Michael Mulgrew. (Photo: Amanda Cohen)

The battle between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the powerful teachers' union entered a ghoulish new phase on Monday, as the mayor equated the union's coveted endorsement to the "kiss of death," and the union slammed a nod from Mr. Bloomberg as worse than a zombie attack.

The Democratic candidates for mayor have been courting the United Federation of Teachers and the union's president, Michael Mulgrew, for months, but Mr. Bloomberg said this afternoon he thinks they're making a grave electoral mistake.

"It's almost a kiss of death," the mayor said of the union's coveted endorsement, which Mr. Mulgrew believes will be decisive in the race. “I don't know what goes through voters' minds, but maybe they understand if the UFT wants it, it ain't good and you don't want that person."

Mr. Bloomberg, who has clashed extensively with the teachers' union in recent years, including over a recent teacher evaluations deal, argued that the last time a UFT endorsement helped a candidate win was two decades ago back when David Dinkins was elected into office.

"I don't know that you have to worry about that," Mr. Bloomberg said of the possibility of UFT delivering City Hall to their preferred candidate, as Mr. Mulgrew has boasted the union can do.

Without referring to particular candidates, the mayor, speaking at a Monday afternoon press conference touting the city's graduation rates, also said the next administration should follow in the footsteps of his education policies.

“We’d become the laughing stock of the country if we had to roll back everything that has worked so well,” he lamented.

But Mr. Mulgrew shot back at the mayor--arguing that Mr. Bloomberg's endorsement is, in fact, the toxic one.

"Dozens of candidates in local and citywide elections have won with UFT backing in recent years, and many are seeking it this year, while running away from Bloomberg and his record," he said in a statement. "Right now most candidates would rather be the victim of zombie attack than get a Michael Bloomberg endorsement."

The UFT is set to make its highly-anticipated endorsement on Wednesday, with former Comptroller Bill Thompson and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio seen as the leading candidates for the influential nod.

Anthony Weiner.

Most of Anthony Weiner's former staffers are working for his rivals in this year's mayoral race--or are settled in jobs outside of campaign politics--but at least one appears to have just returned to the fold.

Amit Bagga, who worked as Mr. Weiner's executive director at the height of his infamous Twitter scandal two years ago, is going back to work for the former congressman once again. Indeed, Mr. Bagga has already disclosed this information on his LinkedIn profile, where his new title is listed as "Senior Advisor, Policy and Communications at Weiner for Mayor."

The significance of the hire isn't necessarily huge, but Mr. Bagga will likely help bring some institutional knowledge into a Weiner operation mostly filled with fresh faces. At one point before he formally announced his campaign, Mr. Weiner's inability to attract brand-name staffers was viewed as a possible sign of weakness.

In April, when Capital New York surveyed Mr. Weiner's one-time employees to inquire if they had any interest in working for the former congressman, Mr. Bagga told the publication he had "absolutely no comment."

Mr. Bagga and Mr. Weiner's campaign spokeswoman did not immediately return requests for comment for this story either.

Anthony Weiner hugs a man in Harlem during his campaign kick-off. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

It began outside a subway station in Harlem, where Anthony Weiner greeted–and embraced—New Yorkers on their way to work.

Next, he eschewed the Memorial Day parade in his old district for a sparsely-attended black church service in Southeast Queens and a veterans ceremony in the Bronx's Co-op City. And this weekend, he slammed stop-and-frisk at Rev. Al Sharpton's weekly National Action Network rally, earning loud applause from the mostly-black crowd.

Mr. Weiner’s spokeswoman, Barbara Morgan, insisted it's too soon to talk about strategy nearly three weeks into the ex-congressman’s comeback race. But the campaign’s carefully-curated stops, which typically number fewer than his rivals—might also reveal something about the polling that convinced him to jump into the race in the first place.

Voter research conducted by one rival campaign revealed an interesting finding: that black voters seemed to be more forgiving of Mr. Weiner's online dalliances than other groups.

“Our analysis is that there’s a bit of a trend of African-American voters being more sympathetic to people who have experienced scandal--Democratic politicians who have been vilified by the right and beat up in a way that feels like they’re being vilified in the press,” said one Democratic operative, pointing to the reaction to scandals involving former President Bill Clinton and Congressman Charlie Rangel.

“There’s clearly something there where higher rates of voters in the African-American community seem to be willing to forgive him,” he said. “They feel like these people haven’t betrayed us on the issues, ... they were good on the issues, but messed up in personal failure and now are getting treated in an unfair way.”

The theory also seems to be backed up by the polls. The most recent Marist survey, for instance, found that 66 percent of African-Americans surveyed believe Mr. Weiner deserves a second chance, compared with 45 percent of whites and 55 percent of Latino voters. Just 27 percent of blacks told pollsters Mr. Weiner didn't have the character to be mayor--versus nearly 50 percent of whites.

Anthony Weiner supporters petitioning in Harlem this weekend. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

And a May 22 Quinnipiac poll found that while Mr. Weiner was favored by just 11 percent of whites voters, he had the support of 20 percent of black voters—besting every other candidate—including former Comptroller Bill Thompson, the contest's only African-American candidate, who garnered just 13 percent of the black vote.

In fact, Mr. Weiner, the only Jewish candidate in the race, doesn't fare nearly as well among the Jewish voters he's been courting, the Marist poll found.

It was the same way during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when black lawmakers and voters rallied around Mr. Clinton, according to reports from the time. One Washington Post poll, for instance, found that, in the scandal’s aftermath, 94 percent of African-Americans believed Mr. Clinton was a strong leader, versus just 62 percent of white respondents. They also gave Mr. Clinton higher ratings “in virtually every category including job approval, trustworthiness and his ability to relate to average Americans,” the paper wrote.

Chet Whye, a Harlem community activist who saw Mr. Weiner speak Saturday at Mr. Sharpton's House of Justice, said that he has long been a fan of Mr. Weiner and said he was among those who had already dismissed the Twitter scandal that forced Mr. Weiner to resign from Congress two years ago.

"If this guy's gonna be good for this city, that's all that matters to me," he explained, arguing that many officials he respects have also made mistakes. "We've had great leadership come out of people who are flawed. Look at Bill Clinton. To me, it's something--it was stupid. He acknowledges that. I'm past it."

He also noted Mr. Weiner's first campaign stop at the corner of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. "That was a signal to us that we were not going to be ignored," he said. "He could have been anywhere. He came here."

Peter Bailey, another black voter who lives on the Upper West Side, agreed he wouldn't hold the scandal against Mr. Weiner and would instead look to the candidates' policy proposals. But he said the idea that black voters were more inclined to forgive rang true.

"I think black people traditionally have a feeling for those that come out of the cave still fighting," he said. "That's the position that black folks come out of so we can always relate to somebody fighting when they've been kicked down."

In addition to helping shed light on Mr. Weiner's strategy, the numbers might also put an interesting wrench in the conventional wisdom that Mr. Weiner’s jump into the race is most damaging for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (by making a run-off nearly guaranteed) and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio (who, the theory goes, is targeting the same middle-class, outer-borough, progressive voters as Mr. Weiner).

Perhaps Mr. Weiner is also a threat to Mr. Thompson—whose campaign has most enthusiastically embraced Mr. Weiner with open arms? The Thompson campaign however, dismissed the early polls, which have historically under-counted support for minority candidates.

"Before Anthony ever got in, I predicted he'd be in second place and he still is, because these polls measure one thing right now - name recognition, no more and no less," Mr. Thompson's chief strategist Jonathan Prince said in a statement. "Bill Thompson's numbers are underweighted because polls consistently underestimate minority turnout and support."

(It's worth noting the other candidates have been making plays for minority voters, too. Ms. Quinn, for instance, has been courting Hispanic women, while Mr. de Blasio, whose wife is black, has picked up endorsements from the heavily minority Local 1199 SEIU and New York Communities for Change.)

For his part, Mr. Weiner rebuffed the idea that there was any motivation behind his stops, portraying the campaign’s strategy as a largely on-the-fly, by-the-bootstraps effort.

“Some of it is how enthusiastic the invite it … And some it is just like how it feels, you know. We chose that church ‘cause that particular church had an interesting story,” he told Politicker recently when asked about how he was choosing his stops.

“We’re going to get to everywhere. And some of it just based on our bandwidth as an organization. We’re kind of like a start-up at this point," he added. "The driver knows one neighborhood, we’re like, ‘Ok! That looks good to me!’”

Anthony Weiner speaking at the House of Justice this weekend. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

Consultant Bill Cunningham, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's former communications director, also cautioned that it’s too early to read much into the schedule tea leaves and early polls—aside from a general desire by the candidate to appear engaged with voters city-wide.

“What he’s saying by doing that is that he’s going to be campaigning throughout the city. He’s not just relying on his old bastions of Brooklyn and Queens … and this is how I prove it,” Mr. Cunningham explained.

It also sends a message that Mr. Weiner is out of hiding two years after he was forced to resign.

For Mr. Weiner, Mr. Cunningham said the strategy shows, “I’m here, I’m out, I’m with real people.”

The candidate Gov. Cuomo appreciates being asked about. (Photo: Getty)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn't want to talk about Anthony Weiner. He really doesn't--seriously.

"I appreciate that you continue to ask questions that you know that I don't want to answer," Mr. Cuomo accordingly deadpanned earlier today when faced with yet another question on Mr. Weiner, this one about the scandal-scarred mayoral candidate's recent rise in the polls.

"I respect your perseverance," he added. "I hope that you respect my discipline."

Perhaps ironically given his last not-quite-a-joke "shame on us" reaction when asked about Mr. Weiner's potential victory--which he unconvincingly insisted was humor--the crowd of reporters laughed at today's remark.

Mr. Cuomo, who was announcing the state's new texting-while-driving penalties, also informed the media that he was not going to be providing opinions on the mayoral race's daily developments.

"The mayoral election has a long way to go," he said. "It's going to be a long campaign, let's see what happens. I'm  sure there will be a lot of twists and turn. There normally are. It seems like a more interesting race than usual ... So, let's see how it goes, but I don't intend to comment on the twists and turns of the New York City mayoral election."

Anthony Weiner speaks at his first forum appearance Thursday night. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

After a frenzied meet-and-greet with commuters in Harlem, ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner made his first appearance--that we know about--at a mayoral forum last night in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, where he tried to make a case to voters about why they should consider electing him again.

"For me, it's good to be anywhere," Mr. Weiner told members of the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club--one of the few clubs he said endorsed him back in 2005--a day after formally jumping into the race with a video posted on his campaign website.

But, as with the earlier event, Mr. Weiner brought with him a media entourage that had some club members fuming. As he entered the room, a crush of photographers and cameramen rushed to surround him, creating such a disruption that the moderator tried to intervene.

"We want to give equal attention to everyone in the room," she urged the group. After he sat down, club members moved in, trying to build what they described as a "human wall" to block cameras from getting a shot and to pay attention to the other candidates, who largely ignored Mr. Weiner's presence aside from a couple of jokes about the number of reporters suddenly taking interest in Bronx politics.

When it was his turn to speak, Mr. Weiner delivered much the same message as he had in his campaign video. He repeating his concerns about the growing stresses on the middle class, and criticized his fellow Democrats for spending too much time talking about how they differed from their opponents instead of focusing on ideas. He also addressed that other issue: the lewd tweeting scandal that forced him to resign from congress two years ago.

"I'm sorry," he told the audience. "You put a great deal of hope and confidence in me and I did some very embarrassing things. And I regret them. And I've worked very hard over the past couple of years to make it up to my wife, to help raise my son as best I can, but I want to look forward."

Mr. Weiner, like the other candidates, took questions from the audience. The newly-minted candidate was asked about his legislative record, the viability of the single-player healthcare system he wants to implement, and state of the city's subways. (He proposed expanded ferry service as an alternative--including new service out to the airports--and argued ferries would have been much cheaper and faster than building the Second Avenue Subway.) Overall, the reception was warm--with some laughs and applause.

But later, audience members told Politicker that, while they were largely impressed by Mr. Weiner's performance, they couldn't stop thinking about the elephant in the room.

"I was very impressed with him, but I kept thinking about his behavior," said Hilda, a senior who lives in the neighborhood, referring to the pictures she saw splashed across the papers. "His behavior is very hard to understand," she said. "I think you have to have a lot of gall to put yourself before people like this" after that.

Eleanor Oliff, a member of the club's executive board, said the appearance had done nothing to sway her in his direction.

"I don't think Weiner has a chance," she said, expressing her preference for another mayoral hopeful, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

"He seemed energetic, but he still need to talk about specifics," said another member, echoing the sentiment. "I think the indiscretion is still on my mind."

The city's newest mayoral candidate: Anthony Weiner (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Back in November, the New York Times noted this year's mayoral race is historically significant because it lacked a Jewish candidate.

"The likelihood that no major Jewish candidate may seek to run for mayor is also the consequence of the extraordinary undoing of the political career of a man who could very well have been the Democratic front-runner at this point," the paper argued. "Anthony D. Weiner."

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning that Mr. Weiner announced his return to the race, however, and this dynamic suddenly changed. But can Mr. Weiner, still politically haunted by his lewd Twitter scandal from two years ago, build support in the city's sizable Jewish vote? After all, socially conservative constituencies, including Orthodox Jews, could be extremely turned off by the salacious nature of his downfall.

"Likud Jews, as I call them, they are conservative hawks on issues like Israel--Weiner was very popular with them," Jerry Skurnik, a veteran political consultant who focuses extensively on the city's demographics, told Politicker. "Jews are a big segment of the vote. It's not like the old days, when they would be 40 percent in a primary, but they're still a significant vote. The question is, does Weiner have too much baggage? The fact that he's Jewish does help."

Mr. Weiner's old 9th Congressional district roped in a remarkably diverse swath of Jewish voters, allowing Mr. Weiner, a legislator known more for his obsessive dedication to constituent issues rather than accomplishments in Washington, to forge ties with secular, Russian and varying degrees of conservative and Orthodox Jews in southern Brooklyn and central Queens. Representing these Jewish enclaves, he built a reputation as an ardent supporter of Israel, synagogues, yeshivas and various Jewish cultural programs.

Political consultant Jeff Leb argued Orthodox voters can even be forgiving of Mr. Weiner if he makes an earnest effort to reach out to their communities and show he is still invested in the issues that concern them most.

"I think that Anthony had a very strong base in the Jewish community prior to his unfortunate incident," Mr. Leb said. "The Jewish community could definitely be open to forgiving Anthony, provided he's open and explains himself and apologizes."

Others speculated Mr. Weiner's high-profile marriage to a Muslim could hurt him among some voters as interfaith marriages, like same-sex ones, are taboo among many Orthodox Jews. Ironically, it is Ms. Abedin's own credibility and refusal to abandon Mr. Weiner that is viewed by some political pundits as one of Mr. Weiner's few assets as he attempts to win over the general electorate.

"I think it hurt him when he ran for Congress, but it's not a deal breaker," said Michael Fragin, an Orthodox Jewish consultant and host of the political talk show Spin Class. "Weiner will definitely force other candidates to challenge their assumptions of where they can win over Jewish voters, whether it's the Upper West Side, central or eastern Queens, areas of Brooklyn heavily Orthodox or not Orthodox, like Sheepshead Bay."

Mr. Weiner's candidacy, at the minimum, seems likely to force his rivals--some of whom, including Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and 2009 nominee Bill Thompson, that have their own bases in the Jewish vote in areas far outside of Mr. Weiner's old congressional district--to adjust their outreach or tactics as they vie for a coalition that leads them straight into City Hall.

Anthony Weiner talking to reporters in Harlem Thursday morning.

Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner emerged from hiding, making his first appearance on the campaign trail Thursday morning in Harlem with a press spectacle that—at one point—attracted the attention of police officers who asked him to move away from the subway station where he'd been trying to greet voters because of the huge crowd of reporters.

Mr. Weiner arrived just before 7:45 a.m. for the frenzied meet-and-greet outside the station at the corner of 125th Street and Malcolm X in Harlem more than 24-hours after announcing that he was jumping into the crowded mayor's race with a video posted on a re-vamped campaign website.

Almost immediately, the press swarmed the station entrance, blocking commuters from entering the train—and talking to Mr. Weiner--who repeatedly pleaded with the cameramen to move back.

“Step away from the candidate!” one of his handlers shouted. “Guys, you got to give him some room!”

Mr. Weiner shook numerous hands, posed for photo-ops with school kids and residents, and spoke with voters about his view on stop-and-frisk, immigration, homelessness and the role of charter schools.

“I could use your help,” he told them, asking numerous school kids to relay to their parents that he seemed like a "nice guy." But much of his energy was spent apologizing for the frenzy.

“I’m sorry for the hoopla,” he repeatedly said. “I apologize, my friend. Here, walk this way. I’ll block for you. I might not look like much, but I can take care of myself," he told one frustrated commuter.

The situation got so bad that, at one point, two police officers were forced to intervene, escorting Mr. Weiner and reporters away from the entrance. “I’m not blocking it, they are!” said Mr. Weiner, pointing to the press.

Still, despite the lewd photographs and lies that forced him to resign from Congress less than two years ago, the response from voters was largely positive.

“You are the only one who’s able to work with Congress and do something for the city,” said Abdoulaye Fious, 58, who was among those able to make it through the crowd. "He’s much better than anybody else running,” Mr. Fious told Politicker. “He’s part of the city.”

“I’m with you!” shouted another supporter, Sam Morell, 70, who said that he came out to try to meet Mr. Weiner after hearing about the appearance on television, and had hoped to volunteer for the campaign. However, after “seeing this crazy madness, with all the photographers, I have to think about it.”

“To tell you the truth, he has a big mouth and he doesn’t take any shit from anybody. I mean, he says what he means. He’s a politician, but he’s not a politician,” Mr. Morell explained, dismissing the scandal. “We all make mistakes. It doesn’t matter. I mean, he wasn’t caught with his finger in the pot. He sent out a few photographs a couple of years ago. If Clinton can get away with it.”

Anthony Weiner talks to voters on 125h Street in Harem. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

Linda Smalls, another voter, said that she was "unenthused" by the whole field of candidates, but that Mr. Weiner would have her vote. “I like the work that he’s done in the past. Even though he made a mistake We’re human. He’s human. He apologized for it. I think it’s time to move on," she said.  She was also apparently a fan of his lewd messages.

“Instead of a hug, I really wanted a text!” she exclaimed.

In fact, Mr. Weiner encountered just one angry voter who identified himself only as “Done—as in complete finish.”

“Mr. Weiner, is this just for publicity?!” he demanded, before asking the ex-councilman a much tamer question about what he’d do to stop technology taking over the workforce. “Go ahead Mr. Weineeeer!” he shouted once Mr. Mr. Weiner was done.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, most of the questions focused on how, less than two years after the infamous tweeting scandal, he really thought that he could win.

“Ultimately this is going to be up to the voters to decide,” he said. “I think what I learned today here at the subway stop is that people are going to make their determination based on the interests that they think are important. If citizens want to talk to me about my personal failings, that’s their right. And I’m going to do everything I can to answer them.”

But, he said, “I have to tell you, I was at the subway here for a while and people basically wanted to talk about issues and the challenges that we have.”

Once the press conference had ended, Mr. Weiner headed down to the train—and the press followed, crowding into a packed train heading downtown. Inside, Mr. Weiner kibitzed with passengers, including Lori Coad, who said she was homeless and had been living with friends.

“Go to the shelters!” she urged Mr. Weiner. “Don’t go on the train. Go to the nursing homes, see what they’re feeding them,” she said. “You’re trying to get back into office. What are you going to do?” she asked.

After their conversation, Ms. Coad said didn’t care about the scandal and would consider him.

“I would vote for him if he means what he says. What you do on your private time is your private business,” she explained, urging Mr. Weiner to “stop going online and texting stuff!”

“Stay off of Facebook and all of that. Leave that alone!” she called out to him.

The comments drew laughs from Mr. Weiner.

“You know, we were doing so well there for a minute,” he said. “I almost got off this train with everything going fine.” She said he didn’t have to worry.

“What you do on your personal time is your personal business,” Ms. Coad told him, “I’ll still vote for you! I ain’t worried 'bout your personal life. I’m worried about what you tryin’ to do for the people.”

“We make mistakes,” another woman chimed in.

Mr. Weiner emerged at 14th Street, and was again trailed by reporters for blocks as he walked through Greenwich Village. He was peppered him with questions about the economy, his loss in 2005, and dodged questions about his strategy and opponents.

Finally, Mr. Weiner bid farewell outside the studios of WNYC, where he was scheduled to do an interview with Brian Lehrer.

“This is my stop. So we’re going to have to say, 'til we meet again,’” he said, before ducking into the building more than an hour before his interview was actually scheduled to start.

Jim Gennaro. (Photo: Getty)

Queens Councilman James Gennaro is not rolling out the welcome mat for Anthony Weiner's mayoral bid.

Indeed, Mr. Gennaro released a lengthy, 824-word statement slamming Mr. Weiner. In paragraph after paragraph, Mr. Gennaro brought up Mr. Weiner's infamous Twitter scandal that led to his downfall two years ago, arguing the former congressman's poor handling of the affair disqualified him from being anything but a distraction.

"I believe I have a common sense, practical perspective on what I consider to be the minimum qualifications to be the mayor of our city," Mr. Gennaro wrote. "And, I believe that Mr. Weiner possesses none of these qualifications."

It should be noted that Mr. Gennaro is an ally of one of Mr. Weiner's new opponents in the Democratic primary, Council Speaker Christine Quinn. A spokeswoman for Mr. Weiner did not immediately respond to the attack.

View Mr. Gennaro's entire statement below:

I’ve been privileged to serve in various capacities in city government, and have served this city for more than 30 years. For most of that time, I have worked with mayors and with the top leadership in city government on both sides of City Hall and with leaders in the business, not-for-profit and labor sectors to make my modest contribution to the governance of our great city.

As a three-term Council Member, I have authored and passed more than 30 bills, and I have also taught several different courses about New York City government at Queens College.

And although I certainly don’t presume to possess the leadership skills to be the mayor, I do believe that as a student of city government, as a teacher of city government, and — most important — as a leader in city government, I believe I have a common sense, practical perspective on what I consider to be the minimum qualifications to be the mayor of our city.

And, I believe that Mr. Weiner possesses none of these qualifications. Worse, I believe Mr. Weiner’s candidacy will be nothing more than a most unfortunate distraction in this important mayoral campaign — you may recall that President Obama used this very word, “distraction,” when the president urged him to resign his seat in the House of Representatives and indicated that his continued presence in Congress was, essentially, an impediment to the governance of the country.

But let me get back to the mayoral “minimum qualifications” that I believe Mr. Weiner does not possess.

First, I believe for any mayor to be effective he or she must possess good judgment. In my opinion, his actions in 2011 show terribly poor judgment — to say the least.

Second, in my opinion, it is critical for a mayor to be able to manage a crisis. Mr. Weiner’s management of every aspect of the crisis of his own making in 2011 was, I believe, abysmal – from the first barefaced lie about being “hacked,” to his statement that he was the victim of an “illness,” to the conclusion of the crisis when he couldn’t even orchestrate his own resignation press conference and was heckled and jeered out of the room. In my opinion, his lies and victim mentality in this episode and his overall lack of crisis management skills more than disqualify him for the mayoralty.

I believe his entry in the race would be a terrible distraction from the important issues that should be discussed in this campaign and from candidates who actually are qualified to be mayor.

Worse, I don’t believe Mr. Weiner is even entering the race with the intention of winning and serving. Rather, instead of service to the city being his objective, I believe his entry into the race would, by his own admission in recent interviews I have read, be about him; his redemption; him being able to put the sexting scandal behind him.

And that is not what this mayoral campaign is for — it is not, and should not be, in my opinion, a taxpayer-financed vehicle for Mr. Weiner’s personal redemption. This campaign is about the people and future of the greatest city in the world, and an opportunity for the people to come to know and select who will lead them into the future. It is not a vehicle for him to redeem himself, and to distract the voters from the other candidates — all of whom have served in city government with distinction or have made a positive difference in New York City.

Of course, it is his right to run, a right I would be the first to defend. And he has the right to take $1.5 million in public matching funds for his campaign. And he’s entitled to run and base his campaign on whatever rationale he wants, even if that rationale is nothing more than the latest manifestation of the same self-absorbed, self-indulgent behavior that got him into trouble in the first place.

So, yes, he has the absolute right to run, to be a distraction to the voters, and turn this mayoral campaign into his own little sideshow, to the delight of the monologue-writers for all of the late night talk-shows. I am making this statement today to urge him to abandon this campaign, and to urge others to try to convince him to abandon this campaign.

I will close by invoking once again President Obama’s sentiments from 2011 — that Mr. Weiner had become a distraction to such an extent that his presence in Congress was an impediment to the governance of the country. Nothing has changed since 2011, other than Mr. Weiner’s recent indication that if the media were to look, they would likely find more women whom had received inappropriate communications and images from him. More distractions. Therefore, I believe Mr. Weiner’s distracting presence in this mayoral campaign would not only impede but actually harm the process of electing our next mayor. In my opinion, the people deserve better.

Anthony Weiner. (Photo: Twitter)

Despite the crotch shots circulating the internet and the botched cover-up that forced him to resign from Congress in shame, ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner says he believes he can win the mayor's race.

“Yes,” he told Politicker Wednesday afternoon when asked whether he honestly thinks he can become the city's next mayor. The comments came in a phone interview hours after Mr. Weiner formally jumped into the race with a video posted on his new mayoral website.

Mr. Weiner argued that, even with a new poll showing that half of the city's Democrats don't want him in the race to begin with, the response so far has been overwhelming.

“It’s been pretty remarkable," he explained. “It’s mostly almost entirely just people calling and writing because they want to be helpful and asking for ways to do it.”

However, Mr. Weiner declined to spell out the calculus that will get him a spot in the expected run-off--where he'd face a tough one-on-one matchup with another Democrat. But he claimed the current crop of candidates were simply lacking.

“I’ll let someone else do the punditry. But I believe that at the end of the day that, as Democrats, if we’re going to prevail, it’s because we understand the struggles of the middle class and those trying to make it,” he said. “The middle class needs someone out there to represent them."

"I’m going to try to talk about some of the ideas that I have and I’m going to try to take every opportunity I can to present the challenges and how we should be addressing them," he said, dismissing the theory that he’s running now just to clear the air so he can run seriously again in another four years. He argued voters are hungry for new ideas--and the message he presented in the 2005 race. Echoing the narrative of his campaign video, Mr. Weiner pointed to his experience growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn at a time when his parents could afford to buy a limestone duplex for $50,000.

"I care about these things very deeply," he said. "I think New Yorkers are going to respond to the message."

Furthermore, despite his late entry into the race—after a large chunk of major labor unions and borough brass have endorsed other candidates--he said he doesn’t think his timing puts him at a disadvantage.

“I don’t know if it does,” he said. “I would argue that I was there first,” he said, pointing to his work in Congress and his efforts to stop Mayor Michael Bloomberg from running for a third term in 2009. “As far as the calendar, I think it’s still--for most citizens--fairly early in the process. And I’m going to work hard.”

Mr. Weiner has been slowly hammering together a campaign team, hiring Barbara Morgan, a former spokesman for the city’s Department of Education, whom he described as “a rock star," as his spokeswoman. He also brought on Lisa Hernandez Gioia, who worked with him previously, as his new finance director.

“We’re in a good place," he said, ignoring reports that he's had difficulty attracting top-notch talent. "It’s a very professional team.”

Anthony Weiner talking to Charlie in his announcement video. (YouTube)

In Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign announcement video, released early this morning, the former congressman visits a number of locations, including his childhood home in Park Slope, his current Park Avenue South residence and two small businesses in the Midwood section of his old congressional district.

"If you're trying to run a business on a neighborhood shopping strip like this one, you're drowning in regulations that nickle and dime you to death," Mr. Weiner says as he stands on the corner of Kings Highway and East 18th Street in southeastern Brooklyn. "The very people who put everything they had into this city are getting priced right out of it."

Politicker visited the two businesses in the video to see if Mr. Weiner left an impression after talking to the owners.

"I don't know," the woman behind the counter of Vesuvius Pizzeria--who identified herself as the owner's wife--said of the situation. "He came here, they were eating actually. I think he's trying to be a mayor or something."

We asked if Mr. Weiner had a prior relationship with her husband before showing up with television cameras.

"Not really," she answered. "First time we've seen him."

Charlie, the owner of Twenty/Twenty Optical next door, was left with a more memorable impression, however. He said Mr. Weiner was simply in the neighborhood last week and dropped by.

"I knew him from the past. I thought he was a good congressman," he said. "Told him about the Verrazano Bridge [toll]--it's too high. We discussed how that's very political and difficult to deal with, but I said. 'I don't care about any of that, you got to lower it.'"

We asked him if Mr. Weiner had earned his vote.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied. "Good chance. Good possibility. I think he's a real kind of guy. I think he's sincere and I don't see anyone else better! Somebody's better's got to come along. He's a Brooklyn guy; he grew up in the hood and I like that."

He expressed surprise when we told him he was featured in Mr. Weiner's mayoral announcement video today.