Phil Reisman: Bill de Blasio haunts the burbs

From the vantage point of many Manhattan snobs, the suburbs to the north are a vast provincial wilderness where no one can hear you scream.

To them it's "upstate." It's a place of nothingness, an uphill passage to the ski resorts of Lake Placid.

But to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, there is fertile ground in the hinterlands —namely in the 40th Senate District, whose boundaries zigzag through parts of Westchester and Dutchess and Putnam, and resembles a lost piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

The 40th District is the site of an extremely bitter election battle between Yorktown Councilman Terrence Murphy, a Republican, and attorney Justin Wagner, a Democrat from Cortlandt. Wagner ran for the seat in 2012 but lost to Greg Ball, a Republican whose decision not to seek re-election was a disappointment to those of us who relied on his capacity to do almost anything for attention.

Anyhow, the district is in play, as evidenced by the fact that the candidates are wholeheartedly slandering each other in their campaign mailers. (After a recent debate, Murphy refused to shake Wagner's hand.) Though enrolled Democratic voters outnumber Republicans and Conservatives combined, the margin is thin, less than 4,000.

De Blasio probably couldn't find the Town of Southeast on a map if his life depended on it.

Nevertheless, he sees this race and other Senate contests throughout the state as an opportunity to consolidate his power, as the standard-bearer of New York's political left.

According to a report last week in the New York Observer, de Blasio dispatched his own man, Jonathan Viguers, to serve as a consultant to Wagner's campaign. Viguers works in the mayor's Community Affairs Unit and was a Brooklyn field organizer for de Blasio's 2013 mayoral race.

The aim is to maintain the slim Democratic majority over Republicans in the Senate. More than that, as has been widely reported, de Blasio wants to create allies in the Legislature who would theoretically help advance his political agenda.

For instance, de Blasio wants public financing of election campaigns, which is favored by many progressives.

If the 40th District isn't exactly a red precinct in a blue state, it is at least purplish. And Murphy's campaign is characterizing de Blasio's participation as an invasion by a political ideologue who wants higher taxes, greater gun control and policies that aid illegal immigration. Indeed, spokesman T.J. McCormack released a fervent anti-de Blasio statement in which he referred to the mayor as a "bogeyman."

It's not clear whether the Viguers "loan" will help or hurt Wagner in the long run. Democratic operatives insist Viguers wasn't "dispatched" by de Blasio, but hired by Wagner because the candidate simply wanted someone with vast experience on his team.

At any rate, the overall strategy could backfire against de Blasio, whose political career was hatched and nurtured by the Clintons and Andrew Cuomo. They are centrist Democrats who, like Dr. Frankenstein, must wonder how in God's good name they are going to control the left-wing giant they have loosed on the general population. Well, it is the Halloween season.

Jeanne Zaino, a professor of political science at Iona College, believes that de Blasio's goal is to be seen as the leader of the Democratic Party's progressive wing — "a wing that I have no doubt he hopes will take over the party in the near future."

That means he wants to be governor.

However, Zaino pointed out that de Blasio could appear weak if his chosen Senate candidates don't win. Even if they do win, Zaino added, he runs the risk that those wins won't translate into support for his programs.

Mike Edelman, a longtime political commentator, said de Blasio is lost in hubris.

"He's a legend in his own mind," Edelman said. "De Blasio believes it is his mission to rehabilitate Al Sharpton (a de Blasio supporter) and take on Andrew Cuomo in a primary the next time around.

"De Blasio has designs on the governor's office for sure and is trying to get allies to give the city whatever it wants, even if it is not what the city actually needs."

In his memoir, Cuomo mentions de Blasio once only. He refers to him as "my longtime friend and former HUD colleague."

The governor also made clear in his book that he held a dim view of the "extreme left" — which is where de Blasio, his supposed buddy, comes from.

Cuomo has outmaneuvered de Blasio at every turn. He seized credit for limited state-funded pre-K and manipulated the mayor into securing him the Working Families Party endorsement in the 2014 gubernatorial campaign. Then he got de Blasio to back him in the Democratic primary against Zephyr Teachout.

With Cuomo favors such as these are a one-way street.

De Blasio should watch his back, because if he isn't careful he might find himself trapped in the political equivalent of a burning windmill.

Reach Phil Reisman at preisman@lohud.com. Twitter: @philreisman