New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is hoping to be drafted into the 2016 presidential race by liberals fed up with former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the heavy favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, the New York Post reported on Monday. But, if he does, history offers little solace for de Blasio as Florida has helped end the presidential bids of other New York City mayors.
Despite repeated claims to the contrary, Mayor Bill de Blasio is positioning himself to be the leftist progressive alternative to Wall Street-friendly Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Democratic candidate for president, a national party operative told the Post," the Post reported on Monday. De Blasios hope, the operative said, is a Draft de Blasio movement will develop among progressive activists over the next several months that will lead to the mayor being able to defeat Clinton in the primary elections next year in much the same way leftist Sen. George McGovern successfully challenged the initially front-running establishment Democratic candidate, Sen. Edmund Muskie, more than 40 years ago.
While being mayor of New York City has always offered a high political profile, the men who hold the second toughest job in America have failed badly in their pursuit of the White House. DeWitt Clinton came closest when he ran against James Madison in the 1812 presidential election and he got a boost from Northerners not happy with the War of 1812 against Great Britain.
In more recent elections, Florida helped end the White House aspirations of men who resided in Gracie Mansion. Despite all the transplanted New Yorkers who move to Florida, politicians from the Empire State simply fail when they run in the Sunshine State.
Along with Muskie, McGovern and a host of other Democratic candidates, New York City Mayor John Lindsay ran in the 1972 primaries. Despite time in Congress and winning a first term as a Republican, Lindsay lost the Republican primary when he ran for a second term but stayed in office by running on the Liberal Party line.
Lindsay joined the Democrats in 1971 and quickly started running for his new partys presidential nomination. Despite being a strong fundraiser and doing well in Arizona, Lindsay flopped badly in Florida, finishing behind Gov. George Wallace, D-Ala., former VP Hubert Humphrey, U.S. Sen. Scoop Jackson, D-Wash., and Muskie. Lindsays fifth place finish in Florida knocked him out of the race though he would struggle on for a few more weeks before pulling the plug on his campaign even as New York politicos urged him to get out of the race.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani looked to Florida to propel him into the White House when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Despite his leadership responding to the 9/11 attacks, Giuliani was too liberal on social issues for many Republicans and he floundered in Iowa and New Hampshire. Looking to bounce back in Florida where he focused most of his attention, Giuliani came a distant third as, with then-Gov. Charlie Crists backing, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., carried the Sunshine State over former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass. Having failed in Florida, Giuliani got out of the race and endorsed McCain.
New York City has always been an outlier from the rest of the nation and, despite the ties between it and South Florida, its politicians have generally flopped in Florida. Presidential candidates from other parts of the Empire State -- Clinton on the Democratic side and former Gov. George Pataki and U.S. Rep. Peter King in the Republican ranks -- would be wise to downplay their connections to the Big Apple when they hit Florida for 2016.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
