Summer scandals are supposed to be fun, but serial dong-shot sender and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner’s scandal has become excruciating. Not even the joyous anticipation of the day’s tabloid covers can balance out the icky feeling of having to see and read about Weiner’s you-know-what. As of this morning, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Daily News have all called on Weiner to drop out. Weiner vowed to remain in the race during his bizarre press conference the other day and has shown no sign of changing his mind since then.
What could he possibly be thinking? The media-pop-psychology diagnosis is that Weiner, who is married to Hillary Clinton confidante Huma Abedin, learned from the example of Bill Clinton’s infidelities that you can survive a scandal if you can maintain your wife’s support and simply refuse to drop out. Republicans were so sure that Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky would kill Democrats in the 1998 midterm elections that persecuting the president became their whole election strategy.
