Rehabilitation, Forgiveness and Redemption

Early this morning, Anthony Weiner of weinergate fame, announced via a You Tube video that he is running for Mayor of New York City. If he wins, he will inherit the office held by great mayors like Fiorello LaGuardia and Ed Koch, near greats like Rudy Guiliani, Robert Wagner and John Lindsay, and the not so greats like David Dinkins and Abe Beame.

Even without the events surrounding weinergate, the sexting of pictures of himself to several female Twitter followers, the circus surrounding the exposure of this information and his ultimate resignation from the Congress, his political sojourn to the nomination and possible election will be an uphill battle as his major opposition is Christine Quinn, the current Speaker of the New York City Council, the second most powerful position in the City after the Mayor. Other democratic candidates include Bill DeBlasio, Bill Thompson, Sal Albanese and John Liu.

In any case, this would be an uphill battle for Mr Weiner because of the political baggage he carries with him. As a Congressman from Queens and Brooklyn, he was a contentious person, often at odds with his colleagues, even with those who agreed with him. His angry, shrill and argumentative conduct in the House often pushed those who backed his positions away, as not to appear to agree with his demeanor. Even his most powerful supporter, Senator Charles Schumer, offered no comment during and after Mr Weiner's troubles that he brought on himself.

Since his resignation in June, 2011, he has maintained a low profile, instead becoming a house-husband to his wife, Huma Abedin, a senior aide to former SecState Hillary Clinton and a stay at home dad to their son, Jordan. He has made a few public appearances in an effort to rehabilitate his image, more so that his intransgression be treated as a
mistake in judgement, rather than a deep-seated personality trait.

Recently, another politician, Mark Sanford, former governor of South Carolina, who fell from grace due to an affair he had with a woman from Argentina while he was still married, was elected to the House to fill the seat left vacant when Tim Scott was appointed Senator to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Jim DeMint. Certainly, this appears to be forgiveness by the voters to Mr Sanford. Mr Weiner is an astute politician who knows whether he, too, can be forgiven by the voters.

The road to rehabilitation, forgiveness and redemption is long and hard for most people who are not in the public eye who live nondescript lives. This road is even tougher for public figures and politicians who rely on the favor of voters to keep their jobs. Anthony Weiner is just the latest politician looking to be redeemed and be forgiven. He thinks his banishment for the last two years has rehabilitated him.

The primary is in September. He has four months to prove it to the most critical judges of all, the voters of New York City. If he wins the primary, chances are he will win the election. Will he do it? Has he proven it? What is his fate?

It is really up to him. He has to show that he has learned humility over this time. If he doesn't, then he has learned nothing.

Let's give him the chance to show it. We would expect nothing less for ourselves.