Larry Craig's sex life: The Holy Grail of Idaho journalism
Posted August 28, 2007
More than a decade ago, I worked as political reporter in Idaho. Part of my job was to cover U.S. Sen. Larry Craig.
I never pulled any punches. A brand-new rookie reporter at the Twin Falls Times-News, I heard Craig dismissing New Yorkers' environmental concerns: "It isn't a New York City problem," he told admirers in 1994. "The only endangered species in New York City is probably a free white human being."
Given Idaho's reputation as a haven for white supremacists and militiamen, I thought the quote was newsworthy. I published it and it spread like wildfire, appearing days later in "Time" magazine.
I felt comfortable with the story -- even though it infuriated Sen. Craig. But two years later, when I was working at the Idaho Statesman, another Craig-related story popped up -- one that made me really uncomfortable.
Rumors had been around for years that Craig was gay. And some Idaho journalists were eager to find out if the rumors were true -- and print them.
Because Craig had voted against "gay rights' legislation, some reporters considered his sexual orientation to be fair game. I felt like Sen. Craig's sex life should be off-limits -- as long as he obeyed the law.
As I recall, during the 1996 campaign I was instructed to ask Sen. Craig about the rumors that he was gay. I asked as discretely as possible -- during a lengthy interview when there weren't plenty of people eavesdropping. I think I apologized for having to broach the subject. He denied the allegations. I felt sleazy even raising the topic.
That was the end of the matter for me, but other reporters continued digging -- off and on for over a decade. It was like the Holy Grail of Idaho journalism -- to figure out Larry Craig's sexual proclivities.
Late last year, a blogger, citing unnamed sources, accused Craig of being gay. In response, Idaho reporters launched one final crusade to uncover Craig's sexual appetites.
No one worked harder than Dan Popkey of the Idaho Statesman. In today's edition, Popkey says he interviewed 300 people about Craig's sex life. [I was one of the 300 he called...] Popkey spent months on the story and made two trips to Washington, D.C. in pursuit of the rumors.
But, as fate would have it, Roll Call magazine ended up breaking the story about an Idaho Senator being arrested in a Minneapolis restroom...