Courtesy of NBC Politics:
“I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down. But I've also learned some tough lessons,” the Democrat said in a video posted on his website late on Tuesday.
"I'm running for mayor because I've been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life," he added. “I hope I get a second chance to work for you."
The video, which features his son and wife Huma Abedin, an aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, focused on his middle-class roots in Brooklyn.
With this bold attempt at a comeback ahead of the primary in September, Weiner is hoping to erase the image of a tweeted crotch shot that precipitated his resignation.
Yeah that's NOT going to happen. In fact I think we can all count on seeing pictures of his Johnson showing up all over the place for the next several months.
For that reason alone I wish he wouldn't do this.
And his poor wife! This cannot be what SHE really wants, can it?
Especially considering the fact that when Hillary runs in 2016 she will most likely be associated with her campaign in some way. The last thing she needs is to be weighed down with her husband's baggage on the campaign trial.
Look I was as big fan as anybody of Anthony Weiner, but this just feels like train wreck just waiting to happen. If I'm wrong I will perform a mea culpa right here on this blog, but I just don't think I'm wrong here.
Oh, fuck it!
ReplyDeleteLet him try!
He didn't hike the Appalachian trail, you know! ;)
You beat me to it! "If it worked for Sanford...."
DeleteWe'll see how forgiving New Yorkers are!
3:15 - Not very. As a New Yorker, what disappointed me so much about what he did was that he:
Delete1. did something incredibly stupid and arrogant,
2. cheated on and humiliated his wife, and
3. denied it until he couldn't any more.
If he can't make sound and mature decisions about photographs of his genitals, I would have a hard time trusting him with my government. Once the trust is lost, it's very hard to get it back.
I agree with almost everything you said.
DeleteA. I believe he began the texts before his marriage.
B. There was no physical contact, just juvie behavior.
C. There has been much more egregious behavior from more stupid pols.
I like his politics, his wife overlooked his indiscretion...so can I.
I'm thinking he's in this for the long haul. This is just his first step in the long, long road to Redemption. (Isn't that a little east of Noo Yawk?)
ReplyDeleteReminds me of PeeWee Herman after his arrest.
ReplyDelete"Heard any good jokes lately?"
Well if David Vitter can hold his head up... (pun not intended)
Is he one-tone, or two-tone, that is the question...
DeleteYeah, but if Mark Sanford (hiking the Appalachian Trail) can win in SC, why not Anthony Weiner as Mayor of NYC. If the Republicans can do it, so can the Democrats!!! I say, Go For It Tony!
ReplyDeleteBecause New Yorkers aren't gullible or stupid?
DeleteDavid Vitter (he of the diapers changed by prostitutes) got a standing ovation from the gop when he returned to work!! Sanford was just re-elected. Why shouldn't the dems. welcome this man? He seems to honestly be sorry. McCain still shows up almost EVERY Sunday on TV, even after embarassing himself with his choice for VP.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, many Republican voters are only concerned that there is a capital R next to their candidate's name. That's as long as their attention span lasts.
DeleteI would hope Democrats are a little more discriminating!
Also remember how McCain narrowly escaped with a slap on the wrist for his part in the Savings and Loan Scandal back in 1989. Didn't stop him from running for POTUS twice!!!
DeleteI guess that if Mark Sanford could find redemption, Weiner figured that he could, too. After all, David Vitter and Larry Craig stuck it out, in spite of their scandals. What's a scandal these days? Maybe it has to be a big prostitution ring, involving people who are really connected. Maybe it could be the former governor, the one who quit, being investigated by the IRS. (She lives in fear of them. Fear and trembling-- what is she hiding?)
ReplyDeleteI like him and I don't care about where he puts his weiner as long as he does a good job, on the job. If his wife has decided to stay with him, that is her choice.
ReplyDeleteWell, if he was a republican he might win. Those silly liberals have too many morals.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes, THAT is what I'm trying to say!
DeleteI don't want the excuse for him running to be that "Well Republicans do it all the time."
I want us to be better than that!
Look I have made bad choices, and hope to make more in the future, but I am also not asking a bunch of people to let me represent them after embarrassing the hell out of my constituents the last time somebody trusted me in a similar position.
What about Bil
DeleteAs big a fan as I was of Weiner and the tremendous work he did in Congress, I think he needs to stay off of the campaign trail. There are many, many ways he can contribute and have a successful, productive career in public service without running for office.
ReplyDeleteHis son is way too young to be affected by any of the scandal, but I feel for his wife and the humiliation she experienced, and will experience again if he does this.
Republicans have a history of coming back after committing major transgressions (Mark Sanford, anyone?), but Democrats tend to see their political careers swirling down the drain after much lesser 'crimes'. His embarrassing example of poor judgement, and the initial denial, will likely haunt him for many years to come.
It's too bad because we need more people in Congress with his tenacity but it's going to be extremely difficult for him to get past this, especially this soon.
I think you're being a little harsh Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteBesides, let the people of New York choose. They have to live with it, you don't.
You have to live with the legacy of Sarah Palin in Alaska, and as far as I'm concerned THAT is far worse that what Anthony did.
I say let him run. If he wins then it will be a good thing for NY. If he loses, he'll try again. That's what politicians seem to do.
Obviously, his wife must be open to the idea, so who are you to get bent out of shape about this? If all of us were discarded from life for the mistakes that we've made, there would be no wisdom or hard earned experience to guide us. He deserves another shot.
And, like others have said, this redemption happens on the GOP side all the time, why not a Dem?
Agree.
DeleteI love my city, and I love my state. I'm proud as hell to be a new yorker, and it's because in new york, you can fuck up but still be redeemed. Don't get me wrong, I've taken some unfavorable turns in my life, and I've made some huge mistakes that have negatively impacted my life, but it was on the streets of NYC that I was given a second chance.
DeleteI don't care about Sanford. I don't care about republicans and their scandals. What I care about is Anthony Weiners wife, and if she forgave him or not.
We have to remember we are all human, not democrats or republicans. We make stupid choices. But we all deserve a chance to make it up to those we hurt, and if we can do good, we should do good.
For a short while, I was homeless. And I was homeless in the city that never sleeps. For a while, I felt like that held me back, like no one would want to ever give a girl who lived on the streets a chance. But I was given one, and I got back on my feet.
Anthony Weiner at least deserves a chance to make his case.
How Anthony Weiner Managed To Screw The NYC Tabloids
ReplyDeleteAnthony Weiner’s announcement of his long-rumored mayoral campaign sparked a media frenzy, but he managed to avoid seeing his face plastered on the front pages of the two tabloid newspapers that relentlessly lampooned him during the 2011 Twitter photo scandal that ended his congressional career. By launching his bid via a video posted on his website around midnight Wednesday Weiner prevented the New York Daily News and New York Post from featuring him and lewd puns on their covers, leaving staffers at the papers convinced it was a deliberate dodge.
Update: May 22, 2013 5:32 PM
When Weiner’s announcement video and revamped campaign site initially hit the web Tuesday night, they appeared to briefly be taken offline for many web users leading to speculation their release was premature. However, a source on the Weiner campaign told TPM the launch was always attended to occur overnight. According to the source, the website went offline multiple times over the course of the evening due to a large amount of web traffic from visitors flocking to the page. The campaign declined to comment about whether avoiding tabloid covers was part of the strategy behind the late night rollout.
Though Weiner’s campaign won’t say whether they purposefully left the Big Apple’s tabloids in the dark, a night editor who works at one of the two papers told TPM staffers there were certain Weiner’s timing was designed to shaft them.
“That’s exactly what he did,” the source said. “Everyone was pissed.”
Rather than Weiner, the cover of this morning’s Post featured a story about a fried chicken comment golfer Sergio Garcia made about Tiger Woods and an article about a threat Mayor Michael Bloomberg allegedly made to a taxi fleet manager who won a court victory against the city. The Daily News ran with a full-page spread on the Oklahoma tornado on its front page. Typically, the Post closes about 30 minutes to an hour after midnight while the News has a later close of approximately 2 a.m. Pages begin printing before those deadlines with the front covers coming last. Any changes close to the final close necessitate content being hastily designed and written and can cause pages throughout the paper to be moved to accomodate them. Running late results in high printer fees. The later close time allowed the Daily News to get its story about Weiner’s announcement onto the tenth page of a late edition.
Though Weiner didn’t make it into Wednesday’s covers of the Post or Daily News, the tabloids’ online coverage proved his launch would have been covered with lewd puns alluding to his scandalous past. The Post’s digital story on Weiner’s announcement was topped with the headline “leaked video bares bid” while the News originally went with the even more over-the-top headline “WEINER’S ALL IN! Disgraced politician officially thrusts his way into NYC mayoral race following weeks of speculation.”
Weiner might have managed to escape nasty newspaper covers on his first official day of campaigning, but our source said they expect the city’s tabloids to unleash plenty more R-rated puns in future coverage of his run.
“Don’t worry, we still have tons of weiner jokes,” they said.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/anthony-weiner-tabloid-covers-mayor.php
Anthony Weiner: I’m Focused On Middle Class Issues, Not The Clintons
ReplyDeleteAnthony Weiner talked to TPM Wednesday evening about his newly announced mayoral bid, his relationship with his wife’s bosses, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the crowd of reporters camped out in front of his apartment.
In the video that kicked off his campaign Tuesday, Weiner emphasized his roots as a “middle class kid in Brooklyn” and vowed to work to make New York the “middle class capital of the world.” He said that theme of fighting for the middle class will be a major focus of his run, as it has throughout his political career.
“I am who I am. You know, when I ran for mayor in 2005 and frankly just about everything I’ve done in my public life has been animated by the notion that, for those who are in the middle class and struggling to make it, things have gotten worse,” Weiner explained. “I’m the same guy and I think that a lot of these challenges have gotten even worse. But I’m not a different person in terms of the things I care about than I was in my whole career.”
Weiner demurred when asked whether the other candidates in the crowded mayoral election are also representing the needs of middle class New Yorkers.
“I’ll leave it to them to characterize their own campaigns,” he said.
Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, is a top aide to former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This Clinton connection resulted in substantial speculation about the state of Weiner’s relationship with the Clintons in the wake of the 2011 scandal that ensued when he admitted to sending lewd pictures to multiple women online. Earlier this week, both Bill and Hillary Clinton released statements saying they would not make any endorsement in the race. When we inquired about his relationship with the Clintons and what they thought about his campaign, Weiner said he never discussed the race with them or asked for their support.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t think there’s anyone in public life who I’ve kind of sought out their approval or even much advice. I know that I have to prove myself to my colleagues in government just as much as I do to the rest of New Yorkers,” said Weiner. “I wouldn’t even consider asking the Clintons for an endorsement or support in a race like this. I mean, obviously, the former president and the former secretary of state have bigger fish to fry.”
...Weiner will make his first campaign appearances tomorrow. He spent today inside his Manhattan apartment while a large group of reporters waited outside.
“I feel bad for them,” Weiner said of the media contingent in front of his building. “I have so many calls, it’s not a — it’s not intended to be an insult to them in any way. I had to do about 200 calls including this one.”
Though Weiner did not plan to come down and speak with the reporters, his director of communications, Barbara Morgan, brought them a pizza pie.
“I thought the very least we can do is make sure that they have something to eat,” said Weiner. “It was actually Barbara’s idea. If it were up to me, it would be more on the order of bread and water, but, no I jest. I know that you guys are just doing your job.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/anthony-weiner-focusing-on-middle-class-not-clintons.php
Ted Cruz embarrasses himself on the Senate floor. Again.
ReplyDelete...At the moment, on the Senate floor, a Republican-Democratic coalition is blowing up at a rump of conservative senators for trying to pose extra conditions on the budget process. What Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and Mike Lee want -- and have wanted -- is a guarantee that a debt limit increase cannot be included in the budget agreement that comes out of the House and Senate conference. It only takes 51 votes to pass a budget. Cruz, on the floor, has asked the Senate to preserve the "traditional 60-vote threshold" for raising the debt limit.
What is the basis for this "traditional 60-vote threshold" Cruz yearns for?
Nothing. He made it up.
Between 1939 and 2010, the debt ceiling was raised 89 times. How many of those increases were subjected to the "60-vote threshold"?
Zero.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/22/1210916/-Ted-Cruz-bossy-neophyte-living-in-a-private-reality-embarasses-himself-on-the-Senate-floor-Again
YEP! That's Sarah's sycophant.
Okay...I just gotta go there: I guess he wants to be an Oscar "Mayor" Weiner!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, would you rather have a closet-case psychopath who is subject to being blackmail bc of all of their skeletons that only their most powerful cronies can hold over their head... Or someone who has a world of talent and intelligence that has fucked up royally, is now tremendously humbled, yet still confident enough to take the heat as a leader?
ReplyDeleteWiener is not exactly a wilting violet, or whatever the tired old cliche is. He's a fighter, and I might give him a half a chance and hold his feet to the fire. But I'm not a New Yorker, do my opinion is based solely on my own experience.
Some people fold their tent and quit; others become obsessed with gaining the trust of others and keeping it by becoming 100% transparent. Personally, I'd rather see someone bust their ass with a second chance in life rather than to take an ass-whipping and not get up out of fear that someone is going to say something that will hurt their feelings or embarrass them.
What AW did was entirely stupid, but no worse than many who have re-gained the trust of their constituents If he can redeem himself, he'll do fine. Politics ain't beanbag. For all of those clutching their pearls right now in indignation, you're fooling no one but yourselves. I've seen it way too often... those who pretend to be the most righteous are anything but that which they pretend to be. I say that for the benefit of you trolls who pretend to be above it all, but all the while your sainted leader is the most corrupt, lying, self-serving grifter I've ever seen in action. Yes, she is. Don't try to deny that fact. Again? The only person stupid enough to believe otherwise is you and a couple of dozen dimwits who are a couple of years away (at most!) from having an attendant wipe the drool off their face twice an hour, and changing their diaper as seldom as they can get away with doing so.
Yep, that about covers it. I am in full agreement with you on all counts.
DeletePuns aside, Anthony Weiner a force in New York City mayor’s race
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/anthony-weiner-nyc-mayoral-race-91750.html?hp=f2
It's Politico. What else have they got?
DeleteTo be honest, Weiner (finally) owned up to his indiscretions better than President Clinton did. I never stopped supporting President Clinton and felt that his "scandal" was between him, Mrs. Clinton and Miss Lewinsky -- and I feel the same about Anthony Weiner and his "scandal".
ReplyDeleteAs long as he can do the job he was elected to do effectively, I say let's leave it to the voters to decide.
At least he has some balls, more Dems need to have some balls to stand up to the neocon asshats out there. Jesse, I think you are wrong on this one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Weiner has balls, he put them on the internet for all to see while being a representative of his state and the people that voted for him. GOOO WEINER MAN! Keep on showing some balls!
DeleteI agree with you, Hugh. I think all this only came out because he was the only Democrat taking on the GOP at the time. I remember thinking it was only a matter of time before the Repubs outed him with something. Because everybody has something. As long as you don't piss off the wrong people everything stays cool but stand up to the GOP machine and you are toast.
DeleteI didn't read all the comments here but I want to say in his defense he never had physical contact with the women he was sexting with. He did an incredibly stupid thing and lied about it but who then again Mark Sandford just won an election and other republicans have done far worse and they're still around.
ReplyDeleteAs long as he learned his lesson, I say go for it Anthony Weiner and I hope he wins!.
The GOP did not support Sanford.
DeleteThe Dems would be making a mistake to use Sanford's win as a reason to support Weiner.
(BTW to all the "hot dog" jokes, it's properly pronounced vine-er. But whatever.)
I think he's learned his lesson and would make a great mayor. Politicians have been caught doing much worse and were able to get back into politics.
ReplyDeleteThe part that I agree with was including his wife in the ad. She may have forgiven him and their marriage survived, but she's too closely connected to Hillary.
I can just imagine the horror of growing up with his last name. The bullying and teasing that he endured must have been insufferable. Give him a break.
ReplyDeleteWell, it should not be pronounced weener.
DeleteIt should be pronounced vine-er.
W = V
ei = eye
Virginia Lt. Gov. nominee: Not sorry for hate speech ‘because I’m a Christian’
ReplyDeleteFredericksburg, according to The Washington Post. “Attacking me because I hold to those principles is attacking every church-going person, every family that’s living a traditional family life, everybody who believes that we all deserve the right to live.”
“So I don’t have anything to rephrase or apologize for. I would just say people should not paint me as one-dimensional.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/22/virginia-lt-gov-nominee-not-sorry-for-hate-speech-because-im-a-christian/
Grygh, get Hillary Clinton out of your mind for 2016. I really have to say that she will lose. Americans don't want her, she isn't even close to what the average American wants. She is a has been to most Americans views. She is an entitled person with a large amount of money. I would hope that Americans will focus more on someone that has the same values and qualities as Barack Obama, and I think that is what Americans will be looking for in 2016. Just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDon't want, not close, entitled, rich, has been.
DeleteUnlike Mitt Romney.
Sorry, but I think Hillary has a great chance in 2016. Against just about anyone the right thinks they can put up.
Now she's got the only thing she was missing before: extensive experience.
Sorry, but I think Hillary Clinton has the strongest chance of winning. Even Bill isn't a hindrance anymore but an asset. And who knows. Given his health, she might be running as a widow.
How do you know "what the average American wants?" What "most American views" are?
DeleteAnthony Wiener may feel bad about his indiscretions but that doesn't make it right for him to run for mayor. I don't feel he should get a second chance just because he apologizes. He's running a fine line and pulling the same crap that Mark Sanford is trying. To me this is a pure sign that people don't need these types of dishonest people representing them. They are liars, and most of all they lied to their people that voted them in.
ReplyDeleteYes, but has he repented and found Jeebus and been born again hallelujah?
ReplyDeleteOops. Guess that's not gonna work for him.
"I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times ... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened." -- Senator Robert Byrd, on his participation in the KKK. He more than made up for it.
ReplyDeleteAs Mr. Weiner, a Democrat, seeks an improbable return to politics, announcing this week that he is running for mayor of New York City, some have wondered how a politician who exchanged sexually explicit messages with strangers could persuade his wife to undergo another excruciating period in the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteBut the reality, it turns out, is just the opposite: Those close to the couple say that Ms. Abedin, a seasoned operative well versed in the politics of redemption, has been a main architect of her husband’s rehabilitative journey, shaping his calculated comeback and drawing on her close ties with one of the country’s most powerful families to lay the groundwork for his return.
A surrogate daughter to Bill and Hillary Clinton who has seen firsthand the cleansing power of campaigns, Ms. Abedin has leapt into her husband’s effort, conferring on strategy and helping to hire staff members from her long history with the Clintons: Ms. Abedin worked with Mr. Weiner’s new 30-year-old campaign manager, Danny Kedem, during Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential run.
Ms. Abedin considers the coming race an adventure, and she has even been willing to break her cherished status as a seen-but-not-heard insider. In Mr. Weiner’s rollout video, she appears prominently in the first and final frames, smiling with her husband and reassuring voters, “We love this city.”
“She seems to have jumped onboard with both boots,” Mr. Weiner said in an interview this week, a palpable pride in his voice. Ms. Abedin, he said, “has forgotten more about politics and public policy than I maybe will ever know.”
A fierce advocate for her husband, Ms. Abedin was among the final holdouts two years ago who insisted that Mr. Weiner hang onto his Congressional seat, even as the cascading scandal sent allies scurrying and prompted Democratic leaders, including Representative Nancy Pelosi and President Obama, to abandon him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/nyregion/huma-abedin-is-an-unexpected-driving-force-in-weiners-comeback.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I'm sure Anthony Weiner's been dodging dumb weiner jokes his entire life; I doubt he was going to crumble if the Daily News and the NY Post had plastered their covers with lewd weiner puns. Their will be plenty of time for that. I believe in second chances; he didn't "cheat" on his wife. He did some incredibly stupid, juvenile things and got caught. But compared to what's going on in New York politics with bribery scandals and crooked politicians that steal and lie from their constituents, it really only hurt his wife and she seems to have gotten over it. I've covered Anthony Weiner; he's got a fire in his belly the other candidate's don't have. They are a boring lot, other than Christine Quinn, who will not get my vote because she has let too many issues that are important to me linger in City Council even when they have votes of the council members. I don't know if Weiner can win but at this point I can say that if he stays in the race he will have my vote. He's got Chuck Schumer behind him and probably the support of the Clintons, who are no strangers to sexual scandal. Oh, and Jon Stewart is one of Weiner's best friends; they were college roommates. I think he would make a decent mayor because he cares about the city, he connects with the middle and lower class, he's sharp and charming, and now he's gotten a lot of recognition. I think by the time 2014 rolls around most New Yorkers will have forgotten about his weiner.
ReplyDelete