The Slatest

Mike Crapo Re-Endorses Donald Trump, Inspiring No Puns Whatsoever

Sen. Mike Crapo has a really odd name, but one that is also hard to make fun of.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In the hours after Donald Trump was revealed to have boasted that he would kiss women and “grab them by the pussy” without their consent, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo was one of the earliest of a number of Republican political leaders to revoke their support for the GOP presidential nominee.

“This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, but his pattern of behavior has left me no choice,” read a statement announcing Crapo’s apparently principled stand. “His repeated actions and comments toward women have been disrespectful, profane and demeaning.”

Crapo has now had another change of heart. On Monday, Politico reported that Crapo had released another statement stating that he would in fact be voting for Trump.

Again, this stood in stark contrast to his statement earlier this month that indicated he felt that Trump’s now infamous hot mic moment in 2005 was more than just “locker room talk,” the excuse the candidate has stuck by even as a flood of accusers have come forward to say they were attacked by Trump in exactly the way he described.

“I have spent more than two decades working on domestic violence prevention,” Crapo said at the time of his unendorsement. “Trump’s most recent excuse of ‘locker room talk’ is completely unacceptable and is inconsistent with protecting women from abusive, disparaging treatment.”

There has been no public polling of the Senate race in Idaho, a deep red state that hasn’t elected a Democratic Senator since 1974. The three-term Republican incumbent is running against businessman Jerry Sturgill for a seat that electoral prognosticator and academic Larry J. Sabato has continued to list as “safe” for Crapo and the GOP. It’s possible that Crapo felt squeezed by Republican voters that still strongly back Trump and more moderate voters who have been turned off by the assault talk and accusations, and opted to go with the base. Still, it’s hard to say what’s behind Crapo’s sudden shift. The move does seem especially craven, though, given what should be a solid Crapo seat.

One thing’s for sure, there should be some sort of expression for what Crapo has been doing this election cycle that might also serve as an interesting play on his very unusual name. But it’s really, really hard to think of one.

I mean, what do you call someone who promises one thing based on what he claims are sincerely held beliefs and then does the exact opposite thing?

Or if only there was an idiom for someone who struggles to conclusively make up his mind on a matter for an absurd period of time?

Or a phrase to describe someone who is “totally or utterly worthless, contemptible, or of very poor quality.”

Anyways, if you can think of ways to describe Mike Crapo’s indecision that also might serve as a fun bit of wordplay, please leave them in the comments below, because we are at a complete loss.

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.