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Posts tagged: Larry Craig
There was a time when then-Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was dubbed the “cybersenator” because he was the first U.S. senator to send out podcasts. Now, it seems, our digital edge in the U.S. Senate has slipped. George Washington University and New York University’s Stern School of Business have completed a joint study that evaluated and ranked every senator for what it dubbed their “digital I.Q.,” or “online competence” based on presence on websites, social media following and sentiment, digital marketing aptitude and search engine optimization skills. Idaho’s results? Sen. Mike Crapo ranked 64th among the 100 senators, and Sen. Jim Risch ranked 93rd.
The top seven senators were dubbed “digital geniuses,” and were led by none other than Sen. John McCain, who famously said “I don’t email” during the 2008 presidential campaign. According to the study, he got his first Blackberry in January 2009 and “took to the Twittersphere,” and he now has 1.7 million Twitter followers and 630,000 Facebook “likes.” The other senators who got the “digital genius” designation were Sens. Jim DeMint, Scott Brown, Al Franken, John Cornyn, Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer. Republicans led Democrats in the study, with an average digital I.Q. 5.5 percent higher than their colleagues across the aisle. “Our thesis is that digital competence provides an opportunity for senators to authentically engage and mobilize voters and constituents,” wrote the two authors of the study, Scott Galloway, clinical associate professor of marketing at NYU Stern, and Doug Guthrie, dean of the George Washington School of Business.
So what’s the designation for our guys? Crapo’s score of 89 (McCain’s was 156) designates his digital I.Q. as “challenged.” And Risch? At a score of 68, he’s dubbed “feeble.”
Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s new consulting firm, New West Strategies, has been hired by Cassia and Minidoka counties to help Cassia County land a $300 million federal prison. The Twin Falls Times-News reports that both counties’ commissioners agreed Monday to pay Craig’s firm a monthly fee of $5,000 plus a $500 monthly travel budget. The city of Burley also plans to chip in for the contract. Craig, who retired from the Senate amid scandal after he was cited in a Minneapolis airport men’s room sex sting, formed the consulting firm this year with partner Michael Ware, his former chief of staff.
Craig initially said his firm likely would focus on energy issues, but its website says, “We provide strategic advice, guidance, and advocacy to companies, trade associations, and other clients on a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues.” Though Craig, as a former senator, is banned from lobbying for two years after leaving office, his associates can lobby. His firm’s website, which repeatedly refers to Craig as “Senator Larry E. Craig,” touts his service in the Senate and House, his committee assignments, and his “reputation as a stalwart against environmental extremism.”
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig now says he’s dropping his attempt to appeal his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting in Minnesota, according to the Associated Press. Here’s the AP news item:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A lawyer for former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig says they won’t ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to void Craig’s conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting. Minneapolis attorney Tom Kelly says he concluded that the state Supreme Court would not accept a petition for further review of the case, so it would be a futile exercise. He says that means the legal wrangling in the case is over. Thursday was the 30-day deadline for Craig to ask the high court to review a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that went against him.
The Idaho Republican was arrested in 2007 by an undercover police officer who was conducting a sting operation against men cruising for gay sex at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The senator quietly pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine, but changed his mind after word of his arrest became public. He insisted he was innocent and that he was not gay. He did not seek re-election.
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