen. Craig Already In Senate Hotseat

This story is moving quickly. A photo of Sen. Craig's arresting officer is already out. And a government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has filed a complaint with the Senate ethics committee requesting an inquiry into Sen. Larry Craig's tearoom antics. And the Idaho Statesman has already dug up a man "with close ties to Republican officials" who claims to have sex with Craig in DC's Union Station. I wonder if this is the same guy that Mike Rogers referenced on BlogACTIVE last year? [UPDATE: It is. Here's his story.] Craig's spokesman says it's "too early" to decide if the scandal will affect Craig's re-election plans.

There's some great commentary on Craig's arrest popping up:

National Review: "What remains baffling is why Craig got arrested. Short of being caught, ahem, more ferarum, it’s hard to imagine that tapping your right foot in a bathroom stall loudly enough amounts to doing the homosexual hokey-pokey. (“You put your right foot in, I put my … WHAT? WHERE?!”) The fact that Craig was trying to pokey and instead ended up in the pokey only reaffirms that when it comes to sex and politics, context is everything."

Carpetbagger Report: "I realize the circumstances of the arrest must be humiliating for the senator, but fabricating a ridiculous defense only exacerbates the political problem here. Why did he rub his foot against the police officer’s? Because, he said, he “has a wide stance when going to the bathroom.” Why did he wave his hand repeatedly under the stall divider? Because he was reaching for a piece of paper (that did not apparently exist). Why did he plead guilty to criminal charges? Because he was in a hurry. This was bound to be a disaster for Craig either way, but Crisis Management 101 tells us to come clean immediately, apologize, get the facts out, hunker down, and hope for the story to blow over. Bizarre fabrications are only going to make this worse."

And the Washington Post is already speculating about the dispostion of Craig's Senate seat: "Two factors mitigate the damage for Republicans. First, if Craig resigns, Gov. Butch Otter (R) would be tasked with naming an interim replacement until the race for Craig's full six-year term comes about in 2008. Otter would (of course) name a Republican, giving whomever he chooses -- most likely either Lt. Gov. Jim Risch or Rep. Mike Simpson (R) -- a major edge next November."