AP
We've reached the backlash-to-the-backlash stage with Anthony Weiner.
Ari Melber writes in the Daily News that calls for Weiner to exit the New York mayor race after new sexting revelations are " wrong, anti-democratic and strangely puritanical."
Andrew Sullivan, Dan Savage and Amanda Hess have all been noting that sexting with strangers is increasingly common behavior with the rise of smartphones, and sooner or later we'll have to make peace with electing leaders whose sexts we have read.
In the abstract, they're right. Let's be frank. In the age of Grindr, I'm far from the only gay man under 35 with a personal stake in changing this norm.
But while we will eventually need a standard bearer for the "sexters can be leaders, too" message, Weiner can't be it. That's because the specific circumstances of his sexting provide further evidence that he lacks the temperament to be a good mayor.
Let's look back at Exhibit A on Why Anthony Weiner Would Be A Terrible Mayor: June's New York Times piece on his record in Congress.
The Cliffs Notes version: Weiner had no record of legislative accomplishment to speak of, save for one pet bill pushed by a major donor. His main goal seemed to be to get on television as much as possible and raise his profile for a run for mayor.
He positioned himself as a progressive champion but was not useful in getting the left's goals into law. He threatened to interfere with passage of Obamacare but relented when Nancy Pelosi put him in a position to take more credit for it. He went on a self-aggrandizing rant against Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) at the same time other New York Democrats were working constructively with King to secure passage of a bill to compensate 9/11 first responders. He refused to participate in a pro-immigration event because its organizers wouldn't make it into a platform for showcasing Anthony Weiner.
His me-first behavior so alienated other Democrats that, when his first sexting scandal broke in 2011, few colleagues were interested in publicly defending him. It was clear that Pelosi was glad to have him gone. And his lack of a legislative record has given his mayoral opponents a strong argument against him.
The key lesson here is not that Weiner is a relentless self-promoter. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is a relentless self-promoter and also a highly effective senator.
What makes Weiner special is that he compulsively seeks attention and adulation even when that interferes with his long-run self-promotion. He couldn't keep from grandstanding even when it cost him goodwill within his party, and he couldn't stop sexting even when he was planning a comeback from a sexting scandal that forced his resignation from Congress.