Update at 5:46 p.m.
As a rule, it’s bad form for a political reporter to predict the outcome of political election. But it’s safe to say that Anthony Weiner is no longer the front runner in the New York Mayor’s race, which he once led. The most recent Quinnipiac poll put him at 7%, in fourth place, behind Bill de Blasio, at 43%.
Weiner is, however, still the star of his own reality show, an epic drama of masochism, might and repeated ritual self-embarrassment. And so it is worth noting that his journey may have reached its apex today, when he picked a fight with a heckling voter at a bakery. Suffice it to say, hecklers are nothing new to press-the-flesh retail politicking, and there are only two proper ways of dealing with them: Ignore or politely dismiss.
But then the Weiner campaign no longer looks much like a campaign. It is more like a life journey, done as theater for the public. And Weiner’s life journey needs have clearly separated from his political ones. And so this is the spectacle that results.
Update at 5:46 p.m.
Weiner’s camp released a full video of the altercation. The man who initiated the conflict told Weiner, “You’re a real scumbag, Anthony. Married to an Arab.”
Untitled from Anthony Weiner on Vimeo.