Perhaps Bill de Blasio’s comfort level was aided by familiarity: This was believed to be his fourth trip to Iowa since he became mayor of New York City in 2014.
It could have been the sparse crowd: Only about two dozen people braved blizzard-like conditions to attend the gathering organized Saturday by the Woodbury County Democrats, a traditional stop for presidential hopefuls.
More likely it was the repetition of themes that the mayor has made familiar in New York, focusing on accomplishments that he has said could be a model for the nation. He spoke about a recent health care initiative for immigrants without legal authorization, paid sick-leave, universal prekindergarten and early childhood education.
There was no mention of the difficulties he has had taming homelessness, repairing the city’s decrepit public housing or the fallout of the recent decision by Amazon to pull out of a plan to build a campus in Long Island City, Queens.
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Indeed, the appearance gave de Blasio a chance to escape the fierce criticism back home that he did not belong here.
“If you look at the everyday discourse, you might think this is a country mired in division and that conservative forces are dominant. I think it’s quite the opposite,” de Blasio said. “I think this is a country waiting to be unified.”
The question of whether de Blasio would try to unify the country by running for president or just continue to talk about it remained unanswered. The mayor gave his stock response of late that he has “not ruled out a run for president, obviously.”
Even if he hasn’t declared, de Blasio was acting and was treated like a candidate. He was the third Democrat who has announced or is mulling a presidential bid to be hosted by the Woodbury County Democrats in the previous 48 hours.
De Blasio called the decision “personal” and said in an interview afterward that he would need to speak with his family.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.