In light of the new Anthony Weiner scandal, the New York City mayoral candidate continues to press his campaign forward.
In spite of multiple incidents in which Weiner was caught red-handed sexting to other women, Weiner admitted more sexting acts could be made public in the near future.
Given his propensity for scandals, it is very unlikely that Weiner will be winning any election.
Why does Weiner continue to press on?
While there could be many plausible explanations, it is clear that Weiner feels that the scandals themselves will better serve the ends he would like to see in becoming Mayor, rather than seeing the lack of fidelity to his wife as a hindrance to the job.
The scandal began when Anthony Weiner was still a U.S. representative serving New York’s ninth congressional district, a position he held from 1999 to 2011.
When news of sexting allegations first came out, Weiner vehemently denied them. He even went so far as to hiring a personal investigator to find out who had been responsible for framing him and posting inappropriate images related to the sexting on his Twitter account.
After publicly announcing that he was responsible for the sexting scandal, Weiner resigned from his position as a congressional representative. Under normal circumstances, the drama and scandals would have ended there. Unfortunately, this would not be the case for Mr. Carlos Danger.
Carlos Danger was the pseudonym that Anthony Weiner gave himself as he resumed sexting while married to his wife Huma Abedin’s, whom he married in 2009.
It was not until Weiner publicly announced his intentions to run for New York City mayor that the second round of allegations came out against the mayoral hopeful.
One can’t help but take note of such blatant debauchery in the same way that one cannot turn away from a train wreck, but what is most amazing of all is Weiner’s tough insistence to run for office again despite the numerous scandals.
What would typically be a fatal attack to someone’s integrity has only further invigorated Weiner in press conferences since the scandal came to light.
“I knew that revelations about my past private life might come back to embarrass me,” Weiner said in an e-mail to his supporters. “I waged this campaign on a bet that the citizens of my city would be more interested in a vision for improving their lives rather than in old stories about mine.”
Unfortunately for “Carlos Danger,” since the scandal broke out his woes have only continued to mount.
Polls since the scandal indicate that Weiner’s lead has dropped considerably, now placing him fourth in the polls leading up to the New York City mayoral elections this November.
Weiner has also lost Danny Kedem, his campaign manager.
While some members of his staff are still on board, one can’t help but wonder if Weiner is simply riding out the train wreck as long as he can, or if he genuinely believes in making a difference in New York City.
Nicolas Rodriguez is a senior political science major and an assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.