VOL. 5 NO. 86 POLITIfriday, june 17, 2011 CO www..com The ‘Distraction’ That Led to a Downfall When it comes to scandals, Race for seat is wide open, Weiner has one final moment some stay, some go — why? but redistricting doubts loom in spotlight before fading out

By John F. Harris and Erika Lovley By Alex Isenstadt and David Catanese By Jonathan Allen and

By the time Anthony Weiner resigned his House Here comes another New York special election. In the end, Rep. Anthony Weiner stood alone, seat in shame over dirty texting, the consensus in AP But will anyone want to run? where he has always wanted to be — in the glare Washington political circles was glaringly clear: Rep. Anthony New York is losing two seats in redistricting — of the national media spotlight. And though he The Brooklyn Democrat was simply, and belat- Weiner resigned and one seems all but certain to be the Brooklyn- didn’t say it at a Thursday news conference in New edly, bowing to the inevitable. from his New and-Queens-based seat that Anthony Weiner had York, he hinted he may at some point be back. But why, exactly, was it inevitable? York seat amid held since 1998. The night before, away from the crush of Far from clear, the calculus of Washington sex controversy over Officials close to Rep. Joe Crowley, the Queens the media and the company of colleagues scandals in the wake of Weiner’s forced departure lewd images he Democratic Party chairman who is expected to who were partying at the annual sent online to at See scandals on Page 12 least six women. Seess succe ion on Page 9 Seen wei er on Page 10 Ethanol The Gregarious Yang Vote Fuels To Obama’s Yin Subsidy Biden shines as administration’s Doubts schmoozer in chief By Ben Smith Senate talks continue When a technical glitch al- after resounding vote lowed a radio reporter to over- hear President ’s By Darren Goode words at a private fundraiser, an and Darren Samuelsohn eager White House press corps was crestfallen to learn the dis- There are no longer any sacred ciplined president was saying ex- cows when it comes to energy. actly the same thing in private as The Senate delivered a strong he does in public. rebuke to ethanol tax subsidies Joe Biden … well, not so much. Thursday, underscoring an uncer- In a Washington ruled by tain future for both the corn-based the regimented precision of the gasoline additive and the broader Obama presidency, Biden has set of cherished energy subsidies. emerged as a sort of schmoozer More than in chief, the gregarious yang to two-thirds of Obama’s remote yin. He spent senators voted last weekend in a water fight with to immediately children at a party he hosted for end an exist- reporters at the Naval Observa- ing 45-cent-per- tory; one guest was overheard gallon tax credit remarking that she’d have to for blending warn her kids not to act that way JOHN SHINKLE — ethanol in gaso- around the president. And in a POLITICO line that expires long, low-profile string of fund- Nebraska Sen. at the end of the raisers around the country, first Mike Johanns year. for Democrats and now for his “I think we’re own and the president’s reelec- looking at everything now,” said tion campaign, Biden is delivering Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike a level of physical contact, per- Johanns, a former governor and sonal connection and unpredict- George W. Bush-era agriculture able gossip that used to be what secretary. “Trying to figure out donors paid for but which seems what to do with the budget has to cause Obama to recoil. caused us all to come to grips with “They came up in different some things we’ve supported in the times in politics, and schmooze past, all of us.” and press the flesh has been a “I think the days of large subsi- lifetime of what he has learned to dies like this are really over, and do,” said Michael Adler, a Miami

See ethanol on Page 15 See schmoozer on Page 12 inside POLITICO 44 Politics Opinion President CLICK Barack Obama A handful of Obama aides trade Redistricting, once the icing on Rep. Brad Miller stresses that fi- and daughters From Clinton to Obama, a look at the White House for Harvard Yard. GOP’s cake, has gotten stickier. nancial reform requires regulators. Sasha and first fathers and their leading ladies. Page 3 Page 16 Page 18 Malia Page 21