That way it’ll be old news if Abedin decides to run for office some day — or, more immediately, if she goes to work for Clinton’s 2016 campaign which would have to get going by early 2015, less than two years away.

But look at what’s happened since Clinton exited the Obama administration (with the President’s near-endorsement as his successor). Abedin was the subject of glowing press coverage, even as reporters were skeptical of Weiner’s rehabilitation. “I say Huma for mayor — she has all the qualities he doesn’t,” Daily Beast editor Tina Brown tweeted last week. …

Maybe that isn’t a “way out,” but the original plan. If Abedin, and not Weiner, were the first one to hit the campaign trail after his resignation, she would have been the one who was tarnished by his sexts. Or, imagine Clinton trying to focus on eating fried things at the Iowa state fair in 2015, while reporters ask her about new photos on Breitbart.com of her aide’s infamous husband. Or, imagine, a few more years down the road, a Abedin for Whatever press conference with reporters asking about Weiner’s sexts.