Guilty plea did Craig in

A lead Republican said Craig's guilty plea is what pushed the GOP's call for his ouster.

By LARRY MARGASAK

Associated Press

Craig

WASHINGTON -- A GOP leader on Sunday denied a double standard in pushing Sen. Larry Craig to resign after a sex sting guilty plea while remaining silent about GOP Sen. David Vitter's involvement with an escort service.

A senior Democrat said a double standard by Republican leaders is exactly what occurred.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the Senate Republican campaign chairman, said Craig "admitted guilt.

That is a big difference between being accused of something and actually admitting guilt."

"David Vitter never did that. Larry Craig did," continued Ensign on ABC's "This Week."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed a contrary view on "Fox News Sunday."

"One, I say there's a double standard," Leahy said. "Secondly, I don't think they'll ask him (Vitter) to resign because, of course, he'd be replaced by a Democrat. It's easier to ask Larry Craig to resign because he'd be replaced by a Republican."

Idaho has a Republican governor who will appoint a successor to Craig. Louisiana's governor is a Democrat.

Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a men's restroom and announced Saturday he will leave the Senate at the end of the month. He was caught in a sex sting at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in June and, despite his guilty plea, now insists he did nothing wrong.

Vitter has not been charged with a crime, although he acknowledged his Washington telephone number was among those called several years ago by an escort service.

Prosecutors say the escort service was a prostitution ring and have accused the woman who headed it of racketeering.

Craig's conduct was "embarrassing not only to himself and his family but to the United States Senate," Ensign said. Before Craig's announcement, Ensign had strongly suggested that he resign.

Another Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said on "Fox News Sunday" that Craig should seek to vindicate himself.

"I'd like to see Larry Craig seek to withdraw the guilty plea and fight the case," said Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated."

Regardless of any legal developments in Craig's case, Republicans clearly would frown on Craig changing his mind about quitting the Senate on Sept. 30.

Ed Gillespie, President Bush's counselor and a former chairman of the Republican Party, acknowledged that ethical scandals have hurt the GOP. He predicted that by 2008, the party "will not have candidates who have any kind of ethical considerations that will be a concern to the voters."

Gillespie agreed with Ensign that Craig's guilty plea made his case different from that of Vitter.

"The fact is that Sen. Craig pled guilty to a crime, and therefore was convicted of a crime," Gillespie said. "Sen. Vitter has not been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one. So there's a pretty big distinction here."