Anthony Weiner: Master of Media Manipulation?

Anthony Weiner's enduring passion — as he bellowed many times while a City Councilman and Congressman — is crusading for the middle class. 

So why do we get the feeling that his true calling might be leading pageview-hungry journos around by the nose? 

Since his return to the public eye in a splashy New York Times Magazine cover story last month, photos of Weiner's face have been plastered almost as many places as those of his boxer briefs. 

His Congressional career got a look-back/takedown in the Wall Street Journal. He has been repeatedly compared to Mark Sanford in Politico (favorably, if that's even possible).

Just yesterday, Capital New York commented on how slowly he is moving for someone admittedly interested in running for mayor of the largest city in the nation.

Quinnipiac University took the time at the end of April to determine just how much of an underdog he'd be if he did officially jump in — discovering that he'd be in second place in an already very muddled field. 

However, his favorability rating among all voters still breaks negative by a whopping eight points. This is the political equivalent of making the NFL playoffs with a losing record. 

The good news? He'd still beat Republican front-runner Joe Lhota if he ever got that far. 

All of this is being set in motion by a man whose grip on the tiller is so loose you could almost acuse him of sleepwalking through the process. He has responded sparingly to media requests, has made few appearances on television and yet still his star seems, bafflingly, on the rise.

As an example, look at the change in his use of social media. 

Once a prolific tweeter (aside from the extracurricular messages), he has used his new Twitter handle just 11 times in nearly three weeks — almost always to direct his 11,000-plus followers to his pie-in-the-sky "Keys to the City" plan. 

Because, y'know, it's perfectly normal for a citizen to just want to share their 64-point plan to improve the lives of New Yorkers off-handedly, with no possible political motivation. 

What's the deal? Is the personality defect that took him down in the first place — a desperate need for approval — rearing its head again? Is a man of infamously fierce determination while on the House floor really waffling this badly on a decision after a two-years-gone public square flogging? 

The solution, as with all mysteries, can likely be found at the beginning. A quote, buried near the bottom of the sprawling New York Times Magazine article that set off the last month's speculative sturm und drang:

"I’m really trying hard to let things come to me a little bit more and be less about leaning in to every element of my life,” Weiner reportedly said.