Anthony Weiner Responding To Questions About Why He Continues to Run In Spite of HIs Scandals

[JDPriestly]

I'm not a New Yorker, but I'm on every politician's e-mail list because I sign a lot of petitions, I guess. I received an e-mail from Anthony Weiner this morning. It linked to a video, so out of curiosity, I went to the video. Here is what he said:

http://vimeo.com/71470784

It is intriguing to me. Some DUers may not know, but Anthony Villaraigosa our (Democratic) mayor in Los Angeles presented himself in his first election as a married man living in a middle class house in a pretty nice, but not elite neighborhood. Not long after he took office, he moved into the mayor's mansion in a nicer area of our city that has richer people in it and about a year or so after taking office shed his then wife and hooked up with a local newspaper reporter.

Never mind. He was re-elected.

http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/los_angeles_mayor.html

I'd like to know what you think about this video. Please watch it before you respond because he raises an interesting question that doesn't just apply in the mayoral race in New York.

[bunnies]

1. I like it.

He make a lot of good points and he's got a good attitude. He's definitely taking this head-on. I give him credit for that.

edit because it posted before I was done. Computers possessed.

[demwing]

2. damn straight

I just wish he hadn't put himself in a position where he needed to make this lucid, valid, and important argument.

[BeyondGeography]

3. He's a great talker, but he has also been an ineffective grandstander

And he could well be a disaster as mayor.

Good summary here, and the selfies are a window into the problem:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/nyregion/weiners-record-in-house-intensity-publicity-and-limited-results.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

To his admirers, Anthony Weiner was a tireless spokesman for an endlessly changing array of issues in the House. But offstage, those who worked alongside him say, Mr. Weiner was a lawmaker with little patience for making laws and a single-minded focus on generating attention so he could run for mayor of New York.

He earned admiration for his devotion to his constituents. He inspired aides with his quick grasp of difficult subjects, his relentless pace and his office catchphrase: “We don’t wait.” And he impressed local officials with his shrewd use of the machinery of the federal government.

Yet the more lasting impression left by Mr. Weiner, according to more than three dozen people interviewed, was of a go-it-alone politician whose legislative record was thin and whose restlessness could spill into recklessness. He smartly selected issues on which to weigh in but left the difficult legislating to others, they said.

...His staff had the highest turnover in the New York City delegation, and some aides complained about his behavior. In 2005, he became so irritated with a staff member that he threw a salad against the wall, then left the room as the dressing slowly dripped, leaving a stain. Another time, arguing with an aide, Mr. Weiner threw his BlackBerry against a wall, then blamed the aide for the broken phone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/nyregion/weiners-record-in-house-intensity-publicity-and-limited-results.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

There's some positives in there as well, but Weiner basically strikes me as a half-formed adult with major unresolved issues that would constantly get in the way at City Hall.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. This showed up while I was typing my response, and I remember...

reading that Times piece.

He was bad enough in Congress, but will be an absolute disaster as Mayor-- it's job that actually requires real work, and bullshit just won't cut it.

[BeyondGeography]

7. Agreed

Imagining Wiener as a five- and/or multiple-borough consensus builder...very hard. Then you have all the union negotiations that Bloomberg has been putting off for years. Lots of heavy lifting and pressure; he would fold like a bad poker hand.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. I couldn't help gagging at this bullshit...

Did he properly address how his judgment is obviously impaired if he can't stop texting strangers? Everyone should agree that most personal problems shouldn't affect public performance, but some problems actually do.

Did he mention he has almost zero achievements after all his years in public office?

Was there any hint of how he might govern as Mayor when all he was in Congress was a big mouth?

BTW, he was a big mouth occasionally in support of his constituency, which is fine, but NYC has a lot more constituencies and we haven't heard a word about what he thinks of them.

Was there any substance at all except for trying to say how his problems won't affect his performance in office?

Seems like he's saying he can't pull out (oops!) because he really, really needs a job.

He does have a marvelous gift of gab, but it's not much of a trick to pull pearls of wisdom out of an old file cabinet.

[midnight]

6. It's not illegal to lie to your wife about sexting.... It is illegal to lie America in to war.....

[JDPriestly]

8. Replying to my own video, I think some good points are being made here about what we look

for in political leaders.

It can't all be talk and show. On the other hand, Weiner has some good ideas. I'm glad I'm not in New York.

Villaraigosa has not been a great mayor in my view. Others may disagree with me.

I don't know much about the other candidate in New York. That might be important to me in making my decision if I were there.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. If I still lived in the City I would probably be worried...

and even though I don't live in the city any more, I'm still worried if the city could survive such a lightweight bullshitter.

I don't like Quinn much, since she seems to be at least as argumentative as Weiner, but nobody was as argumentative as Giuliani was, and the city survived that POS. Quinn at least has some serious experience dealing with the city's permanent government.

The others I don't know much about at all.

One thing about NYC is that "issues" are way in the background. It's all about constituencies, maybe even more than most other places. Ethnic groups are from all over the globe and every one has its own neighborhood and set of demands. And there are orthodox Jews, lesbians, Italians, libertarians, Koreans, socialists, bicyclists... every group you can imagine, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, is highly organized and watching your every move, waiting to pounce. Every day there's a protest somewhere.

"Issues" are defined by who screams loudest and has the juice to be heard. Lindsey shrunk under the pressure. Koch loved it, and it destroyed him. Giuliani ignored it and plowed on through, not caring who he pissed off. Bloomberg finesses it to the extent it can be finessed. And the city goes on, not really caring who thinks he's running it.

The next mayor must know how to deal with it in his or her way, and I doubt it's Weiner.

[CindySessoms]

10. Funny Weiner animation...

[img][/img]

Link to graphic...

[burnodo]

11. One thing Weiner does not suffer from

brevity

[rug]

12. He's going to stay in and he will win the primary.

And it's a good thing.