Looks like a double come back in the latest Quinnipac poll on 2013 New York City Mayor's Race:
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
After being sidelined for years by scandals, Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer are confounding the experts and leading in their respective comeback campaigns, according to a stunning poll released Monday.
Weiner, who quit Congress in 2011 for tweeting photos of his crotch to women he met online, has 25% of the vote in the Democratic primary for mayor to 22% for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Quinnipiac University poll shows.
And Spitzer, who resigned as governor five years ago for having sex with prostitutes, is trouncing Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, 48% to 33%, in the Democratic race for city controller, the poll found.
Poll Director Maurice Carroll said Weiner and Spitzer are benefiting from the high name recognition they achieved as a result of their scandals. - New York Daily News, 7/16/13
New Yorkers, you are officially the coolest and most forgiving voters in the country I must say. I for one am glad to have both these guys back in the political spotlight. But there are two people who are probably not very happy about these poll numbers. The first is Governor Andrew Cuomo (D. NY):
http://www.politico.com/...
For a governor who’s tried to make his brand the restoration of calm and clean politics, Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer getting back into the game is enough of a problem: they embody the New York politics caricature of salaciousness and scandal that Cuomo has cast himself as the antidote to.
With Cuomo potentially heading west to Iowa in two years to work caucus voters, the prospect of having a mayor and city comptroller as a constant reminder of all that — and who will have every incentive to antagonize him — is even worse.
The biggest roadblock to Cuomo’s presidential ambitions remains Hillary Clinton. But if he does run, the core of his argument would be that he’s the guy who got an out-of-control state back in order. That’s already been threatened by an explosion of state government political corruption revelations.
Add Spitzer — whose history of bad blood with the governor is the stuff of Albany legend — and Weiner into the mix, and Cuomo by 2016 could end up looking less wrangler, more ringmaster. - Politico, 5/14/13
The other person who may not be happy with these poll numbers is former Mayor and failed Presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani (R. NY) who has been trying to scare voters away from Weiner:
http://thehill.com/...
Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) was ineffective when he served in Congress, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said.
Giuliani's comments came during an interview with Fox Business Network. Giuliani, the former mayor and presidential candidate, referred to Weiner and former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D), who recently announced his candidacy for New York City comptroller.
"I am going to put Eliot aside for a second and just talk about Anthony for a minute. Anthony is not prepared to be mayor. Forget the crazy stuff," Giuliani said in the interview Tuesday. "He is not prepared to be mayor. He was not an effective congressman." - The Hill, 7/10/13
But one person who has been very helpful with Weiner's campaign is his wife:
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
Huma Abedin collected nearly $150,000 in donations in the past two months to fuel her Democratic husband’s once-improbable candidacy for mayor, making her his campaign’s top “bundler,” records filed Monday with the city’s Campaign Finance Board show.
Abedin, a longtime top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, put her extensive Clinton connections to use in the dash for cash.
She got donations for the maximum $4,950 from Don Walker and Ellen Kazis-Walker of the Harry Walker Agency, which brokers speaking deals for both Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
She fielded a $5,000 donation — $50 over the limit -- from Joseph Paolino, the U.S. Ambassador to Malta and former mayor of Providence, R.I. Paolino’s wife, Lianne, chipped in the $4,950 maximum via Abedin, too.
Also in a giving mood, with Abedin as intermediary: Edward Gabriel, a Washington consultant and former Ambassador to Morocco; Sim Farar, an investor the former president appointed as a representative to the United Nations; and Nancy Jacobson, founder of the No Labels non-partisan political movement, a senior advisor to the Clinton White House and a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
In addion, Minyon Moore, a top Clinton White House aide who became a political strategist, gave $500, and John Merrigan, chairman of the Democratic Business Council during Bill Clinton’s second term, gave $4,950.
Abedin also got her mother, Saleha, and her sister, Heba, to max out to the campaign. And Susan Buffett, the daughter of super investor Warren Buffett, chipped in $500. - New York Daily News, 7/16/13
2013 certainly is the comeback year and what better time for Weiner and Spitzer to be back in the world of politics. If you would like to get involved with either Weiner or campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.anthonyweiner.com/