The results are in from the New York mayoral primary, and not only have the voters of New York rejected Andrew Cuomo, they have chosen Zohran Mamdani, a progressive previously endorsed by Bernie and AOC. He’s someone the Democratic establishment, which has been so very successful at failing to find a message that appeals to the American people, opposed. If he wins they may have to accept the fact that it’s time to face a new reality if we’re going to successfully beat back the fascists. You know, the people the Democratic establishment thinks are no different than Republicans were in 1964 or thereabouts.
I’m personally proud of the fact that Mamdani is an alum of my own Alma Mater, which has made a point of promoting DEI, but is too small to be on Trump’s radar.
Republicans are claiming to be salivating at the prospect of making him the villain they can campaign against, and the press is, of course, going to push that narrative to a great extent, but I don’t think it will work. Unlike establishment Dems, people like Mamdani know how to get their message out, and it’s a message that will work.
Not all of us geezers are blind to the new reality. This from a fundraising email from Bernie Sanders:
And what Zohran’s victory proved to me is that when people have something to vote for rather than just vote against, when we prioritize organizing and mobilizing, our progressive agenda can win against even the longest of odds.
This, from No More Mister Nice Blog says it well:
The connection between this and yesterday’s primary results in New York is that millions of Americans want to believe that someone is fighting to change the direction of our politics. Mamdani won because he gave Democratic primary voters in New York a reason to hope that the same old evil bastards might not run everything forever. National Democrats need to give the rest of America a sense that another world is possible. They need to be bold and defiant and take actions that are visceral and compelling, even if they’re risky. They don’t necessarily need to have the charisma of Mamdani — Chris Van Hollen is a soft-spoken senator, but his trip to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia changed the immigration narrative, forced Abrego Garcia’s repatriation, and began the process of pushing Trump’s poll numbers on immigration underwater. More like that, please.
This argument makes sense, since just a couple of weeks ago the well funded and business backed Andrew Cuomo had a substantial polling advantage. New Yorkers must have liked what they heard from Mamdani. They would undoubtedly like hearing something similar from Dems nationwide if only the Dems would get together and hone their message.