De Blasio Declines to Endorse Clinton—Yet: ‘I Want to See a Vision’

Gotham Mayor Bill de Blasio, who ran Hillary Clinton’s first campaign for Senator from New York, said Clinton was one of the most qualified candidates ever to seek the White House, but that he wanted to hear an economically progressive vision from a candidate before endorsing them.

“Like a lot of people in this country, I want to see a vision,” de Blasio said on Meet the Press. “It’s time to see a clear, bold vision for progressive economics…We need to see the substance.”

Some analysts see Clinton’s 2016 rollout as a repeat of her 1999 listening tour, that eventually led to a successful Senate campaign.

De Blasio added that the debate over ideas currently unfolding between the centrist and progressive wings of the Democratic Party mirrored a primary, his response to Democratic fears that Clinton’s nomination will be a coronation.

“What’s happening now almost synthesizes some of the reality of a primary,” de Blasio said. “Progressives are demanding an actual vision on economic change. … I think that is a chance to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to break with a Washington formula that failed the people of this country over the last quarter century.'”

Host Chuck Todd pointed out that for 1/3 of that last quarter century, a Clinton was president.

Watch the clip below, via NBC News:

[Image via screengrab]

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