MUSINGS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

What a week for politics. We started with the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General of the United States. The President of the United States said that Gonzales was hounded out of office. I suspect he is right. Nevertheless, that doesn't change the fact that Mr. Gonzales was probably one of the most incompetent Attorney Generals the country has ever had. No one disputes that Gonzales is a really nice guy. He just didn't seem to have any idea of how to run the Justice Department. At times, he seemed almost incoherent. I'm glad he chose to resign, and did so with dignity.

Then we had the nightmare of Larry Craig. On August 27, I joined those calling for Senator Craig to resign. As the scandal developed, and it became clear that no one in the Republican Party would support Craig, I began to think about his situation. How was Senator Craig's conduct different from that of Senator Vitter, Congressman Kennedy, or any other Congressman or Senator involved in an illegal activity? I found myself wondering exactly what was his crime? He plead guilty to disorderly conduct. What had he done that was disorderly? If a guy goes to a bar and tries to pick up a woman or even another guy, is that against the law? If a girl goes to a mall and tries to pick up a guy or another girl, what law is she violating?

Senator Craig should have known better. I think he is guilty of violating the law of stupidity. But it seems like he paid an awfully steep price for being stupid. The Republican Party acted very quickly in this matter, and in an almost vicious manner. Republican leadership immediately called for an ethics investigation, then they stripped him of his committee assignments, then they really started playing hardball with him. The RNC let it be known that unless he resigned, they would not provide him with any funds for a re-election campaign. In fact, they would urge Republicans not to contribute to his campaign, and would actively recruit a Republican to run against him.

It seems to me the Republicans rushed to judgment, and in fact, panicked. That's not exactly the kind of leadership I am looking for from our top Republicans. As I listened to the tape recording of the police interrogation, I couldn't help but think back to my days as a defense attorney. Or the many clients I had who thought they could handle their situation without an attorney. Was it stupid for Craig to talk to an undercover police officer, or to plead guilty without the advice of an attorney? Absolutely. Is he guilty of what he plead guilty to? I'm not so sure. Foot tapping, hand gestures, placing a suitcase in front of a stall door, even peeking into an occupied stall. It's a real stretch to say that was lewd conduct or that he was trying to solicit sex. He certainly wasn't guilty of disorderly conduct. Although I still think that Senator Craig did the right thing from a political standpoint in resigning, actually the only thing he could do, I think the Republican Party would have been far better off to let Craig and the voters of Idaho deal with this issue.

The third big story of the week was the announcement by my political hero, Fred Thompson that he is going to enter the Presidential race. Senator Thompson has announced that he will formally enter the race on September 6. All of his supporters have been waiting anxiously for this day. Why? Because we think Fred Thompson is the right man for this moment in time. He is the effective communicator, the man who will level with the American people. He has unique ideas for where he wants to take our country in the coming years.

Senator Thompson is not an apologist for America. He believes that we are the greatest country in the world, and that we don’t have to apologize to anyone for that. I agree with Senator Thompson. It will be terrific to have him get into the race. We will finally have a candidate who can win and who can lead our country.

There is another big story that is going to have far greater political ramifications than Alberto Gonzales or Larry Craig. The Democratic National Committee voted to demand that the Florida State Democratic party change the date of its primary or lose all of its delegates to the national convention. Why? Because the Florida State Legislature, which is controlled by the Republican Party, voted to change the date of the Florida Presidential primary to January 29. Under DNC rules that is a violation.

Howard Dean and the rest of the DNC voted to strip the Florida Democrats of all of their delegates to the Democratic National Convention unless the Florida State Democratic Committee changed the date to February 5th or later. The problem with that is that the FDNC has no power to do so. Sure, they can change their date, but only if they pay for the complete expense of holding the Democratic primary on a different date than the Legislature voted to hold it on, at a cost to the FDNC of several million dollars. Of course the FDNC can't afford to do that.

So, what have the Democrats done? Well, so far, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd have all said they will not campaign in states that are holding primaries before February 5. Of course that includes Florida. How is that going to play to the Democrats in Florida and in all the other states that have already decided to hold early primaries? Not very well.

I talked to a voter in Florida today about the action by the Democratic Presidential candidates. Here is what he told me: I am a lifelong Democrat, a Union person, I have donated to Democratic candidates, worked for Democratic candidates, and voted for every Democrat running for President since 1964. If the 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates boycott the State of Florida because of the actions of the State Legislature, I will switch my registration to Republican and I will never again vote for a Democrat. If they think so little of the Democratic voters in the state of Florida that they will deny us a voice at the convention, then I have been wrong in supporting Democrats and will not make that mistake again. I suspect that there are millions of Florida Democrats who feel the same way.

Good move, Howard Dean