Neera Tanden Says Clinton Won’t Run Against NYC Mayor Blasio

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Speculation in New York political circles that Hillary Clinton, who lost the presidential election to Donald Trump in November, may run against incumbent Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio in the November mayoral election has been put to rest by one of her closest aides, news report said.

Clinton, who has largely remained out of the public eye since losing the campaign, has not given any clue as to what her next role will be, leading to a lot of speculation.

But Neera Tanden, head of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, and a close Clinton ally, said Jan. 8 she doesn’t expect Clinton to run for New York mayor -– or anything else, ever again.

“I think she’s going to figure out ways to help kids and families. That’s s been what she’s been focused on her whole life, and a lot of issues that are affecting them, over the next couple of years,” Tanden told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union Jan. 8.

“I don’t expect her to run for this and I don’t expect her to run for other office,” Tanden was quoted as saying by CNN. “I think her job is to do – what she’s thinking about right now is how to help those kids and families as she has her whole life.”

De Blasio himself told reporters Jan. 9 that he agrees with what Tanden said about Clinton.

“What Neera said is exactly what I assumed,” de Blasio was quoted by the Daily News as telling reporters. He said he does think that the two-time failed presidential contender has a bright future. “I’m sure she’s going to find a lot of other important things to do,” said de Blasio when asked about Clinton’s City Hall chances.

In an opinion piece for CNN, Errol Louis, host of “Inside City Hall”, said it was safe to assume that “nobody in her right mind – certainly, nobody as familiar with the workings of government and politics as Clinton – would lightly take on the headaches of the nation’s largest city for such nakedly political reasons.”

As someone who was so close to the top job in the White House, it could be considered a step down, or at least a complex, high-profile role with many challenges and fewer rewards, according to the CNN report.

“The mayor attempting to steer this vast enterprise is only one player in a local government with an $82 billion budget and unique, frustrating complexities,”Louis wrote.

The Daily News report said that a Clinton run would also give the former secretary of state the perfect revenge against de Blasio.

De Blasio, who was her campaign manager in her 2000 U.S. Senate race in New York, refused to endorse her when she first jumped into the race to replace President Obama, saying he needed to hear more of her vision, but ultimately came round to endorse her late in the primary.

One Clinton loyalist told the News that it would be “sweet justice” to see Clinton battle de Blasio for City Hall, but called talk of her running a “political delusion.”