A Star is Born

Andrew Cuomo recently exited the NYC mayoral race, providing Zohran Mamdani with the official victory in the Democratic primary.

For those not following the day-to-day political landscape, it’s extremely notable because he is a self proclaimed “Democratic socialist,” garnering high praise from his teammates AOC and Bernie Sanders.

People’s first thought is likely, “wow, how could the people of New York City do this?” 

Realistically, that thought only goes through your mind if you’ve never spent time in the Big Apple, as it is truly a God-less city in need of real leadership.

Instead, they voted for socialism.

On one hand, it would be logical for the city’s Democrats to vote for a moderate given many of their problems have been a direct result of very liberal policies.

Bill Ackman, famed hedge fund manager and billionaire, seems to think so as well.

He has now gone out of his way to say that he will fund a centrist to take on Mamdani in the election.

But he won’t be alone.

He’s planning to assemble an entire fleet of his wealthy friends to take Mamdani down.

The real question is what is the driving force behind Ackman’s pursuits?

While it may seem like the obvious answer is the detrimental impact that socialist policies would have on markets–particularly the NYC real estate market–it may actually be for a different reason.

Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israel and its military campaigns in the Middle East, echoing the common grassroots left-wing opinions of Israel committing genocide, being an apartheid state, and more.

Ackman, an American born Jew, essentially switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party overnight for this exact reason after October 7th, citing the left’s hesitation to unwaveringly back Israel.

Whether he’s anti-Mamdani due to the candidate’s anti-capitalist or anti-Israel stance is honestly irrelevant for this specific conversation; all that matters is that him and his buddies are going to do whatever it takes to make him lose.

Firstly, you don’t need to be a political expert to know that capital goes a long way in politics.

The correlation between money spent on a campaign and the likelihood of victory are highly correlated to say the least.

So on one hand, the financial support of a potential moderate candidate could be enough to win the election.

On the other hand, it might actually have the opposite effect.

In fact, it is more likely.

To understand why, you need to understand why Mamdani is popular and how he got to this point in the first place.

The major reason why he’s popular is because he’s a populist–and there’s nothing more both left-wing and right-wing voters love then a good ol’ populist that’s “for the people!”

Therefore, the fact that billionaires are doing whatever it takes to stop him plays perfectly into his ethos of “it’s us against the greedy billionaires” theme that his campaign is centered around.

More specifically, he is the ideal populist candidate for the grassroots left, representing a perfect blend between having political experience and being outside of the “corrupt political system.”

The experience in question has been relatively minimal–beginning as an organizer for Housing Justice For All and campaign staffer, before being elected to the NYS Assembly in 2020.

But this lack of experience is made up for the the fact that–in addition to his populist rhetoric–he has a characteristic that very few politicians obtain: relatability.

Comparing him to Bernie Sanders, one could argue that relatability is really the only thing separating the two given the policies are mostly the same.

Bernie, on one hand, is a decrepit old white (Jewish) guy who looks like he’s on his last leg, both in appearance and voice.

Conversely, Mamdani is a 33-year-old Indian immigrant born in Uganda that not only has pretty good charisma and articulation skills, but presents himself as a normal person.

Simply speaking, this is the guy the left has been praying for for the past 10 years.

Well, maybe not praying, but you get the point.

The right had Trump as their “outside-the-system” populist to lean on for a while now and after 2028, the battle for the throne will likely be between JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy–two guys that, for the most part, are pretty skilled politically.

Meanwhile, the left has been stuck with the classic lifelong politicians for the past handful of cycles, with none of them having any sort of charisma, persuasion, or likability.

Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves: he still needs to win the election, which now in the face of the Ackman development, will be harder than expected.

But if he does win and New York manages to not completely collapse in the next couple of years, then there’s a chance that you could be looking at the next 2028 Democratic nominee.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: we’ve gone through this situation already.

In 2016, Bernie was the grassroots Democratic Socialist who rallied the support of the people only to be shot down by the Democratic oligarchy.

And sure, Mamdani is more youthful and relatable, but he’s still a socialist nonetheless, and Democrats understand that the moderates who inevitably decide the election simply won’t go for his policies.

But there are a couple of things to look at here.

First, the left simply doesn’t have many options to choose from.

The list of potential Democratic Congressmen, Senators, or Governors that could take down a JD Vance or Vivek Ramaswamy is extremely limited.

In fact, seemingly the only person that has the political savvy to match up with Vance or Ramaswamy is none other than Gavin Newsom.

While Newsom can hold his own in speeches and debates, he is simply an unlikable character and has a dismal track record with how he’s handled his state, particularly during COVID.

Also, when it comes down to it, although many people understandably are skeptical anytime they hear the word “socialist,” many would be slowly turn towards its policies, as long as the deliverer is articulate and savvy enough to frame them in a way that seems to be beneficial to “the masses.”

At the end of the day, similar to the typical socialist platform, Mamdani’s platform is basically this: “I will provide a bunch of free stuff for the poor and middle class that will be paid for by taxing the rich!”

And this message right here will unfortunately resonate with a lot people because most won’t take the time to analyze the downstream effects and historical results of socialism.

Also, he has and will continue to have the support of the young left, as the Gen Z liberals are far more likely to endorse socialist policies, mainly due to the anti-capitalist bias that most colleges endorse.

Whether or not he will become the mayor of NYC or the 2028 presidential candidate is obviously to be determined, but he is undeniably someone to keep your eye on.

Stay tuned next week for a more detailed breakdown of his policies (in addition to another Catholic-themed post).

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Thanks for reading and until next time.

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