Wake Up, Democrats — Your Base Is Revolting
New York City just elected a 33‑year‑old social‑media star as its mayoral nominee. Now the Democratic establishment is facing a reckoning.
by Julie Roginsky
Maybe now the sclerotic, flaccid Democratic establishment will wake up. Maybe now our so-called leaders in Washington and in statehouses around the country will get the message that Democrats want them to fight. Maybe now they will understand that their condescending attitude towards their own base has consequences that may spell doom for the Democratic Party.
Last night, Democratic voters in New York City overwhelmingly elected a 33-year-old social media star, with scant public service experience, as its mayoral nominee. Zohran Mamdani is a two-term Assemblyman who does not have the experience to lead a city of over 9 million people. But he does have rizz and he does have message discipline.
Mamdani ran on freezing rent on stabilized units, constructing over 200,000 affordable homes, and expanding tenant protections. His transportation plan includes fare-free buses citywide and greater investment in the MTA, funded in part by congestion pricing. He supports universal childcare and publicly funded pre-K from infancy to age five, as well as redirecting tax breaks from elite universities to strengthen CUNY and SUNY. He talks about reducing the cost of living through municipal grocery stores, baby support programs, and expanded access to mental health services. He champions a $30/hour minimum wage by 2030, higher corporate taxes, and a surcharge on millionaires.
There is almost no chance that New York will have the money to do all, or even most, of these things. I suspect voters know all this, but they rewarded Mamdani for his vision and for his authenticity.
And they affirmatively voted to punish the Democratic establishment that has failed to produce any kind of vision of its own, that refuses to stand up to Donald Trump, that refuses to acknowledge that maybe it does not always know best.
The establishment did what it always does best: it coalesced around a flawed retread whose biggest messaging takeaway was, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo was deemed the savior of the Democratic Party by the mandarins who are so disconnected from their base that they thought a sexual predator who was forced from office because of his many ethical failings was the person to prevent a Democratic Socialist from seizing power in the nation’s largest city.
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The establishment came out for Cuomo in full force, from Bill Clinton to Michael Bloomberg to Jim Clyburn to David Paterson to the Democratic Party chairs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. None of these people bothered to take the pulse of a base that is desperate for change, desperate for someone who can speak with clarity, desperate for someone who was not responsible for getting the party and the city into this mess.
Cuomo is using our taxpayer dollars to subpoena the gynecological records of women who accused him of misconduct. Yet these establishment figures tried to convince voters that he would be an advocate for women. Cuomo’s leadership as governor is directly responsible for the mess in which the city finds itself today. Yet these establishment figures tried to convince voters that he would be the right person to clean New York up.
The establishment told us to disbelieve our lying eyes when Joe Biden was clearly flailing in the last year of his presidency. The establishment tells us now to trust them in dealing with Trump’s assault on our constitution. The establishment continues to rally behind flawed candidates who created messes and then assures us that they are the right people to clean those messes up.
What were voters in New York to do? When I filled out my ballot yesterday, I did not rank either Cuomo or Mamdani — because I won’t vote for a sexual predator and because I won’t vote for a deeply inexperienced candidate who refuses to acknowledge that “Globalize the Intifada” is an offensive term to his Jewish constituents. I knew that my vote was wasted, that the five people I ranked had no shot of winning. And for this, I blame the Democratic establishment.
When Cuomo popped up his head to run, all the establishment figures who flocked to him could have said no. They could have looked at other competent leaders, who did not have Cuomo’s baggage. (Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch comes to mind.) Instead, they did what they do best: tried to impose a deeply flawed candidate with a disconnected message on their own voters.
If I were Chuck Schumer this morning, I would be getting ready to pack up my senate office at the end of this term. Democratic voters are looking for fighters. They are looking for authenticity, not for leaders who roll their eyes and tell their own voters to trust them to get the job done. They are looking for vision, not for condescension. They are looking to clean house of the people whose leadership is so weak that they are doing nothing to stop Donald Trump’s assault on America, who lost us the House and the Senate, who got us a right-wing Supreme Court supermajority, who got us a Republican majority in statehouses across the country.
This is why Trump won. This is why Mamdani won. If moderate Democrats want to win again, they need to come up with better candidates and a more audacious, inspiring platform. It’s too late for New York City, where voters will be forced to choose between four or five deeply flawed candidates. It’s not too late for the nation — but only if our so-called leaders actually wake up or just get out of the way.
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Cuomo having the audacity to run for any office after his ignoble fall from power is equal to Anthony Weiner trying for a comeback as well. I guess they think we’re that desperate for anyone who once had a D after their name.
“I won’t vote for a deeply inexperienced candidate who refuses to acknowledge that “Globalize the Intifada” is an offensive term to his Jewish constituents.”
He…didn’t do this? He was asked about the chant and he explained what it means to many Palestinians, but he also acknowledged that it makes Jews feel unsafe and emphasized that we need to ensure the safety of Jewish New Yorkers. What else exactly did you want him to do? Lie about what the chant means?