'World News' Political Insights: Weiner, Gingrich Fight for Survival

WASHINGTON June 12, 2011— -- Will he get the message?

That's the identical question for two very different politicians -- one Democrat, one Republican -- in two very different political squeezes this week.

Nothing requires Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., to resign his seat in Congress. And nothing requires former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., to end his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

But neither man has a plausible route upon which to map a comeback. The question for both men will be whether they'll go quietly or loudly -- and whether they'll ultimately recognize the near-certainty that they'll be left isolated inside their own parities.

Start with Weiner, whose transgressions are surely more damaging, both personally and professionally, to himself and the Democratic Party.

He bought himself some time with the announcement that he's entering a treatment program in the wake of a fresh round of revelations regarding his online communications. With his "short leave of absence," Weiner at least will avoid the indignity of having to face former friends who are calling for him to go.

But this story cannot end well for Weiner, and it cannot end fast enough for his fellow Democrats.

Weiner is the subject of a feeding frenzy where he's left all the necessary food in digital bites. The prospect of even more embarrassing photos emerging, and even more provocative communications with women who aren't his wife, became too much for Democratic leaders to bear this weekend.

The coordinated announcements by leading Democrats calling for his resignation -- led by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz -- make it untenable to imagine a comeback for Weiner.

Their words will linger over all that Weiner does, should he try to remain in Congress.

"Anthony's inappropriate behavior has become an insurmountable distraction to the House and our work for the American people," said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., a Weiner friend and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The question for Weiner becomes less about reviving a career than it is about salvaging pride while he focuses on his family life. He has committed no offense that leaves him vulnerable for expulsion from the House, but his circle of defenders currently does not exist in the legislative chamber he's called home for 13 years.

At the end of this term lies the very real possibility that his House seat falls victim to redistricting, with state lawmakers who need to eliminate two New York congressional districts only too happy to deal with their political problem first.

Even for an ambitious man whose congressional district is his identity, isolation can be a fate worse than resignation.

Gingrich's campaign transgressions have nothing in common with Weiner's personal ones. The former speaker appears guilty of little beyond listening too much to his wife on campaign matters -- and engaging in the same sort of quixotic, undisciplined behavior that hastened him out of Congress on the same day that Weiner arrived as a congressman.

Yet for Gingrich, too, the questions center on "when" rather than "if." He's vowing to re-launch his campaign with a speech tonight in Los Angeles, followed by the debate Monday in New Hampshire.