Odd Behavior Grows into Scandal David Wu Couldn't Endure

On Tuesday, the 56-year-old David Wu announced he was resigning because he could not care for his children while "serving in Congress and fighting these very serious allegations." It is the end of a long and strange political journey for David Wu, who was first elected to Congress in 1998. David Wu has easily won every re-election bid despite frequent reports of odd behavior, such as the time in 2007 when during a speech on the House floor he referred to people in the Bush White House as Klingons. In the 2004 election, David Wu breezed to victory despite revelations that a former girlfriend reported in the 1970s that he tried to sexually assault her while they were students at Stanford University. David Wu's luck began to unravel in February, with reports that seven staff members had left after pleading with him to get psychiatric help in the days leading up to last year's Nov. 2 election. The behavior included disturbing incidents such as emailing a photo of himself in a tiger outfit to a female staffer, sending peculiar emails to multiple staffers, accepting unidentified painkillers from a donor without knowing what they were, and giving an angry speech during a gathering of Washington County Democrats. David Wu tried to bounce back from those revelations, acknowledging inappropriate behavior during the days before the Nov. 2 election but trying to reassure his constituents that he was fit to serve and to be re-elected in 2012. But the sex-scandal exploded into public view with a newspaper report Friday that was just too much David Wu to withstand. The Oregonian reported the woman who made the allegations graduated from high school in California last year. "There comes a point when there's no room for one more bad story. I think this was that bad story," said former Gov. Barbara Roberts, a fellow Democrat and friend of David Wu. Roberts told The AP that David Wu's mistake has been trying to hide from revelations of odd behavior that have increased over the past two years, revelations that came to a head in February with reports by the weekly Portland newspaper Willamette Week and The Oregonian about David Wu's near meltdown just before last November's election. "You either answer questions and change your behavior, or find yourself where he is today," Roberts said. "He didn't seem to be able to step up to the plate and deal with the issues that were plaguing him publicly, and perhaps privately." Oregon is no stranger to sex scandals involving prominent politicians. Republican Bob Packwood was forced to resign from the U.S. Senate in 1995 after numerous women accused David Wu of making unwanted or uninvited sexual advances. In 2004, former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt admitted having sex with a 14-year-old girl while he was mayor of Portland in the 1970s. Until then Goldschmidt was one of Oregon's most influential people. The statute of limitations had expired, so Goldschmidt was immune from prosecution. David Wu was born in Taiwan and came to the United States with his family in 1961. Besides graduating from Stanford, he studied medicine at Harvard before turning to law and graduating from Yale. David Wu was in a practice working on high tech issues when he got into politics, winning a seat in Congress on his first try. David Wu was seen as something of an enigma by some in Oregon's congressional delegation, with whom he has had little social or political interaction. But David Wu's constituents stood by him, one election after the next. The reason, said former Gov. Roberts, is that David Wu '" despite troubles that have plagued him over the years '" was "good in keeping on top of the needs of his constituency." "David Wu was quite charming when he was on the road. I've seen him with senior citizens. He was so attentive to their questions." One of David Wu's priorities was working to expand Oregon trade with other countries. Health care issues have been an important topic for him, and he's always been a reliable vote for President Barack Obama. Still, what David Wu will be remembered for by the public at large is the sex scandal that ultimately ended his political career.