Thank God Obama has gotten involved in those two races. He has a lot of work to do, and I hope he continues. I would like to see Pete Buttigeg take on the Nazis--he's so smart and well-spoken--and I'm sure he has and that I've just missed it. It's hard to remember that most people feel the way I do: disgusted, angry and scared for our country. Onward!
You always write well, Steven, but today's post is outstanding. Everything fits together and is so compelling to read. Your vision about where we are today is stunning in its clarity. Thank you!
Cuomo's threat to leave NYC for the swamp will be good riddance for New Yorkers just like Illinois' losing billionaire Ken Griffith and former governor Bruce Rauner--both who tried to destroy our state.
First I’d read that he stole that Republican line. The wealthy will leave and the city or state won’t be able to survive.
He did another very GOP / trumpy thing. His net worth was estimated at $5M when he left as governor. He started a consulting business before he ran for mayor & immediately took in another $5M. (NYT did report that.)
As a NJ resident, I am hoping and praying that Mikie Sherrill is our new governor. Her policies are for the people of the state, not the billionaires and giant corporations. She has declared war on utilities and will follow through with that imho. I have voted in every election since I was eligible in 1961, both general elections and primaries. This election is as important as the last presidential election, and I hope my fellow residents understand that and go to the polls in great numbers.
Steven, I will put it to you plainly. I will vote for the Mamdanis of this world, but not the Schumers or the Jeffries. The old guard in the Democratic Party has to go. They don't represent my interest and they haven't for a long time. You wrote a great article today.
We will need all the Dems we can get since we will need enough in congress (supermajorities) to override Trump's presidential vetoes, so vote blue no matter who. No Dem is really anything like the GOP and we need the numbers. When liberal bills have been able to come to the floor and Dems controlled congress, Schumer voted for them and supported them, he is not the problem, the problem is the numbers. The same is true for Jefferies.
When Biden tried to pass his super liberal BBB, both Jefferies and Schumer were right there with him, but he had a 50/50 Senate with Harris as a tie breaker and so he could not lose a single vote. Blame Sinema and Joe Manchin, not Jefferies and Schumer.
Trump passed his BBB bill (I think he chose a name that would have the same abbreviation on purpose to stick it to Biden), He did not need a single Dem vote and did not get one. A budget reconciliation can't be filibustered. So, why blame Schumer? It makes no sense.
For me, this article is extremely helpful in understanding many aspects of our current political competitions during a dangerous serious attack on our country from within.
I believe that the Democratic candidates - Mamdani prime among them - will win tomorrow. However, I want to see them win by overwhelming margins to demonstrate an outright rejection of Trump and the horrors that he represents.
Of course, I will take moderate victories. But they will leave me depressed.
I'm not sure Mamdani's success means what people think.
The NYT also promoted Warren in her run for the nomination and in that race, she was the most liberal, as well. They did not care about the impact nationally of a more liberal national candidate back then.
That said, I have always found NYT political reporting during elections as rather petty and immature sounding and very weird and strange.
I'm also pretty darn sure that Bernie could have won a NY mayor's race when he was in the headlines and running in the presidential primary, years ago, so I don't really see this as a shift for NY or even Dem politics, even if we wish we were heading more in that direction.
NY city has always been about the most liberal of the liberal.
I have lived in CA and then AZ as it turned blue (has a Dem governor and 2 Dem Senators) and like many swing states, someone farther left, like Mamdani would lose in a national presidential race there.
The problem has always been that once a more liberal national presidential candidate leaves the larger and more liberal blue states, they then lose the Dem primary, because on a national level, even Dems, on average, are not quite that liberal. Nationally, when polled, only half of Dems self-identify as liberal and less than 30% of voters self-identify as D or R with independents now over 40% of voters.
Thus, someone who is both Dem and a liberal is about 1/2 of less than 30% or 15% nationally although some independents may be liberals, as well. If one lives in NY, NY, there may be a false impression that others are just like them. The same is true here in CA (I am back).
You simply can't win nationally with those numbers. But one can win a NY mayor's race because many of the more liberal Dems that do exist, are concentrated there.
Harris lost, when Trump, supported by right wing media, was able to paint her as super liberal, and it was effective enough to scare some big dollar business CEOs and newspapers into bending a knee to Trump, as well. It was, and is, repulsive and disgusting.
Mamdani's success is really NY still being NY, and maybe not a reflection of the nation as a whole - in my view.
Trump was awful in term 1 as well, this is far worse, but people still put him back in rather than vote in a woman candidate who was painted as far-left.
Once leaving the big blue states, Bernie lost the primary by 3 million votes and something like 11 states, it was not even close, and yet, some people bought into his claims of "rigged" just like some MAGA bought into Trump's "rigged" false claims. FactCheck looked into it, and there was no "there-there" in either case. Unlike Trump, however, Bernie got over the frustration of the loss, and helped for the greater good. He is not a sociopath, just passionate.
However, when those farther left posture as if they are being cheated, instead of looking at the actual stats nationally, then they undermine a Dem candidate's ability to win in a national contest. If we think Mamdani represents the nation, and choose a national candidate accordingly....well the stakes are very high as they also were in 2024 and depending on who that person is running against, we could lose. Having a more liberal president also does not change what gets done or not. Having a more liberal congress, will.
I do not think a Mamdani win will cause harm to Dems nationally. It is a very weird time for NYT to get practical about statistics, I think, so maybe it is another case of big media capitulating to big money, I don't know. It is rather odd that they would be "practical" when they typically are not in election season.
Biden was, by far, the most liberal president in my lifetime, but he lacked a single vote in the Senate to pass his very liberal BBB even with the Budget Reconciliation process requiring a simple majority vote. It was not him, it was congress.
I saw Cuomo on Margaret Hoover's Firing Line, and I was angry that he called himself a standard Dem. His responses made him seem fairly conservative and status quo, not like a Dem. I would not want the Dem party painted with that brush, either. Maybe he was playing to her more conservative viewers and trying to set himself apart, but it did not come across in away they would appeal to NY, I don't think
Do I think all of Mamdani's ideas will all work? No, but people want someone who wants to give it a go and at least try. Keep what works and ditch the rest.
Regarding healthcare, I do think we need to bring back the free clinic for everyday care. They were everywhere pre-Reagan in CA. You could just walk in for a common cold or to get immunized for free. Even community college was free there in the 1970s, these are not new concepts.
In addition, everyday routine care has nothing at all to do with the insurance market and risk, and it is just one more place where prices can get jacked up.
As far as the rest, Medicaid or Medicare for all as a choice and as a public option. People who are above a certain percent over poverty can buy-in to medicaid as a % of income. Medicaid has no deductibles and is essential for those fighting chronic disease, etc. Basic Medicare is actually expensive and I get bills in the mail for what is not covered. These are perhaps places to start on state run exchanges where people could buy into Medicaid. We need a president who will push for more reforms as well.
I do think more people are now open to policies on a national level aimed at helping all Americans now, however. This is a Dem thing and may help us to win back congress and the White House.
Cuomo has also sung from the GOP songbook on FOX where Islamophobia and race baiting were on full display.
As for Bernie’s issues, he put them aside for the greater good & waited to use them to get the DNC to make changes. This article explains some of the politics & importance of the DNC / Clinton agreement from 2015. The DNC was in debt, weak and vulnerable. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774/
(It’s again hampered by debt because it agreed to pay off $20.5M of Harris’ debt. In return she agreed to do some fundraising & could say it was for the DNC not her debt.)
The link in the article to the memorandum is broken. The National Review link goes directly to the document.
"This Memorandum is intended to memorialize our agreement regarding the creation and operation of Hillary Victory Fund (Victory Fund), a joint fundraising committee of Hillary for America (HFA) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “
Running NYC is one of the toughest jobs in the US. Empty - near impossible - promises won't do it. Phony populism won't do it. Let's hope Mamdani grows up, is supportive of all communities - including Jews (despite past remarks) and surrounds himself with competency. (Not to mention shows up more than he did as state legislator.)
What heartens me most about Mamdani's campaign--and him--is that Gen Z has abandoned Trump and flocked to a younger, more authentic, smarter and in touch candidate...something that cannot be said about the majority of Dems in the Senate and Congress. Schumar and Jeffries should have been booted well before Trump's second term. The gerontocracy has to be willing to give way to winners, candidates who will unite the party, define and fight for what Democrats are FOR, and win. Say it again: win.
First, he visited voting districts before forming his platform. He asked voters what they wanted & he made certain he visited districts that had flipped from ‘blue’ to trump in 2024. In the primary he won enough of those ‘trump’ districts for analysts to take note. He has not taken for granted how any group will vote. Any politician could do these things.
Second, although some of this says more about Cuomo than Mamdani: He has been able to bypass traditional ‘leadership’ by inspiring people - huge numbers of volunteers; 3x the voter registrations than the previous mayoral race. Cuomo proved he is a divider. He sat for an interview with Maria Bartiromo did the heavy lifting on islamophobia and he did the “not one of us” routine. (BTW, the most recent London census does not indicate it is anything except “largely” white Britains. At most about 7% might wear a hijab if you include babies.)
While I appreciate this insightful breakdown of Zohran Mamdani's campaign, there is a danger in extrapolating these "six lessons" to every state and every demographic in this country. I write from the perspectives of growing up on the Southside of Chicago, and living for decades in Iowa, including as an elective official
What plays well in New York City, with its unique political landscape and highly specific demographics, may very well flop elsewhere. Success there doesn't automatically mean success in a small town or city in the Midwest or an urban area in the South.
A campaign's viability is dependent on a complex interplay of factors, including:
Local Demographics: The cultural and socio-economic make-up of a district.
The Candidate: Mamdani may be a truly unique and compelling figure.
The Messaging: The specific local issues and political history.
We must remember that Mamdani may be a unique candidate, not a universal "cake mold" that every aspiring progressive has to duplicate. We need to be cautious about nationalizing findings that may be hyper-local.
The NYT has become the Susan Collins of legacy media. Sycophantic and wrong on all the important issues. And Cuomo…buh-bye!
So glad I got rid of my 30+ year subscription to the Times right after the "selection" and found the wonderful folks on Substack.
Me, too.
Although, when I went to cancel the NYT offered me a year-long subscription of $29 that's less than I pay per month.
NYT always has been For the Plutocrats, but now the plutocrats have become unsustainably greedy.
Thank God Obama has gotten involved in those two races. He has a lot of work to do, and I hope he continues. I would like to see Pete Buttigeg take on the Nazis--he's so smart and well-spoken--and I'm sure he has and that I've just missed it. It's hard to remember that most people feel the way I do: disgusted, angry and scared for our country. Onward!
You always write well, Steven, but today's post is outstanding. Everything fits together and is so compelling to read. Your vision about where we are today is stunning in its clarity. Thank you!
Thanks, Peggy. Glad to hear.
HOPE…both Mamdani and Obama, with their joyful charisma, tap into our HOPE that politicians will see us, see our needs, and truly work for us…
Cuomo's threat to leave NYC for the swamp will be good riddance for New Yorkers just like Illinois' losing billionaire Ken Griffith and former governor Bruce Rauner--both who tried to destroy our state.
First I’d read that he stole that Republican line. The wealthy will leave and the city or state won’t be able to survive.
He did another very GOP / trumpy thing. His net worth was estimated at $5M when he left as governor. He started a consulting business before he ran for mayor & immediately took in another $5M. (NYT did report that.)
As a NJ resident, I am hoping and praying that Mikie Sherrill is our new governor. Her policies are for the people of the state, not the billionaires and giant corporations. She has declared war on utilities and will follow through with that imho. I have voted in every election since I was eligible in 1961, both general elections and primaries. This election is as important as the last presidential election, and I hope my fellow residents understand that and go to the polls in great numbers.
Steven, I will put it to you plainly. I will vote for the Mamdanis of this world, but not the Schumers or the Jeffries. The old guard in the Democratic Party has to go. They don't represent my interest and they haven't for a long time. You wrote a great article today.
Thank you, John. Appreciate your input.
We will need all the Dems we can get since we will need enough in congress (supermajorities) to override Trump's presidential vetoes, so vote blue no matter who. No Dem is really anything like the GOP and we need the numbers. When liberal bills have been able to come to the floor and Dems controlled congress, Schumer voted for them and supported them, he is not the problem, the problem is the numbers. The same is true for Jefferies.
When Biden tried to pass his super liberal BBB, both Jefferies and Schumer were right there with him, but he had a 50/50 Senate with Harris as a tie breaker and so he could not lose a single vote. Blame Sinema and Joe Manchin, not Jefferies and Schumer.
Trump passed his BBB bill (I think he chose a name that would have the same abbreviation on purpose to stick it to Biden), He did not need a single Dem vote and did not get one. A budget reconciliation can't be filibustered. So, why blame Schumer? It makes no sense.
For me, this article is extremely helpful in understanding many aspects of our current political competitions during a dangerous serious attack on our country from within.
Thank you for your thoughtful thoroughness.
Thanks, Alexia.
I believe that the Democratic candidates - Mamdani prime among them - will win tomorrow. However, I want to see them win by overwhelming margins to demonstrate an outright rejection of Trump and the horrors that he represents.
Of course, I will take moderate victories. But they will leave me depressed.
Yikes. I’ll be disappointed with modest margins but not depressed. Of course I live in trumplandia where any victory is a big deal 😊
I'm not sure Mamdani's success means what people think.
The NYT also promoted Warren in her run for the nomination and in that race, she was the most liberal, as well. They did not care about the impact nationally of a more liberal national candidate back then.
That said, I have always found NYT political reporting during elections as rather petty and immature sounding and very weird and strange.
I'm also pretty darn sure that Bernie could have won a NY mayor's race when he was in the headlines and running in the presidential primary, years ago, so I don't really see this as a shift for NY or even Dem politics, even if we wish we were heading more in that direction.
NY city has always been about the most liberal of the liberal.
I have lived in CA and then AZ as it turned blue (has a Dem governor and 2 Dem Senators) and like many swing states, someone farther left, like Mamdani would lose in a national presidential race there.
The problem has always been that once a more liberal national presidential candidate leaves the larger and more liberal blue states, they then lose the Dem primary, because on a national level, even Dems, on average, are not quite that liberal. Nationally, when polled, only half of Dems self-identify as liberal and less than 30% of voters self-identify as D or R with independents now over 40% of voters.
Thus, someone who is both Dem and a liberal is about 1/2 of less than 30% or 15% nationally although some independents may be liberals, as well. If one lives in NY, NY, there may be a false impression that others are just like them. The same is true here in CA (I am back).
You simply can't win nationally with those numbers. But one can win a NY mayor's race because many of the more liberal Dems that do exist, are concentrated there.
Harris lost, when Trump, supported by right wing media, was able to paint her as super liberal, and it was effective enough to scare some big dollar business CEOs and newspapers into bending a knee to Trump, as well. It was, and is, repulsive and disgusting.
Mamdani's success is really NY still being NY, and maybe not a reflection of the nation as a whole - in my view.
Trump was awful in term 1 as well, this is far worse, but people still put him back in rather than vote in a woman candidate who was painted as far-left.
Once leaving the big blue states, Bernie lost the primary by 3 million votes and something like 11 states, it was not even close, and yet, some people bought into his claims of "rigged" just like some MAGA bought into Trump's "rigged" false claims. FactCheck looked into it, and there was no "there-there" in either case. Unlike Trump, however, Bernie got over the frustration of the loss, and helped for the greater good. He is not a sociopath, just passionate.
However, when those farther left posture as if they are being cheated, instead of looking at the actual stats nationally, then they undermine a Dem candidate's ability to win in a national contest. If we think Mamdani represents the nation, and choose a national candidate accordingly....well the stakes are very high as they also were in 2024 and depending on who that person is running against, we could lose. Having a more liberal president also does not change what gets done or not. Having a more liberal congress, will.
I do not think a Mamdani win will cause harm to Dems nationally. It is a very weird time for NYT to get practical about statistics, I think, so maybe it is another case of big media capitulating to big money, I don't know. It is rather odd that they would be "practical" when they typically are not in election season.
Biden was, by far, the most liberal president in my lifetime, but he lacked a single vote in the Senate to pass his very liberal BBB even with the Budget Reconciliation process requiring a simple majority vote. It was not him, it was congress.
I saw Cuomo on Margaret Hoover's Firing Line, and I was angry that he called himself a standard Dem. His responses made him seem fairly conservative and status quo, not like a Dem. I would not want the Dem party painted with that brush, either. Maybe he was playing to her more conservative viewers and trying to set himself apart, but it did not come across in away they would appeal to NY, I don't think
Do I think all of Mamdani's ideas will all work? No, but people want someone who wants to give it a go and at least try. Keep what works and ditch the rest.
Regarding healthcare, I do think we need to bring back the free clinic for everyday care. They were everywhere pre-Reagan in CA. You could just walk in for a common cold or to get immunized for free. Even community college was free there in the 1970s, these are not new concepts.
In addition, everyday routine care has nothing at all to do with the insurance market and risk, and it is just one more place where prices can get jacked up.
As far as the rest, Medicaid or Medicare for all as a choice and as a public option. People who are above a certain percent over poverty can buy-in to medicaid as a % of income. Medicaid has no deductibles and is essential for those fighting chronic disease, etc. Basic Medicare is actually expensive and I get bills in the mail for what is not covered. These are perhaps places to start on state run exchanges where people could buy into Medicaid. We need a president who will push for more reforms as well.
I do think more people are now open to policies on a national level aimed at helping all Americans now, however. This is a Dem thing and may help us to win back congress and the White House.
Cuomo has also sung from the GOP songbook on FOX where Islamophobia and race baiting were on full display.
As for Bernie’s issues, he put them aside for the greater good & waited to use them to get the DNC to make changes. This article explains some of the politics & importance of the DNC / Clinton agreement from 2015. The DNC was in debt, weak and vulnerable. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774/
(It’s again hampered by debt because it agreed to pay off $20.5M of Harris’ debt. In return she agreed to do some fundraising & could say it was for the DNC not her debt.)
The link in the article to the memorandum is broken. The National Review link goes directly to the document.
https://www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/07-31-2015-Memo-of-Understanding-between-Hillary-Clinton-and-DNC.pdf
"This Memorandum is intended to memorialize our agreement regarding the creation and operation of Hillary Victory Fund (Victory Fund), a joint fundraising committee of Hillary for America (HFA) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “
(Agreed to in 2015)
Running NYC is one of the toughest jobs in the US. Empty - near impossible - promises won't do it. Phony populism won't do it. Let's hope Mamdani grows up, is supportive of all communities - including Jews (despite past remarks) and surrounds himself with competency. (Not to mention shows up more than he did as state legislator.)
What heartens me most about Mamdani's campaign--and him--is that Gen Z has abandoned Trump and flocked to a younger, more authentic, smarter and in touch candidate...something that cannot be said about the majority of Dems in the Senate and Congress. Schumar and Jeffries should have been booted well before Trump's second term. The gerontocracy has to be willing to give way to winners, candidates who will unite the party, define and fight for what Democrats are FOR, and win. Say it again: win.
"I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light.” Profound. This stuck with me.
I want to add a couple things about Mamdani.
First, he visited voting districts before forming his platform. He asked voters what they wanted & he made certain he visited districts that had flipped from ‘blue’ to trump in 2024. In the primary he won enough of those ‘trump’ districts for analysts to take note. He has not taken for granted how any group will vote. Any politician could do these things.
Second, although some of this says more about Cuomo than Mamdani: He has been able to bypass traditional ‘leadership’ by inspiring people - huge numbers of volunteers; 3x the voter registrations than the previous mayoral race. Cuomo proved he is a divider. He sat for an interview with Maria Bartiromo did the heavy lifting on islamophobia and he did the “not one of us” routine. (BTW, the most recent London census does not indicate it is anything except “largely” white Britains. At most about 7% might wear a hijab if you include babies.)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/10/29/maria_bartiromo_will_mamdani_change_new_york_to_look_more_like_london.html
While I appreciate this insightful breakdown of Zohran Mamdani's campaign, there is a danger in extrapolating these "six lessons" to every state and every demographic in this country. I write from the perspectives of growing up on the Southside of Chicago, and living for decades in Iowa, including as an elective official
What plays well in New York City, with its unique political landscape and highly specific demographics, may very well flop elsewhere. Success there doesn't automatically mean success in a small town or city in the Midwest or an urban area in the South.
A campaign's viability is dependent on a complex interplay of factors, including:
Local Demographics: The cultural and socio-economic make-up of a district.
The Candidate: Mamdani may be a truly unique and compelling figure.
The Messaging: The specific local issues and political history.
We must remember that Mamdani may be a unique candidate, not a universal "cake mold" that every aspiring progressive has to duplicate. We need to be cautious about nationalizing findings that may be hyper-local.
Removing a long lasting Nazi tattoo shortly before elections feels like "go along to get along" to me.