Yesterday, presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke attempted to recapture some of the lightning his now-cratering campaign was generating back in January when he livestreamed a visit to the dentist. This time he decided to livestream himself getting a haircut, though typically for Beto he provided (TMI) too much information, revealing that his ear hairs also needed a trimming.
Elsewhere in the world of misfits with designs on the presidency, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a short time ago that he will become the twenty-third Democrat to throw his hat in the already-crowded ring. De Blasio began hinting broadly that he intended to run back in March (right around the time he was making headlines for being unable to account for $850 million he had entrusted to his wife, Chirlane McCray, for a mental health project).
De Blasio, who was elected to a second term in 2017 solely because he ran virtually uncontested, comes into the race as the only candidate with net negative approval ratings among fellow Democrats. A Quinnipiac University poll in early April found 76% of New York City voters recommending that he not run, while a mere 18% argued he should. Even his allies warned him earlier this month that it would be “f*cking insane” for him to run, noting among other things his lack of charisma and a national persona, along with “too many glaring, unresolved problems at home.”
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Nevertheless, here he is, replete with a campaign video that opens with what has become his slogan: “Brothers and sisters, there’s plenty of money in the world. Plenty of money in this city. It’s just in the wrong hands.”
Then there’s his platform, which is a résumé of his “achievements” as mayor, which include raising the minimum wage. In the video, he boasts about how “waitresses and dishwashers and store clerks … will have the legal guarantee for the first time of paid sick leave,” which might be true if tens of thousands of them hadn’t forced out of work.
The New York Post, which describes de Blaiso up as “incompetent and crooked; oblivious and arrogant,” also advises, “If you’re not laughing, then you don’t know Bill de Blasio like we know Bill de Blasio.” Its cover today carries the same message.
