Craig may not resign

When it rains...well, look at this [5]:

Just when Republicans thought things could not get much worse for their scandal-stained party, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig leaked word Tuesday night that he is reconsidering his abrupt plan to resign from the Senate in the wake of his arrest in a police sex sting operation.

Top Republican strategists were neither delighted nor amused by the senator's decision to rethink retirement after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct following his arrest in a Minnesota airport men's bathroom.

GOP Senate sources said Tuesday night that Craig's staff was trying to tamp down the story because Craig still intends to resign but wants to retain the option of fighting the charges with a newly assembled, high-powered legal team.

It goes on:

A senior GOP Senate strategist said Republican leaders want him gone now and will press for him to keep his promise to resign. The strategist warned Craig is "losing any goodwill built up among his colleagues," adding, "He is simply a fish out of water, floundering right now to get his last gasp of political air."

"It simply defies reality," said a Senate GOP aide. "You can't make this up even if you are heavily medicated. The American people heard from Larry Craig that he would resign, and using the word 'intent' as a back door doesn't work with them." ...

The unexpected announcement caught fellow GOP senators and members of Craig's own crisis management team mostly by surprise and threatened to draw negative attention to the party at a time when it is preparing for big fights over the budget and the Iraq war.

"I think the episode is over," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said during a press conference earlier in the day. "We will have a new senator from Idaho at some point in the next month or so, and we are going to move on."

Sounds like Craig may have thought that, after opening the pressure valve with his "intend to resign" statement, he could see how really serious the leadership was/is about getting him out of Dodge. Maybe even call their bluff. If so, dumb move. This guy's toast. Not just with the leadership, (that would finance a primary challenger), but with conservatives in Idaho, (some of which would be happy to be the NRSC financed challeger).

Time to retire before you make any more enemies.