Thomas Hughes The race is on among the Democratic presidential hopefuls to become the most powerful loser of this drawn out primary. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Besides looking for someone to defeat the president, the party is still looking for leaders in a landscape of red stars. Recapturing the Senate should be more of a vocal priority, because without more influence in that body, even a Democratic president would run into the McConnell Problem. But as the candidates begin to drop out as debate restrictions narrow, it is worth tracking which of the attempted nominees as Trump’s foil can manage to carry forward their respective banners of leftism. Climate change, criminal justice reform, economic equality, and healthcare reform remain at the forefront of Democratic priorities. Though some candidates have no jurisdiction to return to, including Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro, (both are currently still in the race), others are either returning to Governorships or the US Senate, where they will have a chance to continue to press their agenda in meaningful ways. As executives, the governors and even mayors could have the most direct influence in that regard. For that reason, all respect to Mayor Buttigieg and South Bend, Ind., but Mayor De Blasio could wind up the most powerful loser in this race, if he can manage to harness some of the energy and messaging he has tried to bring to the campaign trail and bring it home to New York City.
The City is gorging from the American Big City Buffet of social, criminal justice, and economic issues. As one of the biggest economies and most sought after real estate (Amazons aside), the city has a real chance to join other large global cities in tackling environmental issues through a mixture of new architecture, city engineering and planning, and waste management programs. Housing on all three fronts is a nightmare: homelessness, public housing, and affordable housing are all throbbing for care and attention and reinvention and reinvestment. Public transit remains underfunded and mismanaged, especially on the issue of making more subway stations compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city’s jails suffer from the same overcrowding and low level, minority targeted drug offenses that have dominated the discussion in ending the war on drugs as an excuse to swell the incarcerated rates in America to unrivaled levels. And despite raising the minimum wage, unless rent control is addressed in a big way, the local economics of New York City itself will start to collapse in a way that is a historic departure from the city being one of the most vibrant cities in the world, one that can raise you from one economic caste to the next in the same lifetime.
The city is ready for remedy, and there is no better time than now, when the traditional political moods are confused, and so many voices on the left claim to have the answer for what ails us. Mayor De Blasio is unique among the candidates in that he has the stewardship of a city that could easily compete for the most progressive in the nation, if he can rally his efforts where it counts. In that regard, he should start thinking now about actually returning his focus here and dropping out of the race. He has some momentum from showing up on the stage, but if he continues much longer he will embarrass what reputation he has made. If Bill De Blasio wants to be the future of the left, let him try it in New York City, where he could be the most powerful loser of this presidential run, and actually liberalize the way people live.
