Craig, ‘08 Senate Losers Still Around

Those walking around the halls of Congress on Monday afternoon were treated to a peculiar sighting as Former Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), long ago disgraced in a bizarre airport bathroom scandal and two-years removed from office, rode the subway that runs beneath the Capitol. He was, he said, “making the rounds” to see former Senate colleagues. From which CNN reported that the Idaho Republican was now a lobbyist, free to talk shop with Congress members after waiting through a cooling off period. Craig’s firm, New West Strategies, wouldn’t actually confirm lobbying was now part of his portfolio. “I didn’t say that,” said Mike Ware, a principal at New West, adding, with emphasis, that “the cooling off period IS over.” But the mere spotting of Craig back on the Hill was enough to raise alarms from those good-government groups who see danger in the coercive influence former members can have on old colleagues/ Sam Stein , Huffington Post. More here .

Question: Do you think former Idaho U.S. senator Larry Craig is an effective lobbyist, given his personal baggage from his last year-plus in office?