The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

When Will Weiner Quit?

Posted on | June 9, 2011 | 62 Comments

My hunch says today but, rationally, politicians always prefer to save bad news for after 7 p.m. on a Friday. That way, the story doesn’t make the evening news on a weekday, and ends up in Saturday’s newspapers, which almost nobody reads. However, as I mention at The American Spectator, it seems impossible that Weiner can delay his resignation much longer than that:

Weiner’s scandal “has become a national embarrassment for Democratic leaders,” Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed “Democratic aides” as saying that if the embattled congressman “continues to resist calls to resign, the situation could reach a boiling point Monday when House members return to Washington.”

Right: Nancy Pelosi can’t have this thing drag out forever, stepping on her message. She wants him out — ASAP, PDQ, yesterday.

The problem is that Weiner knows this as well as anyone, and therefore can drive a hard bargain. I expect he’s negotating behind the scenes for something in the way of a “severance deal,” with a guaranteed six-figure salary for a no-show job at some progressive 501(c) non-profit, as the price for going away nicely.

According to the New York Post, Huma’s trying to keep Weiner in Congress, a story that seems incredible to me, and as Ace says, “[I]t’s one thing for a wife to be supportive. It’s another thing to be war-rooming it.”

Therefore I’m thinking the Post story is just a way for Team Weiner to send a signal to fellow Democrats that they’d better sweeten the pot on the “severance” payoff or else, The Human Stain is willing to hang around the Capitol and keep effing up their message just for spite.

The Democrats know how to play this game, and so they’ll give Weiner whatever it takes to get him to go quietly, a move I expect to be announced today, or by Friday evening at the latest.

If Weiner hasn’t resigned by Saturday, then, I’m wrong — and this scandal sails into terra incognita, that part of the map where it says, “Here Be Dragons.”

Category: Anthony Weiner

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