Weiner Eyes Mayoral Comeback: "It's Now or Never."

Former New York congressman Anthony Weiner has confirmed the growing speculations of him considering a run for mayor, according to an extensive interview he and his wife Huma gave to the the New York Times magazine.

“I don’t have this burning, overriding desire to go out and run for office,” Weiner told the Times.. “It’s not the single animating force in my life as it was for quite some time. But I do recognize, to some degree, it’s now or maybe never for me, in terms of running for something."

“I’m trying to gauge not only what’s right and what feels comfortable right this second, but I’m also thinking, ‘How will I feel in a year or two years or five years?’ Is this the time that I should be doing it?’”

After spending 0ver $100,00 in polling, Weiner thinks it’s not just about now or never, but that he wants to engage the people he “let down.”

“Also, I want to ask people to give me a second chance,” he said. “I do want to have that conversation with people whom I let down and with people who put their faith in me and who wanted to support me. I think to some degree I do want to say to them, ‘Give me another chance.’”

“Also, I want to ask people to give me a second chance. I do want to have that conversation with people whom I let down and with people who put their faith in me and who wanted to support me. I think to some degree I do want to say to them, ‘Give me another chance.’ ” Weiner claims he has pondered the question for an uncomfortably long time. “I don’t know,” he said. “It won’t be something as pedestrian as ‘Do I think I’ll win?’ It will be something more like ‘Does it feel like I should be involved in this debate? Someone should be out there saying A, B or C.’ ” 

Mr. Weiner acknowledged that he’s an “underdog,” but also admitted that he was looking at a run for New York City comptroller as well. “And there’s a healthy number of people who will never get over it. … It’s a little complicated because I always attracted a fairly substantial amount of people who didn’t like me anyway,” he said.

If Mr. Weiner decides to enter the race for mayor, he will have a head start of $4.3 million in his coffers, left over from an abortive campaign for mayor in 2009, and this year he would be eligible for an additional $1.5 million in public matching funds. To qualify for public funding, Mr. Weiner would have to declare his candidacy by June 10.