After failing to paint Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota as a Tea Party extremist, the campaign of Bill de Blasio released graphics that tie Mr. Lhota to Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush. The graphics, on the new tumblr page, suggest Mr. Lhota’s comments at a press conference yesterday, about healthcare, are similar to those of Romney and Bush.

“Yesterday, Joe Lhota made the unbelievable claim that lack of quality health insurance is “not an issue” in NYC because “all New Yorkers have health care”. Lhota’s comments, at a time when tens of thousands of uninsured New Yorkers stand to benefit from new insurance exchanges set up by Obamacare, are a reminder of similar out of touch statements made by none other than George W. Bush and Mitt Romney,” a statement by the de Blasio campaign read.

At a press conference in Red Hook, Wednesday afternoon, Mr. de Blasio was asked by a Politicker’s Ross Barkan why Joe Lhota, a NY Republican, is even to be considered a National Republican?

“Look… It’s 2013. And the Republican Party has evolved, thanks to Mr. Lhota’s friend Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and others, over the last few decades into a very right-wing party, nationally, and in many ways in New York State,” said Mr. de Blasio. “You can’t be a Republican bystander. You can’t say ‘I am an innocent Liberal Republican and all those other things happened’. Too bad! If you’re a member of the Republican Party, you’re buying into the whole idea.”

“I think… You break it, you own it. If he chooses to be an ideological Republican – and he does not deny it – then he has to account for the whole package,” he added. “I would remind you that a lot of people tried to suggest that Mitt Romney was a different kind of Republican. Yet when the time came he made it clear how much he wanted the support of Conservative Republican and bend backwards to achieve that support. I think Mr. Lhota did a similar thing when he met with the Tea Party in Staten Island, a few months ago.”

“I am very proud to be a Democrat. I think that’s a stark contrast right there,” Mr. de Blasio emphasized.

Joe Lhota’s campaign spokeswoman, Jessica Proud, shot back in a statement to YWN: “The only extremist in this race is Bill de Blasio. He opposes successful charter schools for children, wants to prevent the police from doing their jobs and will drive jobs out of the city with his reckless spending. His agenda is wrong for New York and the voters will see through his ridiculous attacks. ”

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)