[CTC] Hizzoner De Blasio endorses HRC because of TPP opposition

[Dolan Mike]

De Blasio: Clinton's position on trade helped earn his support
Politico
By Dana Rubinstein
November 3, 2015
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/11/8581657/de-blasio-clintons-position-trade-helped-earn-his-support

Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to endorse Hillary Clinton for the presidency after she came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said Tuesday.

"The one that I think was crucial for a lot of us to hear a definitive answer on was trade," the mayor said during an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn. "And she did that a few weeks ago in a very forceful manner. And that to me was the final piece of the puzzle."

De Blasio managed Clinton's 2000 campaign for Senate, and both Bill and Hillary Clinton attended de Blasio's inauguration. But in a move that puzzled many Democrats, the mayor held out for months on endorsing Hillary Clinton for the presidency, arguing that he needed to learn more about her progressive policy positions first.

The move seemed calculated to elevate de Blasio's profile and that of the group he founded, the Progressive Agenda, which is holding a presidential forum on income inequality in Iowa City in December. (It remains unclear if Clinton will attend.)

Last Monday, the Clinton campaign released a list of the more than 100 New Yorkers comprising her state leadership council, from which de Blasio's name was conspicuously absent.

Later that day, POLITICO New York reported that de Blasio would in fact be endorsing Clinton and that he would likely do so before the Iowa forum. He ended up doing it that Friday.

De Blasio on Tuesday indicated that his endorsement had nothing to do with the increasingly awkward nature of his political posture, but rather with real policy decisions.

On Oct. 7, Clinton said she opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement she helped champion as secretary of state.

In de Blasio's telling, Clinton's new position was just the latest in a series of "powerful stances" she'd taken on a number of issues important to his progressive agenda. He said he was convinced.

"After that point, we started specific conversations with the campaign about rolling out an endorsement, and then at that point I spoke to Secretary Clinton," said de Blasio Tuesday. "We had a very good conversation about how the campaign's going and how to work together going forward."

Mayor de Blasio says Hillary Clinton's opposition to controversial trade deal led to his endorsement
New York Daily News
By Erin Durkin
November 3, 2015
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-endorsed-clinton-trade-deal-opposition-article-1.2422638

Hillary Clinton's opposition to a controversial trade deal was the "final piece of the puzzle" that caused Mayor de Blasio to endorse her, the mayor said Tuesday.

De Blasio held off for months on endorsing the front running Democratic presidential candidate, frustrating some in both of their camps, but finally offered his blessing in a TV interview last Friday.

He told reporters it made sense to withhold any endorsement until he heard candidates speak on issues of income inequality, including raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich.

"My view was that our candidates have to speak to these issues," he said. "Throughout the process over the last few months, [I've] been in constant dialogue with the Clinton campaign. And one by one, Secretary Clinton did put out very powerful stances on a number of these issues."

Clinton came out last month against the Trans Pacific Partnership, President Obama's deal to remove tariffs and promote trade with Asian nations that unions blast as a job killer.

"One [issue] that I think was crucial for a lot of us was to hear a definitive answer on trade. And she did that a few weeks ago in a very forceful manner," de Blasio said. "And that to me was the final piece of the puzzle, and after that point we started specific conversations with the campaign about rolling out an endorsement."

De Blasio said he also had a personal chat with Clinton, his former boss when he ran her New York Senate campaign.

"I spoke to Secretary Clinton. We had a very good conversation about how the campaign's going, and how to work together going forward," he said.




Michael F. Dolan, J.D.
Legislative Representative
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Desk  202.624.6891
Fax    202.624.8973
Cell    202.437.2254

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