7 Percent Weiner Still Thinks His Magical Mayorship Is Just Around the Corner

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (R-N.Y.) has maintained his cocky confidence about his chances in the New York mayor’s race even as he’s not hitting double digits in the latest poll.

Weiner said on NBC’s Meet the Press this morning that he has a realistic chance of winning.

“From the moment go, I was waging this campaign on a bet. And the bet was basically that I know that people have embarrassing things they will hear about me and did know about me in my background, but I also knew that I had the best ideas and I’d be the best mayor for the city,” he said.

“So before we do postmortems on what happens if I lose, let’s have the campaign and let’s see if I win. And then we’ll move forward from there. And after I serve two terms, perhaps we can have that conversation.”

If no candidate hits 40 percent in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will face off on Nov. 5.

A Sept. 3 Quinnipiac poll found New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio with 43 percent of likely voters, former City Comptroller and 2009 Democratic nominee William Thompson at 20 percent, and 18 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Weiner trails with 7 percent.

“Look, in the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows in this campaign when there are 15 cameras from Malaysian TV shouting questions at me, I’m still talking issues every single day. I just came from an event talking about issues important to the middle class,” he said.

Weiner was confronted about his pre-campaign claim that he’d been rehabilitated from the monkeying around that cost him his House seat.

“I did say I did these things,I did say them over an extended period of time, I said that I did them with more than one person, and I said that more things would come out. I said those things very honestly and was pilloried for saying those things. I regretted them deeply. I was deeply sorry for them, that my wife and I had gotten past them,” he said. “…With help of my wife, with help of professionals, I’ve got it behind me. It’s something in my private life. People have things in private lives that they overcome all the time.”

“…No one gets to go back and redo things. I’m convinced that the decision I made was the right one. I’m convinced that I’m going to be the next mayor of this city.”