Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman from New York, announced yesterday that he is planning on running for Mayor of New York City. Anyone who has ever heard of Twitter knows about the former Congressman’s sex scandal when he tweeted a sexually explicit picture to a 21 year old woman and after many days of denial finally admitted to sending similar pictures multiple times before and during his marriage. Weiner resigned in June, 2011, and has been awaiting his time to get back into the political sphere.
The former Congressman believes enough time has passed and said “I hope I get a second chance to work for you.”
It’s a pretty gutsy move. You would think such a public scandal like this would be political suicide but the former Congressman is going to give public office a second chance. But we ask the question: does he deserve a second chance?
Politicians are elected to serve their constituents. They should honest, compassionate and possess a great deal of integrity. Their constituents need to be able to trust in them and have faith that they are honorable representatives who have their constituent’s best interests in mind.
Anthony Weiner is attempting something that very few politicians have done; getting back into public office after being forced to resign due to some sort of scandal.
A few recent public office resignations have been Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain, who dropped out of the most recent Presidential race due to sexual harassment accusations, and CIA Director David Petraeus, who resigned in light of his extramarital affair with his biographer.
However, there have been a few politicians throughout the years who have been able to bounce back and not let a scandal ruin their political career.
The most notable and recent political bounce back has been former Governor Mark Sanford, who resigned when his extramarital affair become public. He defeated Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the South Carolina Congressional special election on May 7.
Former Congessman Weiner would definitely be making a monumental comeback in the political sphere if he were to win the race for Mayor of New York. Mark Sanford got his second chance.
Does former Congressman Anthony Weiner deserve his second chance?
Looking at his record, yes.
Steve jobs is a great example of a success the second time around. Good luck.
It’s funny that the party that supposedly touts ‘family values’ can so quickly forgive the actions of Sanford while attempting to vilify Weiner. Clinton certainly showed that personal indiscretions don’t impede one’s ability to be a effective leader. Given his widespread popularity pre-scandal I think NY will give him another shot. They certainly should! Thanks for the read, Joel.
I’d like to know…. “what has he done to deal with his inappropriate and untrustworthy actions? Or is it only the public who finds his behavior questionable and His only problem is that he got caught???
Voting for someone that was in his position making that kind of mistake should give you reason to think. Why would anyone vote for someone who is that stupid?
When it comes to forgiveness, people make mistakes. You can’t cure stupidity.