T.J. Walker breaks down Anthony Weiner's 2011 apology press conference. Walker calls the apology sincere but too late to stop the damage: Weiner's become a punchline and will struggle to raise money or get colleagues' support. He might keep his House seat but can forget higher office.
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So how did Anthony Weiner do in his big press conference today? Well, I've heard of a day late in a dollar short. This was 10 days late and a dollar short. If he had just given this press conference the day this incident happened, I think most of us would have forgotten it by now. But now with it percolating, with it being the number one news story in America for more than a week, a news story that's been chewed on all over the world at this point, he's such an object of ridicule. I frankly don't see how he overcomes this. Now rating his actual apology. I give him high marks. He seemed sincere. Those tears seemed real. It wasn't one of these things where, well, if I've offended anybody, I'm sorry. No, it was a thorough apology. He said I was dumb, I was stupid, I was deceitful, I lied. I have no one to blame but myself. I mean, that was a thorough, thorough apology. He was groveling. He was not giving himself any out. He said he certainly recognizes that people want to form negative opinions of him. So as an apology, that's as good as it gets. I think the question is, does it matter? At this point, it certainly takes some of the steam out of this. Although he's going to be a big story for days and weeks to come. Can he overcome this? Can he ever have a meaningful political career again? At this point, you know, I wouldn't rule anything out. People wrote off Bill Clinton. He came back. People wrote off Eliot Spitzer. He has a high profile these days. The thing that's a little different about Anthony Weiner is he's now such a joke. He didn't break any laws, or at least any big laws that we know of. He didn't kill anyone. But he is just now such an object of ridicule. He's seen as such a pathetic joke. And so much of politics is about the perception of authority, not actual authority. And if people cannot mention your name, if you can't leave a message with somebody without everyone bursting into laughter, it's hard to imagine how you can get anything done. Here's my prediction. He does not run for governor or mayor or senator because he can never raise the money. I think at this point, he could get reelected to Congress, his seat in Brooklyn. But at some point, if you can't get anything done in Congress and people just laugh at you and they're afraid to sign on to any bill you've signed, at some point, you sort of slink away. At this point, that's what I'm predicting of his political career. Can he rehabilitate himself as perhaps a number one rated talk show host or blogger that is still wide open for Anthony Weiner. I'm T.J. walker.
