I’m not going to go down the road of trying to say Senator Craig didn’t have his faults. Given his desire to pursue private behavior that would embarass his wife and family, maybe he should have left before.

But let’s not forget that voting to send people into conflict, voting to confirm judges to lifetime appointments, etc. is not easy business. I’m glad they have staffs to help them understand the full range of decisions like that. How much time does the average voter spend researching issues? 30% and 40% voter turnouts tell me it’s not much.

When it comes to elections, let’s remember something: In business, you can miss your quarterly or annual goal by a couple of percentage points, and still “win” by showing profit. In politics, if you lose 49.9% to 50.1%, you get nothing — your a loser.

As for special interests, everybody is a special interest. If you own a house, you get to write off your mortgage interest thanks to special interests. Is that fair to people that rent? But it helps pursue the broad goal of home ownership and stake in the society.

We want cheaper gas or some other fuel, but don’t want to pay for researching it. We want more drilling, but want to protect the environment. We want other fuels, but don’t want it to be more expensive, poorer performing, or any inconvenience. We want it all, which is why we send these politicians conflicting signals of what they want. Then we complain when they compromise.

I’m not saying elected politicians are saints, but we are part of this problem. Craig didn’t get there by magic. And he didn’t get there because of some manipulation. The majority of people elected him there more than once. If the majority didn’t pay attention, or if they didn’t care enough to check, then caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”). The media seemed to have news about previous allegations.

Yes it takes courage – the first time only, particularly on a statewide level for national office like Representative or Senator. After that, unless you are a complete dimwit or totally out of step with the voters, it is very hard to beat an incumbent. They have the Pacs, they have the franking to mail propaganda, they have the infrastructure, they have the big contributors and the special interests and most importantly, they make the laws like McCain Feingold which are basically incumbent protection acts.

Maybe these pols have high pressure jobs. However, they are catered to and I would bet a large sum that most of the pols in DC really don’t read the legislation, that’s what staffs are for. And I might add that many times, most times actually, these pols pass laws that have so many unintended consequences that it would have been better had they done nothing.

These guys act like Brahmins. Witness Craig handing the cop his Senate card and saying “what do you think of that?” Obviously the cop said – “not much” which is about what the regular voter also says anymore. Steve says these guys need to keep a disinterested electorate engaged and infers that this is a very hard job and adds such a burden. I would submit that these pols would rather do everything behind closed doors, ie the immigration amnesty sham that Craig was so in favor of, in contradiction of the electorate.

Craig brought this all on himself. Don’t shed any tears for him, shed the tears for the taxpaying public that’s going to pay him 100 grand a year for life. The saddest part of this whole fiasco is, he shouldn’t have been there for 27 years anyhow. The Founding Fathers never anticipated that these guys would serve for life.

Here’s my problem: “Craig-like any politician-thrives on the limelight.” Let’s get real. We put these people there. We want to know about their private lives for our own voyeristic apetites.

What the author doesn’t bring up when he focuses on the apparently luxurious lifestyle of politicians is the fact that they deal with very high-pressure issues that affect people, must maintain very robust travel schedules that take them away from their families, and must regularly try to keep apathetic voters involved.

My limited time in Washington, D.C. and my study of political science in a democracy have taught me that certain truths are what they are: It takes money to run a campaign — cost of TV and other things — it is a high-pressure job — we had to shut down military bases and put people out of work. And, as Senator Warner just said, must fly to places around the world on a moment’s notice, jump out of helicopters, and study extensively on controversial issues six to seven days a week.

Public service in a democracy is hard work, and the author ought to be a bit more balanced and, dare say, appreciative of those who take up the challenges it demands. When only 20-40% of the voters even bother to show up for an election, the complaints about politicians — whatever their failings — ring a bit hollow.

Correct, but there is a law against disorderly conduct, and here it is in case you were wondering. (assuming he was charged with the MN state code and not a local ordinance)

609.72 DISORDERLY CONDUCT.
Subdivision 1. Crime. Whoever does any of the following in a public or private place,
including on a school bus, knowing, or having reasonable grounds to know that it will, or will
tend to, alarm, anger or disturb others or provoke an assault or breach of the peace, is guilty of
disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor:
(1) Engages in brawling or fighting; or
(2) Disturbs an assembly or meeting, not unlawful in its character; or
(3) Engages in offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct or in offensive,
obscene, or abusive language tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger, or resentment in others.
A person does not violate this section if the person’s disorderly conduct was caused by
an epileptic seizure.
Subd. 2.[Repealed, 1969 c 226 s 1]
Subd. 3. Caregiver; penalty for disorderly conduct. A caregiver, as defined in section
609.232, who violates the provisions of subdivision 1 against a vulnerable adult, as defined in
section 609.232, may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a
fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

I don’t know about you, but I would be pretty alarmed and disturbed if the guy in the stall next to me was touching my foot and sticking his hand into my stall.

But our Guv is a Republican so it was pretty easy for the party to throw Craig under the bus. Politics is a nasty business.

What always seems odd to me is the obsession Republicans have about sex.