This was a nomination race he was never going to win, but don’t tell that to him or the dozen other zero-percenters in the 2020 Democratic primary. De Blasio never had a real coherent reason for running, especially not among a field as wide and diverse as the one he entered back in May. At the time, it wasn’t clear why he was launching a presidential campaign, especially considering that his home city voters of New York weren’t giving him very high marks.
Nonetheless, De Blasio is out, and he made the announcement this morning while chatting with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC:
“I feel like I’ve contributed all I can to this primary election,” he said on the show. “And it’s clearly not my time. So I’m going to end my presidential campaign.”
De Blasio was one of three mayors running for the Democratic nomination. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam remain in the race.
Recent national polls show de Blasio receiving, at best, support from just 1% of the respondents. He failed to qualify for the third Democratic debate, which took place last week.
A Siena College Research Institute poll in early September found that less than 1% of New York state voters supported his candidacy and 0% of voters in New York City did so.
Those numbers are beyond brutal, they’re borderline criminal for any politician. Having less than 1% of your home voters supporting your run for higher office is almost laughable. Politicians usually lose support from their current constituents when they start seeking higher office, but not to this level where practically not a single voter would think it’s a good idea.
If it wasn’t a slow news day on the 2020 election front, his announcement would probably go unnoticed. He could have just sent a tweet out on Saturday evening and skipped the TV appearance. Wasn’t there an actual candidate Morning Joe could have booked to take up the air time talking about the race?
What about an endorsement? De Blasio says not so fast, he’s not going to offer his support to just anyone. You tell me, though, which campaign is clamoring for his endorsement?
De Blasio said he would not be endorsing any of his fellow candidates “today” but that he would “think about” doing so in the future. He added that he would “of course” support “whoever the eventual nominee is.”
De Blasio’s bid — launched in May — ultimately lasted just over four months and was largely mocked for most of its short life.
I cannot envision the scenario where any candidate is scrambling this morning to secure the coveted de Blasio endorsement to lock up that 0% support he’s been holding on to all these months.
De Blasio did, however, making into the first two Democratic debates, so he can’t be totally discounted. Then again, they were letting anyone with a pulse and a “D” next to their name participate back in June and July. However, he was one of the few candidates to get protested during the live broadcast at the CNN debate in July:
I digress, de Blasio has taken enough of a beating, but I think I could go on another 500 words to further berate the idea of his candidacy having a chance to fly or having any real impact on this race.
Sorry, wait, there’s more mockery from NBC News we can’t let go unnoticed:
His brief campaign was marred with sparsely attended events and a bevy of unforced errors.
He made headlines in August after an event in Iowa drew only about 15 people.
De Blasio attempted to use Twitter to brand President Donald Trump — who himself frequently attacked the mayor — as “ConDon,” but that, too, drew mockery because it means condom in Spanish.
Fifteen people at an Iowa event? Sounds like he’s got that vote locked up.
Losing the social media war to Donald Trump is probably his biggest cardinal sin over his “Condon” tweet, but maybe it helped with his Latino outreach.
In summary, there aren’t many actions de Blasio took related to his presidential campaign that didn’t end up being mocked by both sides of the aisle. We will miss you, Bill, please don’t stay tucked away up in your Manhattan conclave. Venture out once again into the world of politics and give it another try. Maybe a run for Senator? Governor? I think a campaign between Cuomo and de Blasio would be comedy gold.
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