From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:
—On Sen. Larry Craig—
HUME: You don’t think he can survive this?
BILL SAMMON: I do not think so. I think, ultimately, that seat will stay Republican, because it is a very red state, but I think this scandal could hurt Republicans nationally like the Foley scandal hurt Republicans nationally in the ‘06 elections. So it has ramifications beyond his state. . . .
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: The Foley scandal is what is informing the Republican leadership’s action. It is true that it happened late in the campaign, but it had a poisonous effect. Everybody assumes the election of ‘06 was all about Iraq, but it was tainted by the corruption charges, many of which had not really stuck until the Foley incident happened.
And I think it cast a pall over the Republicans in the House, and I think it contributed heavily to the loss of both houses. And the Republican leadership in the Senate, facing a tough year next year — the Iraq War is an issue, the president’s unpopularity is an issue, the instability in housing is an issue — they do not want to have this hanging on them. And they want to get rid of this senator.
—On Iraq and Iran—
SAMMON: I think Ahmadinejad said essentially the same thing that Bush said today.
Bush was talking about the Sunni and the Shiite streams of terrorism, saying that they will go to war with each other if we pull out prematurely. And Ahmadinejad is saying that once this power void happens, not only will we come in with the Shiites, but the Saudis will come in with the Sunnis. He is saying exactly what Bush is saying.
So, if you are a Democrat, and you want to end this war, that is bad news to have Ahmadinejad openly telegraph that we are going to fill the void. That is akin to us openly telegraphing a date certain for withdrawal.
It was foolish of Ahmadinejad to say that. It bolstered Bush’s case. It makes it harder for Democrats to pull out of this thing next month. . . .
KRAUTHAMMER: I think Democrats are going to be worried pursuing a rapid withdrawal for those reasons, and also because of successes that we are having on the ground. It would abort that and they would pay a heavy penalty, I think.