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.
On Sunday, de Blasio was warmly received at the Asian & Latino Coalition PAC in Des Moines, where 40 people gathered and applauded when he talked about money being in the “wrong hands.”
“When Democrats sound apologetic for who we are, people pick up on that right away,” de Blasio said to grunts of agreement.
He spoke about New York City’s recent health care initiative for immigrants without legal authorization, paid sick-leave, universal prekindergarten and early childhood education — accomplishments he has said could be a model for the nation.
There was no mention Saturday night of the difficulties he has had taming homelessness, repairing the city’s decrepit public housing or the fallout of the decision by Amazon to pull out of a plan to build a campus in Queens.
Both Amazon and homelessness did come up during his meeting Sunday with the Asian & Latino Coalition PAC. The mayor said he failed to recognize the causes of homelessness early enough, and that Amazon pits cities who want good-paying jobs against each other.
The appearances gave de Blasio a chance to escape the criticism he has faced back home that he did not belong on the campaign trail.
“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 Saturday. “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.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.