During his primary night victory speech, later turned into a television ad, Bill de Blasio defiantly, triumphantly captured the grand nature of his campaign, saying, “there are those who have said our ambition for this city is too bold … [but] we are New Yorkers! Thinking big isn’t new to us … We are bigger, we are stronger, we are better as a city when we make sure that everyone has a shot.”
Through such soaring rhetoric, a platform of hope and change and unity and seizing upon dissatisfaction with the status quo, de Blasio has run an Obama-esque campaign and, thus, set his own bar to heights reminiscent of Obama in 2008-09.
But also like Obama, de Blasio may become the victim of his own excellent campaign’s success: His extraordinary language and bold promises, though necessary to win (especially in the Democratic primary), may come back to bite him when it is time to deliver.
As candidates, both Obama and de Blasio presented themselves as saviors of sorts, and many voters embraced that view of them.
Yet making change takes time, especially when tackling a pervasive, still-growing problem like the one de Blasio has chosen to slay, economic inequality. Like many of Obama’s supporters, a number of New York City voters are likely to feel disappointed once their candidate is elected and faces the realities of governing.
De Blasio might be wise to temper expectations starting with his victory speech the night of Nov. 5.
The mayoral front-runner’s major campaign promises include narrowing economic inequality through universal pre-kindergarten, creating living wage and affordable housing provisions and decreasing fines on small businesses; protecting community hospitals; keeping historically low crime rates trending downward while improving community-police relations, and giving voice to unheard public school parents and ignored outer-borough New Yorkers.
How, exactly?
If, and it’s a big if, de Blasio does obtain state approval for the tax hike on the city;s top earners that will pay for it, implementing universal full-day pre-k and after-school programming for all middle-schoolers are structural changes to the education system that, if successful, will mostly have long-term effects on economic inequality.
Other major education reforms that de Blasio pledges may, ironically, be stymied by Obama’s Race to the Top program. Upon replacing him, de Blasio plans to change course from Mayor Bloomberg on the expansion of charter schools, the nature of common core implementation and the extensive use of testing in evaluating schools, teachers and students.
But to a large degree these policies are necessitated by RTTT via New York State, which applied for and received many millions of federal dollars tied to their existence. Still, de Blasio will be able to make adjustments in these areas and others, such as teacher professional development and the expansion of community schools.
Public perception of de Blasio’s success may also hinge on another Obama initiative: the Affordable Care Act. The implementation of Obamacare in New York City will influence how people feel about a de Blasio mayoralty (whether he has much to do with it or not), based on how it impacts health care costs and services, small businesses, and overall quality of life. A successful city roll-out of Obamacare could do wonders for feelings about a Mayor de Blasio.
A centerpiece of his campaign, de Blasio’s public safety agenda will also face great scrutiny as his mayoralty unfurls. What will happen if people now certain that de Blasio will end the current “stop-and-frisk era,” as his son Dante promised in the candidate’s first TV ad, do not see this in their neighborhoods? Will constituent disillusionment mirror what Obama has faced around his foreign policy?
This is not to say that big, bold thinking is not both admirable and necessary, but that governing is more challenging than running, and high expectations of electeds often prove unreachable.
Following a three-term mayor who mostly turned a deaf ear to criticism and an election season in which he made big promises, there will surely be many eager to pounce on a Mayor de Blasio if he appears not to be living up to his campaign. Learning from Obama’s example, de Blasio would be wise to focus on smaller deliverables, like lowering those fines and opening those community schools, while he seeks his broader, bolder vision.
At the same time, de Blasio should learn from Obama’s self-professed failure to sufficiently communicate with the public about the policies he is pursuing once in office, even if he is unsuccessful in fully achieving them. One key to maintaining public support will be making sure that voters know de Blasio is at least attempting to fulfill his campaign promises. Indeed, after running a nearly flawless campaign, the last thing a Mayor de Blasio should falter on is messaging.
Max is founder of DecideNYC.com.
