“I was 40 years old. I had a life... I didn’t want to do that."

And that's different from "No one I know doesn't think deBlasio hung the moon" how?

 

The mixed reception on Deblasio so far shows what happens to
a politician that gets unfavorable media coverage.

 

I was going to just PM Ragu, because I feel like this is going to fall on dead ears, but he's right.

de Blasio has no natural constituency. There are no Bill de Blasio fans.

A Dem was going to win. That's for sure. It took two extraordinary candidates, and very specific circumstances (Dinkins and crime for Giuliani, a billion dollars for Bloomberg) to keep the Dems out of office for twenty years.

But, something happened. The presumed Dem nominee cratered Christine Quinn was viewed as too cozy with Bloomberg, right when his popularity was at it's lowest.

That opened the field, and de Blasio relentlessly hammered away at John Edwards "Tale of Two Cities" narrative, that didn't work for Edwards but did work for de Blasio.

Now, would he win again today? Yes. So what. He's the incumbent in a heavily Democratic city (One that has gotten more Democratic since Giuliani first one.)

But, he has no natural constituency in the identity politics that is so prevalent in Democratic politics/primaries. He's not African-American. He's not Hispanic. He's not Jewish (which matters in New York City more than other places). He's not gay.

He's from Brooklyn, which is fine, but it's not like people from Brooklyn are in love with the guy.

The fact that his wife is African-American and his son has an afro, afforded him an almost honorary African-American status. That helped him a lot.

 

Well said. Shows a true understanding of NYC politics.

Deblasio almost plays better nationally than he does in the city.

The fact that his wife was a lesbian and he turned her also
intrigues voters

 

He kind of reminds me of Rick Santorum, if the Republican primary had fallen when Santorum was in the lead, and the nation was strongly Republican to the point where the Republican primary was the de facto election.

In each case, we're talking about a gut with no constituency.

 

Reminds me of Wes Clark. Idealist without practical beliefs.
Plays well with the liberal intelligentsia.

 

De Blasio has run for citywide office something like four times and won with more than 75 percent of the vote every time.

 

Numbers are dumb. The gut. What it says is way more important.

Dude has a fairly compelling backstory. Seems incredibly popular with the people who matter. Aka the voters and has a personal life that connects.

So, clearly, worst. Person. Ever.

 

I'm not sure the Republicans have ever run a credible candidate for Public Advocate since the position was created.

Again, NYC is 5-1 Dems.

Even having held citywide office, he barely had name recognition.

The Public Advocate is basically a publicly funded community activist, with no actual responsibilities, and a small staff.

 

He won his primary election over a very competitive field with far superior name recognition. Maybe he's an empty suit and maybe he'll be great, but he certainly resonated with enough voters to win.

The Post will enjoy tweaking him at every turn because it gins up their base.

 

I saw it as an election in which working-class Democrats regained control of the city from hedge-fund Democrats. My favorite part so far has been listening to Eva Moskowitz whine.