Huckleberries: Craig interviews didn’t help him

In case you were wondering, Larry Craig didn’t help himself by pleading his case in two hours of interviews with KTVB in Boise and NBC’s Matt Lauer Tuesday night. The Demos had a field day with the interview double header. First, let’s hear from 1978 Coeur d’Alene High grad Bruce Reed, author of Slate’s Has Been column and former domestic adviser for President Clinton: “The most disturbing news in the Lauer interview is that Craig’s wife didn’t learn of his arrest until she heard about it on TV. His latest apology isn’t going to make her feel much better. ‘I should have told my wife. I should have told my kids. And most importantly, I should have told counsel.’ ” Continues Reed: “Forget ‘women and children first’ – that’s how they did damage control on the Titanic. These days, crisis has forced embattled Republicans to adopt a new definition of family values: first, tell the lawyers.” Jill Kuraitis, of New West Boise, said: “The stunning miscalculation that more exposure for Craig would ‘set the record straight’ defies common sense. It’s that when-you’re-in-a-hole-stop-digging thing.” Next, a word from the Idaho Statesman, the newspaper that Craig claims drove him to admit guilt when he was innocent: “It’s hard to dredge up sympathy for Craig. He squandered the most precious commodity any politician has: credibility.” In a neutral corner, Randy Stapilus, Idaho political observer emeritus, says that the Craig gambit may have helped a little – just a little – because it humanized haughty Craig. And made him more likable. But Idahoans weren’t won over. Eighty percent of the respondents to a Statesman online poll Wednesday said the Craig interviews hadn’t changed their minds about him. They were still against him. So much for continued effectiveness.