When Candidates Drop Out

There are a myriad of reasons candidates choose to leave their races. Over on the Republican side of the aisle, well known scandals of the sexual variety often poke their ugly little heads up, forcing early retirement so that the candidate (or officeholder) can "spend more time with their family." In divorce court perhaps.

Not that Democrats are immune to these peccadilloes. Notably Elliot Spitzer (otherwise known as Client Number 9 - I always wondered why someone didn't name a fragrance that, but hmmm, maybe better not to go there) and the appropriately named Anthony Weiner and his you know what flashing across the Twittersphere.

But there are other reasons candidates leave their races, and it often has to do with lack of finances, lack of momentum in the polls or with the voters, major defeats in partisan endorsement processes.

These candidates usually get out early before they spend down the family coffers. They are not driven or embarrassed out of the race. They are being clear headed and honest about their chances. They are reluctant to leave, but they do not wish to put themselves and their family through a grueling experience, the outcome of which is almost a sure thing. These are the honorable ones,the ones who are in it for the community, for values and principles they hold dear, and which they hoped to be able to further in public office.

They will often be the ones to go on and distinguish themselves in other ways, giving back as volunteers. campaign or legislative staffers to others who share their values. They may even reappear on the campaign scene running for another office or the same office once they have retooled and rethought their strategy.

These are the ones who leave their races for all the right reasons, and they need to be recognized.  Even though they will leave disappointed supporters and donors, they do so with a clear conscience.

And they win respect not approbation for their decision. It's hard to give up a dream, to go back to your ordinary life when you have got used to the excitement and the stress of a political campaign.

And even though it means a loss of income to consultants, the wise consultant must take a step back and look objectively at the decision her client has made, then offer the best advice she can, encouragement to stay and tough it out, if that seems right, but grace to let the client make the right decision for her and wish her well a she goes forward with new endeavors.

This is what we talk about when we talk about Anthony Weiner

Oh, dear, it's come to this.  Talking about Anthony Weiner is everyone's guilty pleasure and chance to relive their junior high years, when we were all obsessed with making stupid sex jokes.

The latest in the saga is the tale of a former intern's Daily News post about why people signed with Weiner in the first place.  Apparently at least some of them told her it so they could be clsoe to his wife, Huma Abedin. No, get your mind out of the gutter, Sir. They really wanted to be close to Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (with a lot of steps and assumptions in between), and since Abedin resides in Clinton's inner circle, they saw an internship with hubby Weiner as the route. 

That was Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon, Weiner's (sadly female) Communications Director went off the rails, and called the former intern a "slutbag" and other anti-woman names, to a reporter, who did what reporter's do - reported the tirade.

The former intern took it all in stride, amending her own Twitter account accordingly, no doubt looking forward to more press and hopefully more lucrative jobs. (She also revealed that the pay wasn't that great either.) Poor Anthony. He can now say "I ran for Mayor of New York and all I got was this lousy name calling."

The Communicator in Chief apologized for her poor choice of words, as all Weiner Watchers wait to see if she is spurned by the never to be Mayor of New York for her less than helpful actions. Now that Weiner's manager and several interns have flown the coop, will Abedin be far behind? She could always write a guest post for the Campaign Slut.

Instead she's taking an "extended leave" from her post with Hillary. Don't do it Huma. Take a leave from that lousy weinerizing husband of yours.

Seriously, speaking of Abedin, have you any doubt that had any woman (let alone a Congresswoman) got outed even once flashing her privates across the Twittersphere, she would have been laughed out of any race she even considered entering, not to mention divorced, disgraced and totally humiliated? She'd probably have to become a nun and moved to a remote undisclosed location to ever live down the shame.