I voted for Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City because I wanted a fresh, ambitious voice who would be innovative and do things differently and more equitably. I know that his being somewhat of a visionary does not guarantee success at managing the complex, conflicting, and chaotic forces that make up the city. New York is a city with budgetary problems that defy easy solutions, and Mamdani could abjectly fail at governing a city in a country whose vindictive president will offer little help and only throw obstacles in his way.
Mamdani did well among young white, Asian, and Black voters. He did poorly among Jewish voters (likely due to his being Muslim and his lifelong support for the Palestinians) and in wealthy districts like the Upper East Side and Tribeca, whose inhabitants felt their taxes would rise.
Mamdani may be young and an idealist, but he is also a skilled, charismatic politician who ran a brilliant campaign and has presented himself as a new type of leftist. He has admitted he lacks managerial experience, but he has asked for advice and sought common ground. He has even talked to his critics—wealthy New Yorkers in finance and pro-Israel activists. He clearly is willing to make certain compromises. He understands that “being right in and of itself is meaningless,” that “we have to win, and we have to deliver.”
Mamdani may be attacked by Trump and his minions as a “communist” and a “socialist”; however, his democratic socialist stance is much less about an abstract political ideology than it is about practical solutions.
Mamdani has been described as an heir to the tradition of “sewer socialism,” a brand of left-wing thinking that favored incremental, practical reform over revolutionary rhetoric. It emphasized honest government and efforts to improve public health. The movement has its origins in the organization of the Social Democratic Party, a precursor to the Socialist Party of America. Victor L. Berger was one of the prime movers of sewer socialism and a member of Congress from Milwaukee in the first decades of the 20th century.
I am unable to predict the future, and clearly Mamdani’s campaign cannot be run in much of America. But for a couple of weeks, one can revel in his victory and that he was able to deeply touch a portion of the public with his campaign.
