Barring a Lazarus-grade miracle, Anthony Weiner’s hopes of being New York City’s next mayor will be quashed on Tuesday. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, released Monday, Weiner gets 6 percent of the likely Democratic primary vote, far behind frontrunner Bill de Blasio’s 39 percent. In a Marist poll, also released Monday, Weiner steps up to 7 percent of likely Democratic voters. You can stick a fork in him: He’s done.
Still, the media loves him, and Weiner’s getting at least as much coverage as the three viable candidates. On Monday night, Weiner gave his final pre-vote interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who had just one question for the faltering mayoral candidate: “What’s wrong with you?”
What follows is simply spellbinding television. BuzzFeed calls the interview “too amazing for words,” while Mediaite’s Josh Feldman sighs that it’s an “unbelievable trainwreck of an interview” — and they’re both right. O’Donnell spends most of the interview trying to psychoanalyze Weiner, trying to coax out of him some explanation of the “demons” that drive his need to spend his life in public office. “Dude, I don’t need your psychiatric questions,” Weiner finally interjects. “Do an interview here!”
The underlying question, which could have been interesting under different circumstances — say, after the primary election — seems to be: Why run when you know there are disqualifying skeletons in your closet that are almost certain to come out? In O’Donnell’s hands, it sounds like, as Weiner puts it, a one-sided “harangue with a split-screen.”
(Source: TheWeek.com and MSNBC)
