Weiner Wrap, with Barbara Walters

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WASHINGTON – The elite D.C. media, new media, talking heads, gleeful Republicans, and spineless Democrats all weighed in… and then New Yorkers had their say, including Barbara Walters.

According to the one-day poll, conducted Wednesday, just 33 percent of voters in New York’s Ninth Congressional District think Weiner should resign from the House, while 56 percent do not think he should resign. – Poll: Weiner’s Constituents Don’t Think He Should Resign

Rep. Weiner is not resigning, in spite of the chattering class calling for it.

An ethics investigation may reveal more, though I doubt it because they take too long and even Charlie Rangel survived his, but there’s no reason to jump unless there is something indictable. Again, see David Vitter. The worst is over for Mr. Weiner, regardless of what may ensue from the Democratic establishment.

If John F. Kennedy had been held to today’s standards he would never have been president, with his White House behavior something the press would have ravaged him over today, perhaps rightly so:

Since they had not lived together before marrying, Jackie was unprepared for what she called Jack’s “violent” independence — by which she meant not just his habit of going off with his male friends but, more important, his thinly disguised promiscuity. … “I don’t think there are any men who are faithful to their wives. Men are such a combination of good and evil.” … Jackie’s unhappiness was no inducement to Jack to restrain himself. In the summer of 1956, while she was int he late stages of a pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage, Jack went on a yachting trip with George Smathers in the Mediterranean, where he enjoyed “a bacchanal, with several young women getting on and off the boat at its ports of call.” … In 1958, when younger brother Ted got married, Jack was caught on tape whispering to him “that being married didn’t really mean that you had to be faithful to your wife.” – An Unfinished Life, by Robert Dallek (pgs. 194-195)

The bad news is Rep. Weiner’s campaign to keep his job and weather his stupidity isn’t going to be easy.

The good news about the revelatory photos is, congratulations, Tony, and Barbara Walters agrees.

Walters acknowledged that she had seen the picture “days ago.” As the women discussed the authenticity of the picture, Elisabeth Hasselbeck offered a theory: If Weiner hasn’t denied it was his, then it must be flattering.

“It is,” quipped Walters.

… “What he did was unfathomable,” she added. “I just heard a statistic which is 56% of his constituents want him to remain in office. And he’s been, if you’ve followed him, a very effective, outspoken, sometimes angry, certainly passionate congressman … the personal stuff is between him and his wife.”

Classic statement on Weiner from Democratic grand dame Diane Feinstein, “I just view it with great surprise and dismay. That’s all I can say.”

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Patty Murray, said “of course” Weiner’s actions make it tough for Dems in ’12. That’s malarkey, especially in the Senate, where Dems were in trouble long before Weiner’s wiener went wide.

Thanks to Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare-ending budget scheme, the House could be in play for Democrats.

Pres. Obama’s problems are economic not moral, with any trouble he’s getting from Democrats who think he’s compromise and capitulated of his own making.

We can now also put to sleep any notion that Breitbart was going to uphold his words on the “Today” show, where he said he’d hold the photo as insurance in case Weiner went after him.

In fact, two nights ago, Andrew Breitbart went out drinking with Anthony and several others — and according to Anthony, showed the picture to numerous people, even leaving his laptop computer unattended with the picture on the screen for long periods of time. One of those people was right wing flamethrower Ann Coulter. Here’s Anthony’s photo of Coulter reacting to the picture; notice that his computer is apparently there, but Breitbart is nowhere to be seen. – Charles Johnson

Johnson goes on to allege Breitbart handed his phone around the studio. As I tweeted yesterday, did Breitbart actually believe that talk radio shock jocks wouldn’t leak the photo?

Breitbart and the shock jock statements now sound laugh out loud hilarious. Needless to say, neither Breitbart or Anthony “regret” the release of the photo.

The Washington political establishments of both big parties are not hip. But they deliver verdicts differently. Republicans are permanently self-righteous and allow disgraced politicians like Vitter to keep on keeping on. Democratic self-loathing doesn’t allow for that and with so many Blue Dog Democrats now holding sway it will take the strength of Huma Abedin and the dogged tenacity Weiner’s has exhibited on the House floor to weather the party’s wrath, which they both are intent on doing.

In fact, much of the defense of Weiner is actually for Abedin, who is respected as a “substantial” woman of great substance and character. She’s the one encouraging her husband to dig in, which contrary to Roger Simons and Jay Newton-Small and others, does not require she make an appearance.

“She loves her husband very much. She is committed to her husband and her marriage,” the close friend said. She’s adamant that her husband does not resign, and is optimistic that he can continue his career as an elected official. “I think people have weathered worse,” said the source. “They are still talking all the time about what to do [to survive the scandal],” the source said, adding that they plotted his political comeback while at the hotel. – Weiner on wife support, Huma has his back

The calls for resignation were a mistake, especially looking at new generations of potential politicians waiting in the wings. Social media mistakes will be common to many good people coming up the ranks in politics, which Krystal Ball represented in 2010. But it shouldn’t be a deal breaker, nor should we continue to expect what never can be delivered: perfection in our politicians.

Weiner’s no Jack Kennedy and he’s no Bill Clinton. But at least his wife Huma is carrying his child and his cheating is virtual (at this point, though it really doesn’t matter if it crossed over after his X-rated exposure). You can’t say that about Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Edwards, David Vitter or the scores of other politicians who’ve been unmasked.

If Weiner had only paid a prostitute he wouldn’t be in this trouble. The Washington political establishment, including the media, can handle the oldest profession pitfall; they just can’t wrap their heads around virtual sex.

Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.