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AMERICAN MUNICIPAL: The uninhibited left of Bill de Blasio to conquer New York

 

Gone from outsider status to big favorite in a few months, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, now has all the cards to win in the municipal election of November 5. Credited with 50 points ahead in the polls over his Republican opponent, Joseph Lhota, this giant of almost two meters lanky look has become by positioning itself as the anti-Bloomberg - the current mayor of New York - and relying on his wife, an African-American known for his commitment to the rights of women and homosexuals.

With his past speeches extolling the "democratic socialism", his commitment to the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, and his honeymoon trip to Cuba, Bill de Blasio is UFO in the political landscape U.S. national. Currently mediator of the City of New York, the public attorney of 58 years has cultivated an image of leftist uninhibited able to seduce a city steeped in de camp ; cratic - Barack Obama had obtained 81% of votes in the 2012 presidential election.

"A Tale of Two Cities"

Faced during the primaries to Democrats who held positions of high responsibility, Bill de Blasio was not then regarded as the most qualified candidate. Despite his role in the successful Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2000 and participation in the New York City Council, the public attorney had no major legislative achievements to make its assets. Some of its key proposals such as the introduction of free kindergartens funded by a tax on the rich, had even been teased, being considered unrealistic.

Critics have not prevented the Brooklyn resident to seduce disappointed by the outgoing mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg voters. The campaign slogan of Bill de Blasio denouncing rising inequality - "A Tale of Two Cities", from the novel by Charles Dickens - a e ty particularly well received by New Yorkers hardest hit by the economic crisis.

Public Counsel also shown as one of the staunchest opponents of a policy authorizing the New York police to search any person acting in a suspicious manner. This measure, known as "stop and frisk" ("stopped and searched"), symbol of the era Bloomberg was accused of favoring the offense facie s, disproportionately targeting blacks and Latinos.

Political and afro

In a thoroughly cosmopolitan, Bill de Blasio has relied on its multiracial family to score points. New Yorker of Italian origin, the Democratic candidate is married to an African-American poet, Chirlane McCray, known for his activism on behalf of women and homosexuals. The influence of the latter on the campaign of Bill de Blasio has existed in a portrait published in the pages of The New York Times equating torque to a "bundle as Bill and Hillary Clinton" ,.

But for observers of the New York election race, it was the intervention of one of the couple's two children, Dante de Blasio in a campaign video, which marked the turning point campaign. We see the 15 year old sporting an impressive afro and looking straight to the camera to explain that his father is "only" that will end the police methods "that aim unjustly people of color. "

The runaway success of this campaign video - view over 100,000 times on the internet as well as the campaign team before did put forward - can be explained by the fact that Dante de Blasio is the face of urban America of the twenty-first century, when more and more young people define themselves primarily as Métis. The son of afro de Blasio has become a popular topic of discussion to the White House. President Barack Obama, who openly supports Bill de Blasio, has said that "[his] afro was never as good" as the young Dante.

Joker family

The feat of his son and the constant presence of his wife during the campaign led to Bill de Blasio to play the "black vote" an African-American rival, Bill Thompson, at Democratic primary. If both candidates have set equal to the vote of African-American men, the presence of Chirlane McCray alongside Bill de Blasio has enabled it to obtain 47% of vote New York black women, against 37% for Bill Thompson.

The wife of Bill de Blasio, who is defined as a lesbian before their marriage in 1991, also proved to be a valuable ally to winning the Women Voters and the gay vote. As a journalist who asked him in December, although still considered homosexual Chirlane McCray replied: "I am married. I have two children. Sexuality is something fluid, and it's personal. Honestly, I'm not even sure I understand your question. " A speech that would have helped Bill de Blasio is necessary, during the Democratic primary against another candidate openly lesbian, Christine Quinn.

These electoral successes across different demographic categories New York - Bill de Blasio also received the highest proportion of votes among women, Jews, and Latinos - reflect changes in the melting pot of the Big Apple, according to U.S. analysts. "It looks like a post-racial election. I do not remember an election where a black candidate lost the black vote, the female vote a woman or a Jewish candidate Jewish vote, "said the New York Daily News Joe Lenski, co- company founder Edison Research survey. "It's really impressive."