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Celerity

(51,190 posts)
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 05:28 PM Friday

Voters Fell for Zohran Mamdani. The Democratic Establishment Will Be Harder to Convince



The antiestablishment candidate is launching a charm offensive on Democratic lawmakers, while trying to preserve the indie cred that powered his victory in the primary.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/voters-fell-for-zohran-mamdani-the-democratic-establishment-will-be-harder-to-convince

https://archive.ph/y7r5M



The meeting itself was important. On July 18, Zohran Mamdani, the freshly minted antiestablishment winner of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, traveled to Brooklyn to sit down, for the first time, with Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader of the House and one of the most powerful people in New York’s political establishment. The two men covered plenty of complicated ground in one hour, including Mamdani’s proposals to lower the cost of living and Jeffries’s determination to win back a majority in the 2026 midterms.

Yet nearly as significant as what the two men said while talking face-to-face was the message Mamdani had sent the night before, on TV. During an interview on Inside City Hall, the city’s highest-profile political news show, Mamdani said he would now “discourage” use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” distancing himself further than he ever has from the slogan used by some opponents of Israel’s war in Gaza. Mamdani had never encouraged its use, and acknowledged that it was offensive to some, but he had not denounced it, either. “That was a sophisticated move, to go on NY1 with Errol [Louis] the night before meeting with Hakeem, and to start lowering the heat,” one House Democratic insider tells me.

In the month since his surprising and decisive win over former governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani has been making the rounds of Democratic elected officials, in both New York and Washington, seeking to “build a coalition,” as an adviser to Mamdani describes the outreach. In some places he’s been eagerly received, including a gathering of roughly 30 House progressives hosted by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In other corners, the mood has been chillier: Jeffries, as well as Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, have still not endorsed Mamdani for mayor. “He’s a very likable guy,” says Jay Jacobs, the New York State Democratic Party chairman and a former close ally of Cuomo’s, who recently talked with Mamdani for the first time. “The substance is where he’s got problems. Not just the policy proposals, but the language he uses on the Middle East conflict. And the mayor’s race has national ramifications—the Republicans have already weaponized his primary win to try to paint moderate Democrats in competitive districts as being aligned with Mamdani.”

Part of the tension is parochial. Mamdani’s win fueled speculation that Democratic incumbents, possibly including Jeffries, might face primary challenges from the left next year. André Richardson, one of Jeffries’s advisers, fired back hard to CNN: “If Team Gentrification wants a primary fight, our response will be forceful and unrelenting.” Grace Mausser, a cochair of the city chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, a key part of Mamdani’s primary campaign infrastructure, tells me that DSA has no plans to challenge incumbents, including Jeffries—though she points out that Mamdani won by a large margin in the congressman’s district. “I think that probably is a little scary to him,” Mausser says. “It indicates that he may need to compromise, to adjust tactics a little bit.”

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SocialDemocrat61

(5,286 posts)
1. As a NYC voter
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 06:00 PM
Friday

who ranked Mamdani number one, I didn’t fall for anything. I reviewed all the candidates and chose the one who’s views were most in line with my own.

electric_blue68

(22,703 posts)
2. Hi fellow NYC'r....
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 06:05 PM
Friday

I put Lander as #1, then Mamdani as #2, etc.

I will definitely vote for Mamdani in Nov.

BlueTsunami2018

(4,517 posts)
3. That's because they work for the owners.
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 06:26 PM
Friday

We need to stop pretending they don’t.

I’ll say it until I'm blue in the face. Our guys need to stop kowtowing to the mega rich and get back to the FDR labor roots.

Run on the Second Bill of Rights. That’s where people are. We don’t worship capital, we don’t want the very few to take precedence over the very many. We’re tired of the public funds being stolen and given to the least worthy, least needy people.

We keep going like this and it’s the end of our society.

The time is now.

Response to Celerity (Original post)

Polybius

(20,609 posts)
8. Maybe not even 32%
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 08:34 PM
Friday

The latest poll was crazy close between the top three. Adams lingered in fourth place.

W_HAMILTON

(9,388 posts)
6. ..."still not endorsed Mamdani for mayor."
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 07:01 PM
Friday

Schumer and Hochul didn't announce their endorsements for NYC mayor last election until late October.

Jeffries endorsed a candidate other than Eric Adams during that primary and I believe he never ended up endorsing Adams even after he won the nomination

In short, if Schumer/Jeffries/Hochul end up endorsing Mamdani anytime between now and late October, those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad establishment figures would have ended up showing more support for Mamdani than the last Democrat to run for the seat.

sheshe2

(93,048 posts)
9. Thank you!
Fri Jul 25, 2025, 10:25 PM
Friday

With that headline I had to check to see is the article was from Teen Idol or some such, instead of Vanity Fair.

Celerity

(51,190 posts)
10. This election is nothing like the last one. Back then you did not have a sore-loser serial sexual harasser AND a
Sat Jul 26, 2025, 02:43 AM
Saturday

seriously compromised, Trump-beholden, corrupt (with a newly errupted strawman donor scheme just coming out on top of all the rest) Democratic incumbent both very problematically running against the actual Democratic primary winner.

So no, your comparative attempts fail on a prima facie basis.

Cuomo's campaign is a giant FU to all women who have been sexually harassed and abused by men in power.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cuomo

snip

Attorney General (a Democrat) James's five-month investigation concluded with the release of a report on August 3, 2021. This report concluded that during Cuomo's time in office, he sexually harassed 11 women: Boylan, Bennett, Ruch, Liss, Brittany Commisso, Kaitlin, McGrath, event attendee Virginia Limmiatis, an unnamed New York State trooper and two unnamed state entity employees. The investigation concluded that Cuomo's behaviour included unwanted groping, kissing and sexual comments, and also found that Cuomo's office had engaged in illegal retaliation against Boylan for her allegation against him.

JI7

(92,365 posts)
12. Eric Adams decided to run independent long before the democratic primary
Sat Jul 26, 2025, 03:24 AM
Saturday

Mandani has a better chance of winning with both Cuomo and Adams in the race than if one of them dropped out.

Celerity

(51,190 posts)
13. IF Adams drops out (and at that point I assume Jim Walden would as well) Mamdani is in real trouble, especially if they
Sat Jul 26, 2025, 03:52 AM
Saturday

both endorse Cuomo and even moreso if other major elected Dems fail to endorse Mamdani (or worse still, openly endorse Cuomo).

AIPAC and the giant business/financial crowd are going to hit Mamdani with tens of millions of dollars worth of brutal, saturation level attack adverts as well.

In a 3 way only (Mamdani, Cuomo, Sliwa) race, a recent poll showed it basically already was a dead heat between Cuomo and Mamdani, and that is before the inevitable deluge of attack adverts have hit Mamdani.

IF Adams and Walden drop out and endorse Cuomo, and if major elected Democrats also slide to Cuomo (or even just stay 'neutral' and refuse to endorse Mamdani) I think (barring some huge unforeseen events) that it would perhaps (probably?) spell doom for Mamdani and victory for Cuomo once the attack adverts also are factored in.

Although there are some here who would be thrilled with that result, I think it will kick off yet another major schism inside our party, (especially if significant elected Dems work hard in the general to scupper the legitimate Democratic primary winner, Mamdani), one that unfortunately will likely have significant national impact, and not in a good way.

JI7

(92,365 posts)
14. Mamdani just needs to focus on addressing issues
Sat Jul 26, 2025, 04:40 AM
Saturday

that might concern voters.

I know he already put out something about how he actually isn't in support of defunding the police.

I can't see Adams or Cuomo dropping out. But even if one did drop out and endorse the other it will not help much if it's close to the election. And might even end up hurting the candidate .

Celerity

(51,190 posts)
15. Adams has no chance no matter what. Cuomo in a 3 way with just Mamdani and Sliwa is a clear and present threat to win.
Sat Jul 26, 2025, 04:52 AM
Saturday
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