Spitzer's Return Hurts Weiner's Chances

Anthony Weiner had all but put the sexting scandal and his spotty congressional record behind him in his run for mayor.

He'd been garnering good press these days, voters along the campaign trail were responding well to him, he'd done quite well in recent polls, and even conservatives were rooting for him to win the Democratic primary.

As things stood yesterday afternoon, the odds were pretty good that Weiner would make the September runoff in his race to be the next New York City mayor.

And then scandal-plagued Eliot Spitzer shocked the New York political world last night and announced he was running for comptroller.

Now suddenly the spotlight is back on Weiner's sexting scandal in almost every article written about Eliot Spitzer's entrance into the race.

Even worse, Weiner's record of doing absolutely nothing as a congressman is also back in the spotlight as commentators are comparing Weiner's record to Spitzer's record and finding that, as Ben Smith put it:

Spitzer has basically nothing in common with Weiner, aside from their low body fat and shared (and lightly observed) Jewish faith. Weiner is a talented politician who left Congress with no major legislative accomplishments and everything to prove. Spitzer was a major force in American public life for eight years despite having no particular talent for politics. Weiner’s online romances brought him down because they were weird. Spitzer’s ordinary sin — any number of politicians have survived prostitution scandals — ended his tenure as governor because his governorship was already going terribly. 

The question about Weiner is whether, as mayor, he will be able to turn his talent for communications into leadership, something he’s never done — but the sort of thing that can happen when you’re mayor, as it did to Ed Koch.

The question for Spitzer is whose head he will take off first.

Spitzer was, as New York State attorney general, a terrifying and fascinating figure. He had learned from his legendary former boss Robert Morgenthau that under-resourced public prosecutors can’t beat deep-pocketed law firms on a level playing field, and that where banks and wealthy defendants may have time and money on their side, prosecutors can use the press to erase at least the first advantage. He leaked shamelessly, even as he denied leaking, playing extremely high-stakes games with the stock prices of major corporations. He understood the power of fear and the innate conservatism of corporate executives, and persuaded much of New York City’s financial elite that he was actually out of his mind — an incredibly valuable perception in high-stakes negotiations.

Maybe Weiner can survive the comparison of his record to Spitzer's, but the comparisons of the sex scandals threatens his candidacy too:

Hunter College Political Science Professor Kenneth Sherrill adds, "Combined with Anthony Weiner, Spitzer gives the Democrats an image problem. Just when Weiner was coming back, Spitzer’s candidacy could pull him down. While either one of them might have saved himself, we might see the spectacle of two drowning men pulling one another down, each reminding the public of the other’s undesirability."

I wrote earlier today that I am hoping Spitzer's entrance into the race and the scrutiny he will receive over his prostitution scandal will extend to Weiner and his sexting scandal.

There are still questions over his text communications with a seventeen year that have never been answered by Weiner that need to be answered before he takes charge of New York City as mayor (and the New York City school system in the bargain.)

So far, the questions surrounding Weiner's communications with the seventeen year old have been ignored by the press and Weiner's rivals.

With Spitzer in the comptroller's race running against the Manhattan madam that he hired hookers from, it's far more likely that reporters and rivals are going to begin focus on both Spitzer's and Weiner's scandals and shed some much needed light on the subjects before Election Day so that voters know what they would be getting if they decided to vote in Spitzer as comptroller and Weiner as mayor.