New York – New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner met with Superstorm Sandy victims Friday on Staten Island as he tried to move past the sexting scandal threatening to derail his political comeback attempt.
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The former congressman traveled to the furthest reaches of the city to tour the ruined home of Joseph Cardinale, a 14-year resident of a beachfront neighborhood still hurting from the storm’s deadly tidal surge. The house, overgrown and stripped to the studs, will have to be torn down and Cardinale is upset about how difficult it has been to rebuild.
Weiner said he visited the neighborhood because he wanted to bring attention to the plight of storm victims.
“One of the reasons why we’re here today is that I knew that now, you’re gonna come with me. And you should see this,” he told reporters. “There is this notion because the cameras had left, because some of the headlines changed, that the problem was solved. But for many, many people, they are still dealing with the challenge.”
But even in that setting he couldn’t escape the scandal. After walking through the destroyed house and meeting several neighbors who also shared their Sandy horror stories, he was confronted by retired schoolteacher Peg Brunda.
“I don’t quite understand how you would feel you’d have the moral authority, as the head administrator in this city, to oversee employees, when your standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that is expected of us,” said Brunda.
Weiner asked whether she would vote for him. Brunda said no.
“I want to let your neighbors make their decisions for themselves,” Weiner said.
So far, Weiner said he intends to stay in the crowded mayoral race, where he is facing off against several other Democrats and Republicans. The campaign represented Weiner’s attempt to return to politics after resigning from Congress in 2011 because of revelations that he’d sent sexual texts and photographs to women he met online.
He had been polling well before this week, when a 23-year-old woman revealed that Weiner had sent nude photographs to her as well, months after his resignation. Weiner, who is married, admitted having racy correspondence with as many as three women since leaving office.
A front-runner in the race, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has been saying for days that Weiner has turned the race into a “circus,” repeated those comments in interviews and campaign appearances Friday. She said he had “a pattern of reckless behavior” a lack of maturity and “difficulty with the truth.”
Some news outlets continued to heap ridicule on Weiner Friday.
The free daily newspaper AM New York ran a photo illustration of Weiner wearing a clown nose, next to the headline “3-Fling Circus.” Even The New Yorker got in on the act: next week’s cover will feature a cartoon Weiner astride the Empire State Building like King Kong, using a smartphone to photograph the skyscraper between his legs.
Weiner said his online dalliances are a thing of the past.
Mr. Weiner than you for making this election into the LAUGHING STOCK of the nation!
Weiner is now a SPOILER in the race. He has ZERO chance of winning now. You can thank Weiner when we get the WHINER Quinn as the next mayor. R’L
Great job antony. That right everyone deserve a second chance. He’s a great political guy and knows what we need.
I just feel sorry for his wife! Do any of Us REALLY believe he’s stopped his disgusting behavior?! But day in & day out, she’s got to go out there & stand by her man, amidst all this embarrassment!
He truly cares about nobody but himself, I swear! Even AFTER his wife forgave him & gave birth to their son, he was STILL “sexting” people?! Really?!
There’s no doubt that Mr. Weiner is a champion for the working poor & disenfranchised, but his personal “issues” get in the way of what COULD be a promising career & a more hopeful New York! And there’s nobody to blame for that but himself! He needs to get some serious counseling & just go concentrate on being a father & a husband, instead of continuously trying to further his own agenda all the time!
Did the Lewinsky scandal deprive Clinton of the “moral authority” to lead the nation?
I’m voting for him so that quinn don’t get in. She wants to do away with circumcision.
To #5 -Reb Yid- You fail to remember that in 1999, when Clinton was being impeached, the nation faced a crisis which it had not faced since 1974, when the Senate was considering impeaching Nixon. During Clinton’s last two years in office, he was essentially a lame duck President. Also, I have to disagree with Sherry the Noahide, as there is no definitive proof that Bill Clinton has changed his ways, vis-à-vis his personal life. The U.S. Secret Service, in addition to protecting Clinton, should also make sure that he stays out of trouble, regarding those of the opposite gender.
We do not care if Weiner is a moral person or not. We care about our lives in New York, for everybody jews and not jewish people.With Bloomberg NY became ver polarized, super rich, and poor. Middle class moves out of NY and slowly gets distroyed. For us everything is going up:medical insurance cost, taxes, rents, food, etc.
We are paying for the both, rich and poor. Rich are getting richer and Obama administration is subsedazing the poor at our expense.
Hopefully Weiner will change this trend.