Condit strategist concedes electorate anger

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Embattled Rep. Gary Condit must overcome an increasingly disconcerted, disconnected constituency to win re-election next year, a top political strategist to the California Democrat said Sunday.

"There's no question that there's a rupture," Richard Ross said in an interview with ABC's "This Week." "There's no question people are angry. No one's naive here.

"The question is, is the relationship strong enough to heal itself. You've got a year. It's a long time, as you know."

Several polls have shown Condit has lost support among constituents since coming under fire for his relationship with Chandra Levy, a former Bureau of Prisons intern missing since April 30.

Levy, 24, had an affair with Condit, 53 and married, according to her family. Police sources said Condit admitted to the affair in the third or his four interviews with law enforcement authorities.

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Police have never named any suspects in the missing persons investigation because, they said, there is no indication of foul play.

Ross, who has run every Condit race since 1982, said the lawmaker has stayed silent about the Levy investigation because he wanted to let the investigation "play itself out."

Despite his public silence and calls for his resignation by some California newspapers, Condit is proceeding with his re-election and plans to hold a fund-raiser in October.

Ross called the lawmaker a "tough guy" and appeared to dismiss criticism some Republican operatives have raised about Condit's morality.

"Who are they nominating, Mother Teresa?" Ross said. "I mean, at the end of the day, the election's going to be a choice between the two candidates."

Ross also took a hard line against many Democrats who initially defended Condit before backing off in recent weeks

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said Condit's behavior has undercut his credibility, and one Pennsylvania Democrat said Condit's constituents might be better represented by someone else.

Levy was last reported seen April 30.

"One thing Gary's demonstrated over the years is he really doesn't give a s--- about what the Democrats say," Ross said. "I mean, that's not going to be part of the equation."

Asked Sunday whether Condit should step aside from the House Intelligence Committee -- out of concerns he might be vulnerable to blackmail -- House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, stopped well short of an unqualified defense of the embattled lawmaker.

"Obviously, if he has broken rules or done something that's wrong, he will have to stand the consequences," Gephardt said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"And politically he has to stand the consequences with his constituents in California, who he is going to talk to in the next few days. But to rush to judgment now and say we know this or that or the other, we don't know a lot of these facts. A lot of it has been rumor and innuendo."

Gephardt said Condit was trustworthy and a man of honor.

"He is, and further than that, if he were subject to blackmail, it would have been before a lot of this stuff was publicly known," said Gephardt, adding that Condit was "worried and concerned" about Levy's disappearance.

Lanny Davis, who served as special counsel in the Clinton White House, said he thought Condit should not seek re-election because of his refusal to initially level with police over the true nature of his relationship with Levy.

"He cannot erase that, whether he's innocent or not -- and I assume he is," Davis said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"He cannot erase the fact that he put his privacy rights ahead of the need to find that young woman."