Supporters who sympathized with Idaho Sen. Larry Craig as he announced his “intent to resign from the Senate” under pressure from national GOP leaders who pushed him to step down may be feeling misled today, political scientist Jim Weatherby says, at the news - backed up by Craig's wrong-number voice mail message - that Craig word-smithed his Saturday announcement at the last minute by adding the word “intent” to leave the door open to staying in office. “I’m wondering now if a lot of that good feeling will dissipate as people discover that his so-called resignation statement wasn’t what it appeared to be,” Weatherby said. “A statement like that is more appropriate for a debate or the courtroom, it seems to me, than communicating with your constituents. … Some will continue to defend him, who will focus more on the harsh tactics of the GOP leadership, but others, I think, will be turned off by this latest word game.”

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