Anthony Weiner in calm before the storm
After 15 straight days of twists and turns in the saga of Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, the New York congressman appears to be in the midst of the calm before the storm.
On Thursday, he told the New York Post he is "not" planning to resign.
But those plans could change next week when lawmakers return from recess to Capitol Hill and the questions about his sexually charged exchanges with women he met online don't go away.
Some House Democrats started calling for his resignation on Wednesday, with ten of 193 by late Thursday stating their wishes on the record. None has jumped on as of mid-day Friday.
Before the Weiner scandal broke on May 27, House Democrats were coming off a victory in another New York congressional district: Rep. Kathy Hochul's May 24 victory over Republican Jane Corwin in the special election to replace Rep. Chris Lee.
As a reminder, Lee was the upstate N.Y. Republican who was so embarrassed by the emergence of a single shirtless photo of him on a tabloid website that he resigned within hours. Weiner he is not.
After just three days of Democrats talking about how Hochul's victory could be a launching pad for Democrats to recapture control of the House in 2012, Weiner's photo drama changed the topic of conversation.
Weiner clearly wants to change the topic back, but that will not be easy, despite a recent Marist poll showing that 56 percent of his constituents think he should not resign. A third of his constituents do think he should resign and 12 percent are not sure.
When he returns to Washington, reporters will continue to hound the liberal lawmaker about his scandal and it's likely his colleagues in the Democratic caucus will consider him a distraction.
Compounding Weiner's problem is that he was not well-liked by many of his colleagues before the scandal broke. But one member who does like him is Rep. Steny Hoyer, the number two House Democrat.
A Democratic lawmaker who has spoken to Weiner told CBS' Jill Jackson that Weiner is more likely to listen to Hoyer than to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who called for an ethics investigation immediately after Weiner confessed to sending pictures of his bulging boxer shorts on Monday.
Hoyer will be on CBS News' "Face the Nation" this Sunday with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and if Hoyer calls for Weiner's resignation, the New York congressman can count his time in office in hours. If he says the ethics process should play out, the drama continues.