'Today' Does the Dirty Work So Dems Don't Have to

After the "Today" show aired yet another portion of Matt Lauer's prime time interview with Larry Craig and his wife, NBC's Meredith Vieira asked Tim Russert to analyze the ramifications the Craig scandal could have on Republicans in '08 and noted that the Democrats had "been quiet so far." The "Meet the Press" host responded by highlighting the obvious harm the Craig scandal could have on the GOP but observed the Democrats felt "it's best left unspoken." Of course that's easy for the Democrats to do when NBC News is doing all the speaking about Craig for them. So far "Today" has buttressed Lauer's Tuesday night prime time special with four segments on Craig in the past two days alone.

The following is the relevant exchange from the October 17, "Today" show:

Meredith Vieira: "Does it hover over other politicians as well? We have an election, obviously, coming up in 2008. Will this have any impact on either the, the Republicans who are running or the Democrats?"

Tim Russert: "Well we learned in 2006 with Congressman Mark Foley of Florida, the whole page scandal, and there can be ramifications. The Democrats will use this as an issue."

Vieira: "But they've been quiet so far, haven't they?"

Russert: "Of course, they want this issue to continue to fester from a political standpoint. Because every time the Republicans raise the issue of traditional family values, they'll say, 'Really? Is that what Larry Craig represents? And why aren't you Republicans dealing with this internal issue in your party? Why is he still a U.S. Senator?' It's best left unspoken by the Democrats, they believe."