The Anthony Weiner comeback tour
Anthony Weiner.
10:04 am Jun. 29, 2012
Anthony Weiner, the made-for-cable-TV congressman, is doing interviews.
His first appearance since his abrupt, messy departure from public service was in a June 20 New York Times story about why Democrats should accept invitations to appear on the conservative Fox News network, even if the majority of viewers there are not "persuadable."
Then yesterday, he responded to the Supreme Court's decision on President Barack Obama's heath care legislation, saying in an interview with the New York Observer that the White House "fucked up this debate somehow."
Today, he's appearing on WNYC's "Brian Lehrer Show," where the fare will surely be more PG-rated.
A couple of Democrats I talked to this morning about Weiner's return were predictably wary.
One who is based in New York said the sweary criticism of the White House was "not mayoral, not stately," and that the former congressman seemed "rusty" in articulating his points.
Another, based in D.C., replied as follows, via gChat: "Crickets."
It's worth noting, as Weiner stages the public reemergence that is a necessary first step to running for something again someday, that his online presence never vanished entirely, even after his Twitter disaster.
The website he create for his 2005 mayoral campaign, which he kept alive in the run-up to the 2009 election cycle, is still up, though it hasn't been updated since his resignation. It's still registered to him, and is not set to expire until November 2013.
I reached out to him over IM this morning about his Brian Lehrer appearance. He politely declined to comment, saying he was busy.
