Last Call

Oregon Democratic Rep. David Wu is resigning in the wake of an increasingly strange sexual harassment issue with the teenaged granddaughter of a fundraiser that supposedly took place at Thanksgiving last year.

It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be a United States Congressman. Rare is the nation in which an immigrant child can become a national political figure. I thank God and my parents for the privilege of being an American.

Now, however, the time has come to hand on the privilege of high office. I cannot care for my family the way I wish while serving in Congress and fighting these very serious allegations.

The scandal itself is pretty bizarre:

Democratic Rep. David Wu admitted to a senior Democrat that he “did not use good judgment” during a sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a family friend last Thanksgiving, although he claimed to have “done nothing illegal.”

Wu made the comment to Rep. John Larson (Conn.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, during a 40-minute meeting the two men had Monday afternoon.

Wu refused to answer any press questions about the alleged “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage girl as he left the House floor Monday evening

“I’m trying to take care of the interests of my family,” Wu said. He then drove off in the car of Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.).

As of yesterday, Wu was not expected to resign. Then this Survey USA poll came out this morning in his district:

The tide of public opinion in U.S. Rep. David Wu’s congressional district has turned squarely against him after a report that a young woman accused him of an unwanted sexual encounter came to light last week, a KATU News/Survey USA poll found Monday.

In the poll, a full 75 percent of the 500 registered voters surveyed in the 1st Congressional District want the seven-term Democrat to quit when asked if he should remain in office or resign.

Wu it seems is not going to be stupid enough to pull a total Weiner here.  He says he will resign as soon as the debt ceiling problem is resolved, but there's not really any reason for him to stay, the House would still need 217 votes to pass anything even with Wu's resignation.

Anyway, there's no way he would survive this one, and frankly it's the right thing to do.