Washington Post: Is New York’s de Blasio prompting a repositioning by the Clintons?

[Douglas Carpenter]

By Dan Balz, Thursday, January 2, 7:25 AM

It isn’t often that the swearing-in of a new mayor of New York draws national television attention, but then, it isn’t every day that you see a mayor sworn in by a former president of the United States with a prospective presidential candidate also on the stage. De Blasio, now one of the most liberal elected officials in the United States, delivered an unabashedly progressive inaugural speech that closely tracked the themes of his “tale of two cities” mayoral campaign. It was the kind of speech not often heard in national politics since Bill Clinton redefined the Democratic Party as New Democrats.

De Blasio has become a beacon to those in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, who have often been disappointed by or disillusioned with President Obama and what he has done and not done in office. The progressives see few political leaders on the left — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is one exception — willing to give voice to their agenda. All that would be enough to lend significance to Wednesday’s swearing-in. But it was the added presence of the former president and former secretary of state that gave it significance beyond the city’s boundaries.

And so, after his generous words for Bloomberg, he said, “I have to say this. I strongly endorse Bill de Blasio’s core campaign commitment that we have to have a city of shared opportunity, shared prosperity, shared responsibilities.”

The former president was clearly mindful that the Democratic Party of 2014 and of Barack Obama is not quite the same as the one he led in the 1990s — and that one potential obstacle in the path of Hillary Clinton’s possible presidential ambitions is a primary challenge from the left. His embrace of de Blasio’s message was a deliberate step in the positioning of the Clintons as they look to a possible campaign

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/is-new-yorks-de-blasio-prompting-a-repositioning-by-the-clintons/2014/01/01/e73f015c-7323-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html

[delrem]

2. It's called co-opting the message.

Messages get co-opted by opportunists who have no intention of implementing the policy changes, but who want to cover their true colors with a facade.

I wouldn't believe Bill and Hillary on this one. I'd wait until they proved their position with action, and that action is not just lacking but is the opposite.

[Egalitarian Thug]

9. I think they've proven their position, and this strategy, often enough by now.

I don't think De Blasio is going to fall for it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. In 2000, Bill De Blasio was Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager when she ran for the Senate.

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. So he knows all too well. n/t

[hrmjustin]

20. He will almost certainly endorse her in a primary.

[Nye Bevan]

3. Hillary is extremely cognizant of the threat of a challenge from the left.

Cosying up to someone like deBlasio is a perfect strategy for improving her image in this regard without committing herself to any specific promises.

[msanthrope]

15. Um..they've been close for decades. He ran her 2000 campaign. If she runs, consider NYC

her campaign headquarters.

[Nye Bevan]

16. Yep. de Blasio being elected was perfect for her (nt)

[msanthrope]

17. Absolutely. nt

[X_Digger]

4. It's called seeing which way the wind is blowing and pretending you were going that way all along.

Free clue for the Clintons- it's blatantly transparent.

[madrchsod]

5. warren is the de blasio wing of the party not hillary

[hrmjustin]

21. He would endorse Hillary because they are close, but yes Warren and deBlasio are very close

On the issues.

[pangaia]

6. If I never heard anything about the Clintons again, it wouldn't be too soon.

Nothing against your post. It's just that they are just a couple more opportunists who do some good and some bad... and laugh all the way to the bank...

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. Finally the table is starting to turn.

I would remind people that FDR was not always the FDR of the New Deal. LBJ was not always the LBJ of the Great Society and certainly not the champion for civil rights and integration. History creates great leaders far more than great leaders creates history.

You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing.

[malaise]

8. Let me see

Perhaps the fact that Bill de Blasio worked for Bill Clinton and indeed a big player in Hillary's Senate campaign is all there is to see here...and I am no Hillary fan.

[1000words]

11. The casual use of the phrase "Democratic Party’s progressive wing" is telling.

Used to be there was no need to qualify; it was a given.

[Scuba]

14. +1

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. Yeah but more recently they denied there was even a wing, just "a fringe"

The leftist message is getting harder to sweep under the rug.

[Douglas Carpenter]

19. I think the attempt by the "sensible center" to blame the "fringe far left" for blocking cuts in

Social Security and Medicare kind of backfired on them

[Tom Rinaldo]

22. I agree, and I doubt the backlash has anywhere crested

Though they wanted to marginalize it, Occupy's message broke through to the public. There finally is a potent counter meme to the smoke screen hue and cry about "deficits" that the corporate funded far right got non stop media coverage with. Tens of millions of Americans have increasingly felt growing anxiety, if not full panic, about their prospects for economic (and literal) survival. Previously the Right had a near free hand to blame all that on job killing environmentalists and government interference. More and more now people are blaming their increasing poverty on the 1%, and realizing that core government run safety net programs exist to protect them.

[Historic NY]

13. Politics is politics....

The Clintons are just paying back on what was owed.

I see the media is stretching out the progressive labeling..for the record progressive isn't liberal either.

http://prorev.com/proglib.htm

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. perhaps another kick would be worthwhile