Romney Drops Craig from Campaign Like a Hot Potato

By Rick Moran

Hoping to lance a political boil on his campaign as well as distance himself from trouble, presidential candidate Mitt Romney made it clear in an interview on CNBC that what the Senator did in that Minneapolis airport restroom was wrong and that elected officials should hold themselves to the highest ethical standards possible:

In his interview on CNBC's Kudlow & Company (which will air later this afternoon), Mitt Romney had some sharp words for Sen. Larry Craig, who had endorsed the former Massachusetts governor's presidential campaign and was his Idaho chairman. "Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence. Very disappointing. He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine... I'm sorry to see that he has fallen short."

Pretty harsh words for a man who was one of his earliest supporters. But Romney, behind in national polls to Rudy Giuliani, can't afford to be seen defending someone whose behavior has raised questions about his personal ethics.

Romney went on to criticize Craig in the context of similar scandals involving former Congressman Mark Foley and Bill Clinton:

"I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we'll just forgive and forget. And the truth of the matter is, the most important thing we expect from elected--an elected official is a level of dignity and character that we can point to for our kids and our grandkids, and say, `Hey, someday I hope you grow up and you're someone like that person."

No word on who will replace Craig as Romney's Senate co-chair.

Hat Tip: Richard Baehr