A politician who gets in trouble in Congress due to bad publicity, something he/she did wrong or a scandal can often count on his partisans to stand solidly behind him. Not so with Rep. Anthony Weiner who has clearly few friends these days among his Democratic colleagues — most likely because they find his behavior indefensive and because it most assuredly drowns out the political narrative the party was starting to see take hold on Republican plans to try and end Medicare as it now exists.
How bad is it for Weiner? When you get a quote like this from Harry Reid it is a sign you are Dead Political Man Walking:
Q: You didn’t say whether you thought Congressman Weiner should resign.
Reid: I’m not here to defend Weiner.
Q: What do you think he should do?
Reid: That’s all I’m going to say.
Q: Senator Reid, what advice would you give him if he asked you?
Reid: Call somebody else.
Go to Reid’s home state of Nevada and place bets on when Weiner will resign now. Don’t bet too far in the future. For instance, if you look at the New York Daily News alone you see a stories about him fighting for his political life as more details emerge, how it has now thrown a monkey wrench into the Mayor’s race because no one seriously thinks Weiner will be a strong candidate in the race let along eve enter the race, talking about how his career was ruined by a sex scandal that merely involved Tweets and not actual sex.
On the other hand, The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz — as solid a journalist as exists these days — contends a probe may provide enough cushion for Weiner to survive in his district.
Despite the drip-drip-drip of seamy revelations about his hyperactive sexting life, Anthony Weiner may yet hang on to his House seat.
That is, if his Democratic colleagues don’t push him off the political plank in the coming weeks.
But will it provide a sufficient cushion? You just know the late night comedians will have fun with this — even just the word “probe” with the name “Weiner” and with intimate Tweets. Weiner used to speak and get laughs; now he will be a sure-fire punchline and political punching bag.
And then there’s this: conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart tells The Daily Beast Lloyd Grove he’s hurt the media didn’t believe him about Weiner —and warns he’ll release a final bombshell Weiner photo if pushed.
Few tantalizing tidbits that can get readership, enhance blogging or journalistic reputations or rake in big bucks check journalism or tabloid spreads stay hidden forever. If a more damning photo of Weiner exists, it’s all the more reason why he’ll either be gone or a shadow of what he what was in terms of media presence, political clout, and political potential.
In the end, as I noted here, Weiner not only self-destructed but left a lot of collateral damage — including the fact that he probably set the sale of boxer shorts back 10 years.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.