A Thought (Or Two) On Congressman Anthony Weiner’s Resignation

Image taken from mondoweiss.net

During a press conference held on Thursday June 16^th, congressman Anthony Weiner announced his resignation. The 46-year-old was the U.S. representative for New York’s 9^th congressional district.

When lewd pictures of Weiner in his underwear began circulating online, the congressman denied any responsibility for how the photos had gotten there and claimed his Twitter account had been hacked.

Then on June 6^th, 2011, Weiner held a press conference and publically admitted to participating in multiple sexting scandals involving at least six different women over the past few years. He revealed that the sexting occurred before and during his marriage to Huma Abedin. Since the scandal broke, Abedin has announced that she wishes to remain with her husband and work through their issues. She also announced that the couple is expecting their first child.

Pressure for Weiner to resign grew after he admitted to the online affairs. Leaders of both political parties have made strong statements regarding his resignation.

In an interview with NBC, President Obama said, “When you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can't serve as effectively as you need to, at the time when people are worrying about jobs and their mortgages and paying the bills -- then you should probably step back.”

And that is just what Weiner has decided to do. On June 16^th, 2011 Weiner held another press conference, this time confirming he would in fact resign. “I’d hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do – to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it. Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created has made that impossible, so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress,” said Weiner.

I find Weiner’s resignation troubling for one main reason: the voters selected him as their congressman and therefore, the voters should be the one to decide if he stays or goes. There is going to be an election to fill his seat in the fall so why not have him included?

Unless congressman Weiner has chosen to step down for personal reasons that do not include intimidation and shunning from his peers and other government officials, I don’t see why he cannot be involved in the election? Yes, in one way, he did let down the voters, but that serves as more of a reason to let the voters make their own decision on the topic.

Apparently, I’m not the only one with this opinion. On June 8^th, 2011, a survey was conducted by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion. The poll surveyed 512 adults, 411 of which were registered voters. The findings revealed that 56% of registered voters in Weiner’s district felt he should maintain his position, 33% felt he should resign, and 12% were unsure.