Anthony Weiner Campaign Manager Quits 6 Weeks Before Primary
Anthony Weiner's campaign manager quit over the weekend, which could be a sign of a mayoral race that is slowly slipping out of the beleaguered former Congressman's reach. Danny Kedem, who was formerly a junior aide to Hillary Clinton in 2008, left Weiner's side after the revelation that the candidate's text sex scandal continued even after his first admission and resignation in 2011.
Anthony Weiner's campaign manager, Danny Kedem, was hired just a few months ago, only days before the 48-year-old candidate announced his run. Kedem had run other congressional and mayoral races, but with his recent resignation only six weeks before the primary, Weiner could be in trouble.
Weiner's campaign implosion began last Tuesday, when website TheDirty.com revealed lewd pictures and multiple messages to a 22-year-old political science student, Sydney Leathers. A Wednesday press conference alongside his wife, top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, confirmed the reports, and Weiner almost instantly dropped 10 points in the polls.
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"I said there were multiple women over an extended period of time," Weiner told The New York Post. "It's not dozens and dozens. … It's behind me. It's a year ago at least. And I worked through those things."
Weiner has been urged to drop out of the race by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama campaign manager David Axelrod, but he has decided to stick it out. His firm decision to stay in the race could be based on more than simple stubbornness, however— $3 million in public money has been made available to Weiner from NYC coffers, and that money would disappear were he to quit.
31-year-old Kedem's resignation isn't the only blow the campaign has taken. Weiner has also been reportedly "calling his own shots and becoming alienated from many of his former allies, advisers and supporters," a source told ABC News. The public perception of Weiner could hurt more even than his dismal polls numbers.
"The credibility is gone and the campaign manager had to follow," Bill Cunningham, Michael Bloomberg's first successful campaign manager for mayor, told The Daily Beast. "If he were to stay there, you are in some way trying to justify what Weiner has said and your own credibility has gone down the tubes, and your ability to get into other campaigns down the road will be compromised. He probably looks at this and says, 'I don't want to be tarnished.'"
