For years now, we’ve seen Republicans lurching toward the right, fully embracing fascism. At the same time we’ve seen Democrats fiercely opposing fascism with every fiber of their being, knowing that there are some things you just don’t compromise on.
Sigh. If only.
While Republicans are gleefully supporting Donald Trump’s every authoritarian urge—whether that’s kidnapping college students off of the streets, sending the National Guard to quell protests, or treating transgender people as subhuman—Democrats are, to put it lightly, by and large not meeting this moment with the kind of forceful repudiation and purposeful action that is called for. And I mean “called for” literally. People have been flooding the offices of Democratic elected officials with calls begging for action. I know I’ve called Senators Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters many times doing exactly that.
Progressive voters are feeling pretty abandoned right now.
Which is why Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York has caused such a stir. And by “stir” I mean it has caused people to both celebrate and lose their minds.
In the New York mayoral primary, establishment Democrats went all-in on disgraced former mayor Andrew Cuomo, including Bill Clinton, who Cuomo called “a "personal mentor.” It was an eye-rolling yet fitting endorsement considering the fact that Cuomo resigned in 2021 under the weight of a slew of sexual harassment allegations. Cuomo was, as they say, “cancelled” (which is not really a concept that existed back when Clinton used his power as a means to exploit women), which means that Cuomo, a rich, white, straight man, stepped out of the spotlight briefly before returning to the stage as if nothing of consequence had happened.
Except this time, it didn’t work.
As Sally Goldenberg, Senior New York Editor at POLITICO, put it in a June 24 post on X, “Andrew Cuomo just conceded the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City to Zohran Mamdani. Cuomo has universal name ID, a $25M PAC backing him and tons of institutional endorsements. Mamdani is a 33-year-old socialist. The magnitude of this can’t be overstated.”
Magnitude, indeed. Mamdani hit New York like an earthquake, shaking loose years of entrenched power.
During his campaign his critics acted like Mamdani’s platform was impossible, impractical, and outrageous. His platform was summarized on his campaign website as, “New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.” His plan to do this includes no cost childcare, public schools that are “fully funded with equally distributed resources,” taxing the rich, protecting LGBTQIA+ people, lower healthcare costs, raising the minimum wage, helping small businesses, and free transportation.
There is nothing impossible, impractical, or insane outrageous about any of these things. We are the richest nation in the world. We can afford all of these things and more if we wanted to. Or, should I say, if our government leaders wanted to.
When you actually look at it, the bedrock of Mamdani’s platform is taking care of the practical concerns of everyday people. You know, the things that Democrats have been promising but never actually delivering on for so long that voters no longer trust in them.
And that’s what is most exciting about Mamdani’s unexpected win. Voters are tired of “politics as usual,” especially now that Republicans are ushering in an era of fascism most Americans have never considered possible enough to fear. Even lifelong, diehard Democrats (hi!) are feeling like we’re stuck in one of those nightmares where we’re trying to escape mortal danger but no one around us can hear our screams for help and we can only run in slow motion.
An oft-asked question since Mamdani’s win is whether the Democrats will learn anything from this. Whether this moment will be the kick in the ass they need to recognize that what they’re doing is not working (Trump winning twice is a horrendous testament to that fact). And so far the answer seems to be, “Absolutely not.”
Instead, Democrats seem intent on dampening any hope that voters have for change and tanking Mamdani’s candidacy.
A big focus is on Mamdani’s criticism of Israel. He’s being painted as an anti-Semite by Republicans and establishment Democrats. But criticism of Israel is not the same as hating Jewish people. And the fact is, a lot of people are looking at what’s going on in Gaza, where people are starving to death if they aren’t shot or blown up first, and the escalation of fighting with Iran, and are horrified. The majority of people in the world want peace. Unfortunately, that view isn’t reflected in many of their governments, including ours.
Mamdani has denounced anti-Semitism. In a video posted by journalist Bernadette Hogan on X, Mamdani said, “This is a city that every single person deserves to be in. It’s a city we all belong to. And the thing that’s made me proudest in this campaign is that the strength of our movement is built on our ability to have built something across Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers. Across New Yorkers of all faiths and all backgrounds and all boroughs. Antisemitism is such a real issue in this city, and it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not seem to have any real interest in tackling it, but rather in using it as a pretext to make political points.”
Which is exactly what Republicans are doing right now to justify their fascism. The same Republicans whose support of Trump never wavered when he said that there were good people on both sides of a protest during which one of those sides was holding lit torches and chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” The party of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who blamed wildfires on “Jewish space lasers.” The party that does not condemn its members who quote Hitler or believe Jews must accept Jesus.
The bottom line is that Mamdani won because he promised people the things that they actually want and need and he managed to convince enough people that he was and is sincere about his platform. That is not an easy thing to pull off. Democrats should be studying Mamdani, not fighting him.
Time will tell whether Mamdani will live up to the hype. But at least he’s giving people hope, which is a lot more than the majority of the Democratic Party is willing to give to voters right now.