Senator Larry Craig’s Appeal Denied… Tried To Withdraw Guilty Plea

MINNEAPOLIS — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has lost his latest attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport men’s room sex sting that effectively ended his Senate career.

A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the Republican’s bid to toss out his disorderly conduct conviction.

Craig still has the option of appealing to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and he said Tuesday he was considering future options.

Craig was arrested June 11, 2007, by an undercover police officer who was conducting a sting operation against men cruising for gay sex at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

He quietly pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and paid a fine, but changed his mind after word of his arrest became public that August. Craig insisted he was innocent and said he was not gay. His attorney argued that the police officer misconstrued Craig’s foot-tapping, hand movements and other conduct.

But the case brought widespread ridicule and effectively ended his political career.

Craig lost several GOP leadership positions in the wake of the scandal, and the Senate Ethics Committee said in February that Craig had brought discredit on the Senate. The committee members said they believed he was guilty, and that his attempt to withdraw his plea was just an effort to evade the legal consequences of his own actions.

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/senator-larry…

Arnie becomes target of conservatives

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed Proposition 8, has openly hoped that courts will now overturn it and has encouraged opponents to “never give up.”

In the process, he’s ignited a battle within his own party.

Christian conservatives are using him as a foil, to claim that they, not the Republican governor, represent the party base.

That Schwarzenegger is “condoning street protests and supporting judicial activist scams to overturn a popularly approved state constitutional amendment approaches advocacy of anarchy,” said an action alert from the Family Research Council, which urges conservatives to contact Schwarzenegger’s office.

With Republicans out of power in both houses of Congress and the White House, party faithful are focusing on the future of the GOP. It’s a position that’s pitting some Republican moderates – including Schwarzenegger – against social conservatives.

Some GOP leaders believe the social conservatives are holding the party back. Christie Whitman, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bush, co-wrote a Washington Post opinion piece that said the party has been held hostage to social conservatives. She described Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s selection as Arizona Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential candidate as a “cynical sop to social fundamentalists, reinforcing the impression that they control the party, with the party’s consent.”

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Rep. Peter King of New York – all moderate Republicans – each won re-election in a tough year. Each has said the party needed to broaden its base. All three are under attack for saying so.

“What doesn’t work is drawing a harsh ideological line in the sand,” said Collins.

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