Weiner resigns, but don't be surprised by a comeback

NEW YORK — Over howls from hecklers and cheers from die-hard fans, Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress on Thursday in a raucous news conference that raised more questions than it answered.

Ten days after confessing he had sent sexually provocative online messages to several women, the New York Democrat bowed to pressure that peaked this week when President Obama said that, if he were in the congressman's position, he would quit. Weiner, who had vowed to stay in office, acknowledged the scandal was hampering his, and Congress', ability to work.

"I had hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district had elected me to do: to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it," Weiner said. "Unfortunately, the distraction I have created has made that impossible."

The final chapter of the story came with many unknowns, from future prospects for the fallen Democratic star and his district to the location of his wife, who was a no-show.

Weiner spoke for less than five minutes and chose for his exit a site heavy in symbolism and nostalgia: a Brooklyn senior-citizens home where he launched his political career in the early 1990s by announcing his run for City Council. Several residents, many leaning on canes or in wheelchairs, crowded the sides of the room, normally used for meals or social events.

If Weiner thought the location would guarantee a dignified or somber parting, he was wrong. Cheers from supporters competed with shouts from at least two hecklers from the moment he entered the room. One heckler was from Howard Stern's radio show; another screamed, "Bye bye, pervert!"

Weiner apologized again to constituents and to his wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He did not mention future political goals, but said, "Now I'll be looking for other ways to contribute my talents" to bolstering the middle class.

If Weiner decided to try a political comeback, he would have the means: He has nearly $5 million in campaign money, nearly all of it in a committee formed for a mayoral bid. The seven-term congressman had made clear he planned to run for mayor of New York in 2013.

Members of the state's congressional delegation expressed sadness about their disgraced colleague's fall, but optimism about his future. "There's no doubt in my mind this is not the end of Mr. Weiner," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., who has known Weiner since he served on the City Council.

Towns said he wouldn't rule out a Weiner mayoral candidacy. "You never know. There are other people who made mistakes and have bounced back and (are) doing great things."

But crisis-management expert Gene Grabowski of Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington, D.C., firm, said Weiner's first move should be to finish whatever treatment he is receiving.

"Then you come out, you redeem yourself. You talk a little bit about your experience, how you've seen the error of your ways. People love rebirth in this country," said Grabowski, noting former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, who was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine with a prostitute. "He went to prison, found religion, starting singing 'Amazing Grace,' and it worked.' "

Grabowski expressed doubts that Weiner, like Barry, could go back into politics because of the repeated lying that preceded his confession. Instead, he suggested Weiner could look toward the career he envisioned in college: TV personality. That's the route chosen by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, forced to resign in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal and now a host on CNN.

Lanny Davis, a Clinton White House veteran who runs a Washington, D.C., crisis-management firm, said Weiner still has a shot at politics. "I learned a lot from my experience with President Clinton," Davis said. "The American people are pretty smart, and they are pretty compassionate, and they get the distinction between human weakness and public performance in office."

That distinction seemed to weigh on some Weiner fans.

"The American public is very strange," said Elizabeth Viggiano, a Brooklyn resident who repeatedly had voted for Weiner and who said she would do it again. "We put people on a pedestal, and then we wait for them to fall."

But Ed Corrado, who said he had voted several times for Weiner, said it would be difficult to persuade him to support Weiner again.

He said Weiner would need to prove he had undergone a "sincere and significant" change to regain his support. Asked how long that could take, Corrado said, "About five years."

Republicans showed little interest Thursday in trying to make Weiner's solidly Democratic district the stage for political payback. One GOP aide called the Democrats' 130,000-voter registration advantage "Mount Everest."

Still, the Brooklyn part of the district voted for Republican Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Weiner faced one of his toughest re-elections last year, when GOP businessman Bob Turner spent more than $100,000 of his money and won 39 percent of the vote.

Weiner's departure was the culmination of an effort by House Democrats that began after his June 6 come-clean news conference. Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi and other leaders called for the ethics commission to investigate. Key members then called for his resignation.

Two days later, after an X-rated photo of Weiner's genitals appeared online, Pelosi, New York Rep. Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made the plea directly.

They and other leaders urged Weiner to resign and seek treatment, a senior Democratic aide said.

Weiner conceded Wednesday, while colleagues were hobnobbing at the White House picnic. Speaking on the phone with Israel, Weiner said he would give up his post.