Weiner's Resignation & Impact of Weinergate on Lawmaker's Twitter usage
Miriam Stevens
NMJMA WIM Week Three
News Summary with Infographic Element
June 18, 2011
Related article: Previously posted on Thankful Revolution Journal Week Two June 12, 2011 by Miriam Stevens “A Call for Ethics and the Bulging Weiner”
located at http://thankfulrevolution.blogspot.com/
Weiner resigns due to Twitter photo sex scandal
Huffington Post shared a timeline of events chronicling through photos and video media, Weiner’s fall from grace directly linked to his Weinergate Twitter photo sex scandal. The media information shows the initial date that the Twitter scandal leaked up to his resignation from U.S House of Representatives on June 16, 2011.
Photo Source: AP/The Huffington Post First Posted: 06/16/11 01:47 PM ET Updated: 06/16/11 03:36 PM ET
By Miriam S. Stevens | Thankful Revolution Journal | Week Three WIM News Summary | June 18, 2011 | miriamstevens@fullsail.edu
U. S. House of Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) resigned June 16, 2011 in a press conference because of the Twitter photo sex scandal and distraction to the Democratic Party’s upcoming Presidential Campaign. According to Ed Pilkington’s article in the guardian.co.uk “Anthony Weiner resigns over Twitter photo scandal Twenty days after the scandal dubbed "Weinergate" erupted with the sending of a sexually suggestive photograph on Twitter, a rising star of the Democrats was forced to resign his congressional seat in the face of pressure from the highest levels of his party.”
President Obama shared his feelings on Weiner’s staying in the Congress simply stating, “if it was me, I would resign”. The Democrats are gearing up for the upcoming Presidential elections and know that any blemish could cause voters to lean towards supporting a Republican candidate. In the same article by Pilkington, one of the Democratic Party leaders, Nancy Pelosi, expressed the concern that Weinergate has become a major distraction for national issues such as the economy. “The official line taken by party leaders such as Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic chief in the House of Representatives who called on him to resign, was that the scandal was distracting attention from important political debates such as the economy.”
According to John Feehery’s account of Weiner’s decline and fall article, are seven key truths that became apparent which sealed Weiner’s fate leading to his ultimate resignation. The seven points that were outlined in Feehery’s article are as follows:
1. He is a liar, big time
2. He went all in on a losing hand
3. He is a loudmouth
4. He is a liability
5. He is expendable
6. He left plenty of photographs
7. The story has a link to minors
Additionally, as noted in Michael McAulif’s article in the Huffington post, pressure from the Democratic leadership played into Weiner’s decision to step down. Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) shared, “I’ve had repeated conversations with Congressman Weiner in which I expressed my strong feelings that he should resign for the good of himself, his family, Members of Congress and the country”.
A byproduct of the Weinergate Twitter sex scandal is the effect it had on Twitter usage from other lawmakers. The below graph, which original sources are from tweetcongress.org, ABC News, and CNN show usage from May 8, 2011 to June 8, 2011 in both parties since Weiner’s tweet photo scandal down. Republican party is down to 27% tweets and Democrats down to 29% tweets from week May 23rd to week May 30th. Based on the data presented the Republican Party members use Twitter more frequently than the Democratic Party.
The consequences of Anthony Weiner’s Twitter behavior apparently impacted not only his political career but also the online behavior of his former colleagues as demonstrated from the data. McAuliff shared that Weiner’s resignation is a first regarding social media’s impact for a politician, “embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign, sources confirmed to The Huffington Post, making him the first Congressman whose career was wrecked by indiscretions on Twitter.”
Weiner who was a career politician will now concentrate on his family and restoring his tarnished public image according to McAuliff Weiner shared his efforts would now have a focus, “to contribute my talents with God's help and hard work, we will all be successful”.
The distraction Weinergate caused to the Democratic Party was turning supporters away which hindered fundraising efforts for the upcoming Presidential Campaign. According to Pilkington’s information, “The imbroglio has fallen at a sensitive time in which the party's coffers for next year's presidential race are being filled. Key fundraisers have complained that donors were being turned off by the salacious revelations.”
Now, that the Democratic Party has gotten rid of one of its recent sore spots, efforts on the upcoming Presidential campaign can be made without the Weinergate sex scandal constantly on public display through media coverage or being the fodder for comedians like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher.
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