Mitt Romney, Meet Barry Goldwater

The Mr. Clean of Republican hopefuls gave his supporters a sample today of the moral probity he would bring to the White House.

Asked about the arrest of Sen. Larry Craig,” Mitt Romney told an interviewer, “Very disappointing. He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine...he was one of those who was helping my effort, and I'm sorry to see that he has fallen short.”

After unloading Craig, Romney went on to link him to Bill Clinton and “the fact that he let us down in his personal conduct with a White House intern” and sum up his feelings about their disappointing behavior, “Frankly, it's disgusting.”

In 1964, three weeks before the election, Lyndon Johnson’s closest aide Walter Jenkins was arrested in the men’s room of a YMCA near the White House for doing what Craig is now alleged to have attempted.

Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate for President, refused to comment. In his autobiography, Goldwater late wrote, "It was a sad time for Jenkins' wife and children, and I was not about to add to their private sorrow. Winning isn't everything. Some things, like loyalty to friends or lasting principle, are more important."

But that was before the term “compassionate conservative” had been invented.