How Bill de Blasio Went From Progressive Hope to Punching Bag

[brooklynite]

New York Times

Aides to Bill de Blasio have long observed that he seems to grow happier with each mile of distance from the city he leads, and when the New York mayor arrived in South Carolina one Saturday in May, he had an air of weightlessness about him. His run for president, announced two days earlier, came with an overnight makeover that had the City Hall press corps tittering: fresh navy sneakers, de-fuzzed sideburns, pants that fit. A sprig of white chest hair curled skyward beneath de Blasio’s open collar as he patrolled a nearly empty library in Columbia, S.C., looking like a brand ambassador for divorced dads trying to get back out there.

“Can you slap me high?” he said as a young boy flailed at the slumping 6-foot-5 stranger.

The outing bore few markings of a nascent presidential campaign — no posters, no stickers, no volunteers collecting voter information — and not everyone seemed pleased to see him. Though de Blasio had arranged to address members of the state’s Democratic black caucus, he was piggybacking on an event already scheduled by another candidate in the polling-circa-1-percent subdivision, the former tech executive Andrew Yang. When Yang concluded a planned speech to about two dozen activists, de Blasio slid in behind him, as perhaps 20 people lingered. “I live in New York,” Yang said as he left. “You have to come to South Carolina to meet your New York mayor.”

De Blasio introduced himself, proudly, as the man Donald Trump had called “the worst mayor in America,” delivering a cheery accounting of his municipal reign: universal prekindergarten, police reform, a mental health initiative. He plugged a recent push to require two weeks of paid vacation for all workers. “Who feels there’s more stress in your life than there used to be?” de Blasio asked. Heads nodded, and the mayor’s did, too.

[Me.]

1. "A sprig of white chest hair curled skyward beneath de Blasio's open collar"

no words

[Cha]

3. lol.. I have one..

"gross".

I didn't read that in the OP.. not really interested.

Me

[Me.]

4. Hey There

It just struck me as so ludicrous for an article that is supposed to be analytical and taken seriously. As for De Blasio, well you know what I think of him and what a disappointing Mayor he turned out to be. And why is he running for president?

[Cha]

5. The strangest thing..

If he really cared he would stay home and tend to his city.. but Nooooooo!

[Me.]

6. ...

[brush]

2. He never fired that cop for choking the black man to death.

He should've done that immediately.