Today Bill de Blasio continued seeking to define Joe Lhota as part and parcel of the radical wing currently dominating the national Republicans, the Tea Party House Republicans. de Blasio has been hitting that theme for a few days, seeking to define Lhota at a moment where Lhota is still fairly unknown and the Tea Party House Republicans, as the deeply unpopular face of the Republican political brand, are in the national spotlight.
Yesterday, Lhota tried to avoid being linked to the House Republicans, condemning them for the federal government shutdown and calling it “outrageous and wrong”. He also described the Tea Party as a “bad force” in the Republican Party.
Today, responding to a question from Politicker’s Ross Barkan, de Blasio continued his effort, describing the current Republican Party as “a very right wing party” and saying of Lhota that “if you’re a member of the Republican Party, you’re buying into the whole idea.” Team de Blasio smells political blood, and appears focused on framing this city race through the lens of Washington shutdown politics.