One More White Guy

After months of speculation, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is officially running for president, an announcement that definitely has most New Yorkers going, “…why?”

In a three-minute campaign video titled “Working People First,” de Blasio lays out a series of successes during his tenure as mayor, including a $15 minimum wage for city workers, expanded paid sick leave for private sector employees, and universal Pre-K.

“I will not rest until this government serves working people,” de Blasio said. “As mayor of the largest city in America, I’ve done just that.”

De Blasio is attempting to position himself as a strong progressive choice in a crowded Democratic field, promising to take on the wealthy and big corporations. He also allies himself with critics of Amazon’s plan to move its second headquarters to Queens and credits his tenure to the significant drop in stop-and-frisk by the New York Police Department.

And de Blasio says he is confident he can beat a “bully” like President Trump in 2020.

“When Donald Trump started separating families… we sent lawyers to the border to help protect those families. When he told us he was going to cut off our security funding, we took him to court and we beat him!” said de Blasio. “Don’t back down in the face of a bully. Confront him. Take him on.”

He added, “Donald Trump must be stopped. I’ve beaten him before, and I’ll do it again.”

And yet, despite his accomplishments and anti-Trump bravado, de Blasio doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm in New Yorkers. Frankly, de Blasio is more reputed for his constant beef with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his insistence that he be driven to his favorite gym every day, and his lack of subway ridership than what he’s actually accomplished as mayor.

An April Quinnipiac poll described de Blasio’s approval rating as “anemic” at 42-44 percent with wide racial gaps. He boasts high marks among black voters (66 percent approval), performs dismally among white voters (58 percent disapproval), and is a mixed bag among Latino voters (40-40 split). But New Yorkers of every race and creed are united on one key view: De Blasio shouldn’t fucking run for president.

From Quinnipiac:

De Blasio should not run for president, New York City voters say 76 – 18 percent. Every listed party, gender, racial, borough and age group agrees that the mayor should not hit the campaign trail.

It would be bad for New York City if de Blasio runs for president, voters say 47 – 32 percent, including 43 – 35 percent among Democrats.

“Mayor Bill de Blasio’s flirtation with a 2020 White House bid is prompting a rare moment of unity among New Yorkers. Three-quarters of them say, ‘Mr. Mayor: Don’t do it,’” said Mary Snow, polling analyst for the Quinnipiac University Poll.

But de Blasio apparently isn’t bothered! This morning, he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that polling isn’t where you start, it’s where you end. Um, okay:

Congrats to de Blasio on his valiant attempt to differentiate himself from all the other white men running for president. At least he’s the tallest?