Weinergate: Delegation reacts

Tonight was the first time the House has been in session since L'Affaire Weiner went nuclear last week, so we figured ER readers would like to know how your elected representatives feel about the whole thing. Democrat Mike Doyle of Forest Hills, a close ally of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who called for Rep. Anthony Weiner's resignation on Saturday, would not say whether he would vote to censure or expel Weiner -- no word yet on whether it will come to that -- and was a bit miffed by Your D.C. Bureau's question.

"I have no intention of being part of that circus," Doyle said off the House floor this evening. "Any Congressman that's not focused on jobs and getting this economy better is doing a disservice to their constituents. Any dialogue about someone's personal life is not my business, is not my focus. And this is taking away from the important work we have to do. And the media does a disservice to the country also by being fixated on it. So I have absolutley no intention of discussing it. Anything I have to say about Anthony Weiner I will say to his face in private. Period."

The always gabby Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, echoed the we really should be talking about jobs sentiment, but he offered his view that Weiner should resign and said the situation is an allegory for the decline of Congress.

"This house has got to be greater than any one member and I just think, I'm just trying to understand how people put themselves ahead of an institution," he said. "You see why we have such a low approval rating. These are the things that drive that. I just, it bothers me. My whole life has been based on, everything that was there for us, our heritage, things that were put in place for us, all we have to do is maintain it. It's really, it's a stewardship. You have to leave it in better shape than we got it. And I've just been watching, you start to wonder like what happened? Well we've lost respect for our whole process almost."

I asked if he'd vote to expel or censure Weiner, and Kelly replied: "I don't know. I don't know if that's going to come up. I would hope that he would do what's right based on his personal character. I don't know. I don't know the man well enough."

Would he like to see Weiner resign?

"I would. But I hate to see him have to be pressured. Those are decisions you should make yourself. You know when you've done something."

Through a spokesman, Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, wouldn't say anything about whether Weiner should resign, and offered this statement:

"Congressman Weiner’s inappropriate and unacceptable behavior has brought dishonor upon this Congress, and has become a distraction from the important issues the American people care about."

Photo: AP's David Karp in Queens: Weiner and his ever-present media posse on Saturday.