Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Weiner’s Campaign Manager Quits After Latest Revelations


In a new sign of tumult within Anthony D. Weiner’s embattled political operation, his campaign manager has quit, leaving his already skeletal team without a day-to-day leader.
According to two people told of the decision, the campaign manager, Danny Kedem, no longer wished to oversee Mr. Weiner’s bid for New York mayor after a week of bruising revelationsabout the candidate’s latest online conduct. The two people, who have close ties to the campaign, did not want to be identified because they were disclosing confidential conversations.
Mr. Kedem, 31, informed Mr. Weiner of his decision in the last 24 hours, the two people said.
Mr. Weiner confirmed the news on Sunday morning outside of a Brooklyn church where he was campaigning. “Danny has left the campaign. He did a remarkable job,” Mr. Weiner said.
The move suggests that even as Mr. Weiner vows to press ahead with his candidacy, there are mounting doubts about its political viability within his own campaign.
Mr. Weiner’s staff was jolted by his admission last week that his habit of sending raunchy online photographs and messages to women had persisted long after he resigned from Congress in 2011. The disclosures clashed with Mr. Weiner’s claims that he had been rehabilitated after undergoing therapy and his suggestion that such behavior had long ago stopped.
Mr. Kedem had helped guide Mr. Weiner’s candidacy, originally considered a long shot, to the top of the polls in the mayoral field before last week.
Not long ago, Mr. Kedem made clear he had no qualms about his new job. He sent an e-mail to dozens of his associates in late June seeking volunteers and financial contributions for Mr. Weiner’s mayoral bid. “I am really proud to work for Anthony,” he wrote.
His departure is a hit to a campaign that was short of experienced staff members, because of Mr. Weiner’s scandal and his reputation as a difficult boss.
On Sunday, Mr. Weiner insisted that “we have an excellent staff,” and that volunteers were still flocking to his campaign.
Before working for Mr. Weiner, Mr. Kedem had managed the re-election of John DeStefano Jr. to a 10th term as mayor of New Haven in 2011, according to his online profile, and worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

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