The Weiner is now all but officially done. With his latest descent beneath the norms of how American political candidates should behave, you can now say that former Rep. Anthony Weiner is a real weenie. He gave an example of ageist, almost threatening bullying in a reply to 69-year-old George McDonald, who’s running against him for New York City mayor. McDonald has been blunt about Weiner’s sexting problem, with the two exchanging increasingly tough and personal exchanges.
However, if the sexting was a glimpse into Weiner’s (well, I won’t go there), this is a glimpse into his soul:
Before the debate, Weiner put a hand on McDonald’s back and said hello, prompting McDonald to reply: “I would appreciate if you would never touch me again.”
Weiner retorted: “What are you going to do about it, grandpa?” according to two sources.
Yes, McDonald was definitely acting boorish and not showing the kind of courtesy competing politicians who may hate each other display. But Weiner’s comment says something about him as a person. And, no, he’s not in the same class as Chris Christie. This isn’t the same kind of assertiveness.
An increasing number of people would like to see Weiner quit or just go away.
But Weiner will stick it out as long as he can.
(P.S. This occurred at an AARP event. Real smart politics.)
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.