Anthony Weiner and the Mechanics of Redemption

By Bruce Feirstein, Vanity Fair

15 April 13

or me, the most interesting thing about this Sunday's New York Times Magazine article on Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin's "Post Scandal Playbook" isn't the psychodrama, the blaming of his downfall on Twitter, or even Weiner's brother admitting that "there was definitely a douchiness about him."

Rather, it's the way the meta-narrative-meaning, the narrative about what we're reading and why we're reading it-is fully exposed in the article. What used to be the hidden agenda is now made clear at the outset: Weiner and Abedin are doing this, and the Times is writing about it, because Weiner wants a comeback. Or, as the writer Jonathan Van Meter explains, "there certainly was a lot of strategic thinking in deciding to tell their story six months before the mayoral primary."

And with this, the intent of the piece and the mechanics behind it are fully disclosed in a way that's as blunt as Anthony Weiner himself. It's sort of like the way the architects of the 1970s left the pipes and plumbing and ductwork exposed, so you could understand what you were experiencing inside the machine. The Times Magazine used this same technique in the recent profile of Ted Kennedy Jr., where the writer, Mark Leibovich, makes clear that he's been sought out for a "foundational story" about Kennedy's entry into the family business.

The only difference here is that we get the full Oprah: the teary-eyed confessions, the acknowledgment of all the negatives, the "I shouldn't be telling you this" faux disclosures, and the unnamed advisers hedging their bets about the pluses and minuses concerning the run for mayor-along with a guest appearance by Jon Stewart, laying out the grounds to forgive him. "In terms of these types of scandals," Stewart counsels us, "the depravity was on a very low scale." All that's missing is the declaration that "it's time to put this behind us and move on." Or, as Weiner himself couches it: "Some people just don't buy it . . . Like they just don't have room for a second narrative about me."

Personally, I'm a fan of the meta-narrative. I think it's a healthy development. Announcing the intentions up front and pulling back the curtain to show what's going on here is ultimately more honest. We get to decide whether we're getting played; we get a better perspective to judge whether the crocodile tears are real or a ruse.

So here's my take: Will Anthony Weiner run for mayor? Absolutely, yes. He'll hear what he wants to hear from the people who read the article and commend him for it. It will confirm his own high self-regard.

Will he win? Doubtful. This trick sort of worked for Eliot Spitzer, it didn't work at all for Lance Armstrong, and Weiner is neither as lovable, forgivable, or charismatic as Bill Clinton.

If I were a member of Weiner's camp, I'd tell him this: Charles de Gaulle once quipped, "The graveyards are filled with indispensable men."

These days, you'll find them in the green rooms at the cable-news networks.