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Voter Refuses To Shake Weiner's Hand: "Who The Hell Knows Where It’s Been?"

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jul 27, 2013

Modified Jul 28, 2013

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Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jul 27, 2013

Modified Jul 28, 2013

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Anthony Weiner might not be ready to pull out at the moment, but don't think voters are ready to forgive Carlos Danger for those penis pics just yet. Yesterday, the embattled mayoral candidate took a little trip to Staten Island in hopes of reviving his withering campaign with a few gratuitous Hurricane Sandy shots—but voters seemed pretty disgusted with him, and one even refused to shake his hand, noting that his behavior "skeeves me."

Peg Brunda, a retired assistant principal and lifelong Staten Islander, called Weiner out on his antics during yesterday's visit to storm-damaged areas. "Had I conducted myself in the manner in which you conducted yourself, my job would have been gone," she told him angrily. "I don't quite understand how you would feel you'd have the moral authority—as the head administrator in this city—to oversee employees, when your standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that is expected of us." She refused to shake his hand, noting, "Who the hell knows where it's been?" and when he asked her if she was going to vote for him, she replied, "I would not vote for you sir, quite obviously."

Brunda wasn't the only one to give Weiner some guff yesterday, with a number of Staten Island residents saying they weren't willing to give their vote to him after this most recent scandal. And they weren't mincing words: "The man is a pervert," one woman told the Daily News. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Weinerverse, news broke yesterday that Weiner's brother Jason Weiner sent a message to the pol's sexting partner, Sydney Leathers in an attempt to "take the temperature" before Weiner announced his mayoral candidacy in May.

"She was freaked out by it," Lou Colagiovanni, a friend of Leathers', told the Daily News. "It wasn’t a ‘hello’ conversation, it was more like he was feeling her out, trying to find out what she was going to say, if she had any negative feelings toward his brother." Jason Weiner has denied contacting Leathers at all.

And as for Weiner's wife Huma Abedin, well, things aren't going so smoothly for her either. Though sources close to the Clintons say the political power couple is standing by Hillary's right-hand woman—though Weiner, apparently, is "like that jerky son-in-law who married in. They do not like him," according to one Democratic city official—she has not escaped the wrath of Leathers. The well-spotlighted 23-year-old told reporters that Abedin is only sticking with Weiner "for the power, for the fame, for the stature."

"It almost feels to me like it’s more of an arrangement, or a business relationship, than a marriage," Leathers told the Post. Oh, and Leathers and Weiner apparently had phone sex at least twice a week from June until November 2012, so let that image marinate with you for a while (and please, no more NSFW pictures of "Carlos Danger"'s schlong).

On the bright side, it looks like Weiner's wandering wiener is benefitting someone aside from pun-hungry media folks—fellow mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn seems to be picking up new steam in light of the drama, choosing to paint herself as a candidate with substance. "You need a New Yorker who is going to be straightforward about the truth, particularly when it isn’t what people want to hear, particularly in the tough, tough moments,” Quinn said this week . And she's got at least one new fan: "I think she’s got a lot of experience," new non-Weiner fan Brunda told the Times.

Tagged

anthony weiner

christine quinn

huma abedin

mayoral election 2013

peg brunda

staten island

sydney leathers

Rebecca Fishbein

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