ANTHONY WEINER: A DROP OUT...OR SOMEONE WHO WILL GO ALL THE WAY?

    

Should Anthony Weiner drop out of the race to become New York City mayor?  The former United States Congressman from "The Empire State" vows to stay put...and to not let anyone...or anything... change his mind about his bid to become "The Big Apple's" next chief executive. 

     Now let's be frank...(no pun intended)...I don't live in New York City...so whether I think Weiner should or should not take a hike...really isn't important, as I don't have a so-called..."dog in this fight"...(again, no pun intended).  However...you may recall that on Sunday, May 26th, 2013...four days after Weiner tossed his hat in to the ring to run for New York City mayor...I wrote a full commentary and argued, "This is America.  And Mr. Weiner deserves a second chance."  Since then...we have learned that Weiner participated in more "sexting"...even after he resigned from the U.S. Congress. But is that important?  According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University... maybe it is...maybe it isn't.  As for how Anthony Weiner feels...he says, "I don't quit.  New Yorkers don't quit.  I'm not going to go in to the corner and curl up because someone found out something embarrassing about me."

     I will give him this...Anthony Weiner has guts.  And anybody that is willing to put up with the press, the pundits, the polls and the politicians who think he should pack his bags and go away...I say...more power to him.  That's not to say I would want him to be mayor of New York City.  Again...my zip code isn't part of the five boroughs...and I have paid little attention to the other three Democratic candidates.  But the fact of the matter is...Anthony Weiner has the right to run for mayor...and he has the right to stay in the race if he so desires.

     Despite all of that...support for Weiner has taken a nose dive and his approval ratings have plunged substantially since it's become known that Weiner's - shall I say - "rather unusual" text messages went beyond what was originally thought.  At first glance...we observe that Anthony Weiner has dropped from a first place position in the polls last week...to the very bottom of the pack today.  Weiner is now in 4th place...at 16 percent...down 10 points from a week ago...while New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has taken over the top spot at 27 percent. 

Bill DeBlasio ranks in at second place with 21 percent...and Bill Thompson weighs in at 3rd with 20 percent.

     The spotlight on Anthony Weiner's "sext" messages has given New Yorkers a moment to reconsider who they want as mayor of America's largest city.  Among likely Democratic voters...53 percent feel Weiner should throw in the towel and drop out of the race.  Meanwhile 40 percent of those polled declared that Weiner should keep moving forward and fight all the way.  A mere 7 percent admit they don't know what Weiner should do.

     As to the question..."Does Anthony Weiner's behavior disqualify him?"...40 percent of the Democrats surveyed believe that it does...40 percent say no it doesn't...and 20 percent feel Weiner's behavior is not a factor at all.

      But the polls - good, bad or indifferent - mean nothing to Anthony Weiner.  He states emphatically that he's not backing down...and that he's staying in the race until the very end.

     Can Anthony Weiner come back from all this?  I really don't know...but stranger things have happened in politics...and candidates have won...when they were written off with no chance of getting the votes.  What I do know...is that it should be left to the voters of New York City...and not anybody else.  They will make up their minds when they pull the levers in the voting booths.

       Nobody should judge Anthony Weiner...except for the voters.  If they think he has the leadership quality to be mayor of New York City...then let the system work.  And as Weiner says..."I'm gonna let New Yorkers decide." Weiner refuses to listen to those who continue to attack him.  And he's right.  He shouldn't listen.  He may be dead last in the polls...but his campaign may not be dead.  All Anthony Weiner should listen to...are the people of New York City...when they cast their ballots in the Democratic Primary on September 10th.  That's the only voice that counts...and come election day...the voters will speak.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

 

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