Anthony Weiner's drop in polls has more to do with anger and betrayal than with sexting...

[kentuck]

His supporters were ready to forgive his sexting that led to his resignation from Congress. When he announced that he was running for Mayor of NY, he was in the lead or near the lead in almost all the polls.

However, when it was discovered that he had continued the practice (habit) after he said he had stopped, that was the last straw with many of his supporters. They were angry that he was so stupid. They felt betrayed and used by him.

The sexting was something that was a private matter between he and his wife. Although many did not approve, it was not a disqualifier in today's world. If he had not betrayed his supporters by lying, he would still be in the lead for Mayor.

However, the anger will not disappear before the election. Mr Weiner may still have a future in politics but he has to prove that he has changed. Voters will not buy this pig in a poke.

[msongs]

1. many serial liars are voted into office, once in a while they are not lol nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

2. He's toxic. He's done.

Show me a politician standing my his side. No one will ever work with him. He's finished.

[hrmjustin]

3. I am no longer voting for him because of his lack of control and judgement. I was forgiving but not

now. Quinn must be stopped and he can't do that anymore.

[frazzled]

4. Where do you get that this was a private matter?

What he and his wife did or did not tolerate or agree to is wholly irrelevant.

The issue is a completely public one: the voters' choice as to whether someone who behaves so irrationally and recklessly is an appropriate candidate to govern a megacity. Also, Twitter and Facebook are not "private" venues. When a Congressman uses his official organs of communication to lure people interested in his politics into sexual conversations, it's not just an abuse of power, it's a public issue.

Do New Yorker's want the Mayor's hotline used for this purpose? Do they want a mayor who shows such lack of judgment in his willingness to expose himself to perfect strangers? Would they elect a serial flasher? I completely disagree that this was a private issue between him and his wife. It was an issue for voters.

[kentuck]

5. He was leading in the polls...

until it was discovered that he had not stopped, as he said. What changed?

[frazzled]

6. That doesn't relate to my comment about the OP's statement.

And he was never going to win anyway, even when he had this minor plurality in initial polls. Ken Auletta of the New Yorker explained it last night: Weiner's unfavorables were at 50% or higher from the beginning. No one in this primary race was going to get a majority, so there was always going to be a runoff. And no one with unfavorables of 50% or higher can win a runoff.

Anthony Weiner was never a viable candidate, and is definitely not a viable candidate now.

[kentuck]

7. I would agree...

that he is not a viable candidate now.

[Orrex]

8. Weiner's poll is sagging.

[UTUSN]

9. He never should be running anyway. The difference with CLINTON

was that some of us committed to CLINTON first, then had to put up with the multiple scandals afterward. I still believe that dirty Wingnut tricks were a large part of the scandals, but the REAL problem was that we had to divert and expend all of our energies away from our Dem agenda, over into defending him instead of on the agenda. It wasn't about the sex, it was about his squandering our time in power, about his putting his selfishness ahead of our agenda, and about our spending all our energy on defending him instead of working toward our agenda.

This WEINER dude is a known quantity in time for voters to have an informed vote. He needs to get out. Forever. He shouldn't be there in the first place.

[JPZenger]

10. Let's remember he lied to everyone about his twitter account being hacked

If you want to sext someone, that is one thing. But then he stood in front of everyone and lied and said his Twitter account had been hacked, and spent $40,000 of his PAC money to hire a private investigator to find the supposed hacker.

Everyone deserves a second chance, but not a third, fourth and fifth chance.

[allin99]

11. if it's just about betrayal why are you calling him a pig?

[allin99]

12. i think it's a bunch of things but most of all it's just...

yeah, how much can people put up with his drama and his juvenile behavior. I actually feel bad for him at this point, b/c frankly i think a person should be able to sext to their contentedness, i just think you gotta be stupid to be a politician and put out actual photos. i have no problem with porn, and no problem with the male anatomy, don't mind a couple pics being sent my way, but a person who is an official has to assume it's going to get out and who wants to think of their mayor's penis being seen by everyone all over the world. That ALONE is an embarrassment.

and then, like you mention, its the lie, but i don't think it's so much that he lied, but the actual lie that he chose to use. Deny it like a MAN!, man! lol. Gimme a: 'No I Didn't'. 'okay, yeah i did'. I can live with that, of course you're gonna lie in the position he put himself in. But for goodness sakes, don't "someone hacked my account" and 'maybe it's my crotch, maybe not, i'd have to see' and this and that, omg, that was awful. it's weasly and embarrassing.

some are angry, some are upset, and while the anger will go away, i think they're/we're just moving on, we want someone who is composed, and that is a big reason why Quinn will lose, she acts like a child.

And that press conference did him no favors, it was embarrassing.

Ppl have seen more than enough of how he acts, i'm younger than he is and i can be silly, but i am still so much more mature than that guy.

[DevonRex]

13. Mostly agree. The stupidity, lying, continuing behavior was the end. But...

It pointed to something that wasn't a private matter between him and his wife. His wife, in fact, had nothing to do with it and neither did privacy. Especially privacy.

I think voters realized that there's a real disorder there that needs to be dealt with. One that craves the spotlight. And being mayor would just feed it, which would interfere with doing the job.

It's a shame, the whole thing. Everyone would have been happy with the image of that happy family from NY Mag, even if it was a lie. If he hadn't run nobody would have known it was a lie. He could have done some good things as he continued to heal, though. As they made that image true. And maybe one day he could have run for some office, being able to say he had not sent photos of his penis to anyone for years.

I loved the tone of your post. The voters aren't prudes, as Lawrence was saying they were last night. In fact, they're willing to overlook a lot of stuff. Right up until they think it affects what they're looking for in a mayor. Which is as it should be.