Career killer?

One of the produce industry's biggest champions in the Senate may be a lame duck. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Ida., is expected to announce in September whether he will run for reelection in 2008. However, recent events may have taken the drama out of it. This report in Roll Call details Craig's plea of disorderly conduct earlier this year related to an incident in a restroom of the Minneapolis Airport.
From the Roll Call story of Aug. 27:

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.

TK: Here is a link to the backstory about Sen. Craig, including previous murky allegations dating from more than 20 years ago. Here is coverage from today's Idaho Statesman. Obviously, Craig's GOP conservative family values work against him big time in this case, though it is not inconceivable that he could somehow get past this. It is unfortunate for the industry that Sen. Craig may be wounded and ineffective in advancing AgJobs and specialty crop priorities in the farm bill. In the words of one lobbyist, Craig has carried an " awful lot of the industry's water" in the U.S. Senate. "This is not helpful."