New York Mayor Bill de Blasio drops out of 2020 presidential race.

Mayor Bill de Blasio. NBC News.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary race. NBC News. De Blasio admitted that the time was not right as he announced his withdrawal on MSNBC. He did not offer an endorsement for any of the remaining candidates. His campaign never took off with most polling showing him at or below 1% and even most New York citizens disagreed with his run. He also had many unforced errors that torpedoed his campaign before it really began, most notably not returning from the campaign after a major power outage hit New York City. President Donald Trump chimed in, mocking the Mayor, who has been a long term foe of the President. 

Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years! Part time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO but had tremendous room for growth, has shocking dropped out of the Presidential race. NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019

My Comment:
Yet another withdrawal from the 2020 race. I am honestly surprised that de Blasio lasted as long as he did. He didn't make any sort of impact in either of the debates he participated in and didn't even qualify for the 3rd debate. And unlike some of the other candidates that didn't make the 3rd debate, he generated basically zero buzz for the entire run. The only time he made the news at all is when he screwed up, which isn't the way to win an election.

Part of the problem is that de Blasio never had the media presence that previous New York Mayors have had. Both Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg are national figures that are widely recognized across the country. Not all of that recognition is good but I am guessing most of the people in flyover country barely know who de Blasio is and what he wants to do for the country.

He never really had a lane to pick either. Both the centrist position and the far left socialist positions are filled. Kamala Harris had the woke lane filled up and both Eric Swalwell and Robert Francis O'Rourke had filled the gun confiscation lane. He didn't have a signature issue to campaign on and was mostly an afterthought.

President Trump is clearly delighted to see de Blasio's campaign fail. The two had spared for awhile now and I think President Trump hates what de Blasio has done to his home town. Though in most circumstances a 2nd rate candidate dropping out early in the race wouldn't rate a tweet, given the two men's personal history, it would be strange if he didn't do so.

I think de Blasio's biggest mistake was not returning to New York when they had the major power outage. That outraged New York City and did nothing to help him with Democratic primary voters. People want to vote for someone who will be there when a disaster hits and it was pretty clear that de Blasio didn't rise to the occasion.

The field is narrowing considerably and I fully expect a few more 2020 Democrats to drop out. There are so many no-name candidates left that I honestly can't believe some of them are still there. I mean does anyone seriously believe that people like Joe Sestak or Michael Bennet are going to win the race? I personally think that everyone who didn't make the third debate besides Tulsi Gabbard and Marianne Williamson should have dropped out already, and even some of the candidates who did make the third debate, like Amy Klobucher and Robert Francis O'Rourke, should drop out as well.

As for de Blasio's political career, I think it's on the decline. He easily won both his races for Mayor but I don't know if he will do so again in 2021. His presidential campaign left a bad taste in his mouth and even the famously liberal New York City may have gotten sick of him. I sincerely hope that he does lose his election and we never have to hear from him again.