Mamdani could redefine American politics

[Tom Rinaldo]

Not by getting elected Mayor of NYC, though that will be an eye opener if he does. It's how well he does AFTER he is in office that offers a chance to alter the American political landscape.We have had had a relative handful of high profile highly progressive legislators in office before. Bernie Sanders and AOC jump immediately to mind. Legislators do not get credit for actually running anything beyond the committees they may chair. AOC got her start in politics by emerging herself in Bernie's 2016 Presidential run, but Bernie's political career first gained traction when he became Mayor of Vermont's largest city in 1981. It ultimately became his springboard into national politics,, but only because he did a really GOOD JOB as Mayor. a position he was elected to four times.

A Mayor by definition is a Chief Executive who runs his or her own administration. Sanders pointed to his record as Mayor of Burlington when he ran State wide in Vermont for Congress (Vermont only has one Congressional district.) His achievements as Mayor spoke louder than political labels. Sanders didn't win his congressional seat because he called himself a democratic socialist. He did so because he defined through his accomplishments what being a democratic socialist meant.

While Burlington may be the largest city in Vermont it is not thought of as a major American city and what happens there is little noticed by most voters nationwide. The opposite could not be more true for New York City. A national spot light is likely to soon settle on Zohran Mamdani. Should he succeed as Mayor, he may well redefine democratic socialism for tens of millions of Americans And he'll have the receipts to prove it.

[Passages]

1. Already has in NYC.

His model can be adopted across the country, and I have no doubt it will be.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

8. Yup, we have a model for winning elections... let's go!!

[Passages]

10. It is exciting and breathes hope back into play.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

11. You know it!! The problem is that some fail to recognize that principled progressive populism WINS!!

[FadedMullet]

2. I like the possibilities that you have described here and am going to hope that you prove to be prescient. I'll.....

......leave the pearl clutching about going too far to others.

[Sympthsical]

3. There are a lot of if's, maybe's, could be's with him at the moment.

I'm not sorry he won at all, but the hype train seems awfully premature. Little too much champagne at the victory party.

He'll have to win the general, the landscape of which we are not at all certain about at the moment. Should he win, he will then have to actively govern and manifest his promises. And he made a lot of promises. They will collide with legislative bodies, no doubt various court cases, and the swamps of monied interests, not to mention tax revenue and budget realities.

If the stars align and he succeeds spectacularly, then we can have this discussion. But it's important to remember, he just won a plurality in a Democratic primary in a deeply blue city. That isn't exactly a test of broader appeal.

It may be an encouraging sign - and I'm encouraged the powers that be just got shut down by the voters (so deserved) - but it was also a weird field of candidates to begin with. An ex-governor who very recently resigned in disgrace is a weirdly singular circumstance.

How this all wears won't be clear yet. I'm not going to make any grand national political prognostications based on Tuesday. And I say this as someone who very much believes the Democratic Party needs reform, that the Old Guard must understand it's time to vacate the stage, and that worker friendly economic policies must take the central place in our messaging in the Bernie Sanders vein.

Because, again, he has made a lot of promises. And if he doesn't deliver - if it blows up in his face - it will do damage to progressive causes. And there will be a lot of power rooting for him to fail and throwing up barriers.

I don't think he'd have national appeal - he has some problematic views that will never play in swing states. But I am rooting for his success in NYC and perhaps even statewide office someday. We'll just have to see what we see and what he does with the opportunity he may be given here.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. We actually see this similarly

That's why I didn't place much emphasis on the immediate significance of him winning this primary election, and noted that, obviously, it remains to be seen if wins the general election (though i think he will.)

Mamdani defeating Cuomo in the primary deservedly set off political shock waves, but how much long term significance comes from them remains to be seen. As you rightly point out, it could even work against progressives over the next few years if a Mamdani administration ends up being viewed by most as an abject failure./

Still, I thought it important to note that something very different is on the verge of becoming real. That is, the installation of an unashamedly avowed democratic socialist as the chief executive of a major unit of American government. I can not remember the last time the equivalent happened in this country, possibly not since the Great Depression. If elected, Mamdani will establish a record in office for an administration he will have led. That is quite different than any number of declarations of aspirations that legislators can recite.

[newdeal2]

4. You should check out the mayor of Chicago's approval ratings

Execution has to match rhetoric.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Agreed, Execution matters a great deal.

And that chapter has not been written.

[newdeal2]

9. I'm interested to see what happens

The ideas may be good but they cost money. That’s the issue Mayor Johnson is having and the budget is not getting any friendlier with Trump in office. Many of his local tax increases have run into issues too.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. Abso-fuckin-lutely!! We'll see.

[BannonsLiver]

5. Time to put on the old galoshes.

[kentuck]

13. He may be the bellweather candidate for the Progressive movement in the Democratic Party.

But, he will have to win the general election before we start making assumptions, in my opinion.

If he cannot defeat Adams, then we might have to evaluate our positions, in my opinion.