President Bill de Blasio?

Presidential Aspirations?

Is Bill de Blasio trying to steal a page from Barack Obama’s playbook to set himself up for a Presidential run in 2016?

The New York Times reported back in September of 2014 that his trips overseas to Britain and Italy so early during his new tenure as Mayor of NYC indicated that “de Blasio, a virtual unknown not so long ago, is now determined to cultivate a profile on the international stage.”

Our Mayor also jetted off to Europe once more this past January to visit Paris shortly after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.

Back in November of 2014 GOP Chairman Ed Cox stated that he had become aware that Mayor de Blasio was attempting to portray himself as the leader of the urban progressive centers of the nation as part of a plan to prepare for a run at the nation’s top job. 

Chairman Cox stated that “De Blasio is a man with huge national ambitions, and for those ambitions New York City is just a stepping stone.”  

Cox also cited de Blasio’s remarkably close ties to the Reverend Al Sharpton and his National Action Network political machine as further evidence that Mayor Bill sees his political future far beyond that of New York City.

With Hillary Clinton's recently announced Presidential campaign not realizing the groundswell of support initially expected and the darling of the Democratic Party’s hard progressive left, Elizabeth Warren, still maintaining that she will not seek her party's nomination, rumors about de Blasio’s presidential ambitions surfaced again last week when he refused to endorse Hillary Clinton’s bid for President. 

With Warren out of the picture some think that the Mayor is setting himself up as a potential “draft” progressive candidate for the 2016 democrat primary.  

Reportedly, some in the party think that this “draft” effort explains why de Blasio was accompanied by a top democratic communication strategist on his recent “progressive” speech making trip to Iowa.

He also visited Nebraska and is scheduled to visit Wisconsin and Washington D.C. shortly.

Of course, when asked if he was harboring any presidential ambitions, de Blasio and his staffers maintain that such rumors are pure fantasy and that Mayor Bill's long term plans are focused solely on being re-elected Mayor of NYC in 2017.

So exactly what is our Mayor up to?  

Some would say that where there is smoke, there is fire.

On the other hand there are those who maintain that they do not believe there is a "Draft de Blasio" movement anywhere out there but in the Mayor's head!

Time will tell.