Clinton vs. de Blasio: A primary so crazy we simply must talk about it And you thought we here in the media were desperate for a competitive 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Well, here's New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox (reportedly) actually predicting that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016 - and even win. Here's the New York Post's Frederic U. Dicker: Cox, citing information provided by a prominent "Democratic lobbyist,"" told friends and associates in recent days that freshman Mayor de Blasio's effort to promote himself as the leader of the "urban progressive centers of the nation"" is part of a well-oiled plan to prepare for a presidential run. It's like Barack Obama; he was a brand-new freshman senator, and he ran for president and won. I think de Blasio is going to do it,"" Cox said at a recent gathering, a source told The Post. A few problems: De Blasio was Clinton's campaign manager in her 2000 Senate campaign. He has been in office less than a year. He was sworn in by Bill Clinton in January, and the two are pretty buddy-buddy. New York mayor is a terrible launching pad for running for president (see: Giuliani, Rudolph) or even building a national profile (see: Bloomberg, Michael). If de Blasio had any designs on such a thing - and so soon - he would have been much better off running for Senate, governor or basically anything except mayor. It makes no sense. Correction: This post previously referenced incorrect approval numbers for de Blasio. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows him earning the approval of 50 percent of New Yorkers and the disapproval of 32 percent.