In spite of his wide stance defense that turned Idaho into a national joke, Sen. Larry Craig got people to their toe-tapping in feet to applaud the three-term Republican.

As if suffering from short-term memory loss, the party loyalists attending the Mini-Cassia Lincoln Day Luncheon in Burley, Idaho, still consider Craig their hero.

GOP headliners at the event included a whos-who of wingnuts, including Lt. Gov. Jim Risch who is seeking Craig’s senate seat. There was no word if Risch drove to the event or flew there on a private corporate jet compliments of Melaleuca millionare, Frank VanderSloot.

Other Republican luminaries who managed to avoid being seen in public with Craig until now included Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Mike Simpson.

For those who need a reminder, it was Sen. Crapo who served as the messenger boy dispatched by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to tell Craig to resign immediately.

And more recently, it was Congressman Simpson who was the recipient of the “Idaho Travel Package“ while he was onboard a plane heading to a GOP junket to the Middle East.

The “Travel Package” was a joke by fellow Rep.Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) that targeted Craig’s bathroom arrest, while having the side impact of insulting gays in Montana.

The package that Rehberg left on Simpson’s seat contained a toy stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it, a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language and a T-shirt that reads, “My senator may not be gay, but my governor is Butch.”

Gov. Otter apparently avoided the luncheon and sent a DVD featuring his greetings in his place. Nothing like a DVD to make you feel special and all warm inside.