When the fallout of Anthony Weiner’s non-sex “sex” scandal forced him to drop out of office, I was dead against it. Others disagreed but, to me, this was yet one more example of a competent, highly motivated politician who was forced into an unwitting morality clause.
What does Eliot Spitzer’s sex life have to do with the governorship of New York? Nothing. Why should General Petraeus’s affair force him out of a position he’s great at? It shouldn’t. And why should the country lose one of its greatest contemporary presidents because of an Oval Office blow job? Even Clinton’s former enemies now admit the impeachment was a mistake…
Well, take all that and multiply it for the case of Anthony Weiner. All the man did was send some embarrassing pictures of himself to some attention-seeking “fans” on twitter (with followers like this, who needs enemies?), and then have the unfortunate burden of his last name being Weiner. It was a ready-made scandal that wouldn’t die “Big Weiner Sends Out Pick of Little Wiener,” but it was fully contemporary in that there was no actual sex involved. Never has one man lost so much for so little return.
Well, now Anthony Weiner is back, and (supposedly) he’s thinking about a return to public office. He’s in the middle of a publicity blitz that hopes to restore his public image, mend fences, and eventually win him the office of Mayor of New York City. Hoo-rah!
I think the populist, economically liberal Weiner is the exact right mayor for New York at this time. The city has had twenty years of authoritarian, mega-rich rule. Yes, Rudy Giuliani and Bloomberg (both of whom are Republicans…so even the “liberal” haven that is NYC is more open minded than most red states) have had some major victories as mayor. But they’ve also overly catered to an elite 0.001 percent that basically runs the city. Soon, Manhattan won’t have a middle-class and Brooklyn won’t have a lower-class, both sets forced to seek out cheaper rent in upstate New York or lower New Jersey. And I think Anthony is the right candidate to reverse that trend.