Anthony Weiner's lessons learned from experience
Despite calls for him to step aside following new sexting revelations, embattled New York City mayoral candidate and former Congressman Anthony Weiner vowed to push forward with his campaign, with his wide by his side. (July 24) Credit: Getty Images
From the latest revelations about Anthony Weiner, aka Carlos Danger, aka Huma's Husband, arise five quick lessons:
1. One's personality doesn't suddenly change between ages 46 and 48. Weiner's strongest incentive to run was that the pre-scandal $4 million he collected for the 2009 mayor's race must be used by this year under city campaign finance rules. For "Carlos Danger," his pseudonym in recent sexts, it's dollars over redemption.
2. "Good Wife" Huma Abedin may see wisdom and reward in her mentor Hillary Rodham Clinton's having borne the embarrassment of her husband's hobbies. Purposefully or not, her public presence prompts the question: Might Mrs. Weiner run for office one day herself? If so, she may wish to invest in new speechwriters. The phrase she used Tuesday, "between us and our marriage," makes no sense.
3. As stated here before, ex-Rep. Weiner elevates the moral standing of his rivals just by showing up. Other than having presented some clever "issues" gimmicks -- like charging smokers extra for health insurance -- his campaign has, most of all, been about testing his ability to get over on the public.
4. Telling people you've been in some kind of therapy doesn't mean you're ready to take over a huge elected job, the likes of which you've never had. Weiner correctly said this week that the revelation of his sexting and photo-sending in 2012 "does not represent all that much that is new." Nor does his behavior, it seems. "Do me a solid," he wrote his 22-year-old email pal in question. "Could you hard-delete all our chats?"
5. There's probably more silliness to look forward to from "Carlos Danger" or whatever he chooses to call himself.
Further evidence that this campaign is about little more than vanity and opportunity arrived in one of Abedin's statements during their unique news conference Tuesday. She said her spouse "made some horrible mistakes" before and after he quit Congress.
If Weiner is admittedly prone to making "horrible mistakes" on a personal level, what tells us his poor judgment will not extend to matters of policing, public health, schools and hiring the right bureaucrats needed to run all three?
In a way, the Tweeter Formerly Known as Weiner may be learning from experience. This time he refrained from running to TV news shows claiming he was "hacked." That lie didn't work the last time he used it.
