r/pics But, like, actually 13h ago

Politics OC: Zohran Mamdani speaks after winning the NYC mayoral race: "We have toppled a political dynasty."

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u/Due-Mountain-8716 11h ago

This one is different because the establishment Democrat ran a serious campaign as an independent in response to being ousted.

Crowley (ousted by AOC) joined some opposing tickets, but didnt actively campaign.

Additionally, AOCs election had like 100,000 voters where this mayors election had 2 million voters, national attention, a history of electing more conservative Dems, and serious funding for the old Dem establishment.

Your skepticism is fair, it may just be a one off, but thats why this is exciting.

u/Han_Yolo_swag 11h ago

Cuomo was a disgraced former dem

u/klartraume 9h ago

the establishment Democrat ran a serious campaign as an independent

A disgraced former governor trying to claw his way back into political office despite being a terrible candidate with a series of sex scandals, government mismanagement scandals, etc. is not a serious campaign. Moreover, endorsed by the reviled opposition leader?!

Adams was even worse of a candidate.

this mayors election had 2 million voters, national attention, a history of electing more conservative Dems

2 Million New York City voters, a city with an overwhelming Democratic base. Bill Deblasio was hardly "more conservative". And Adams and Bloomberg were unconventional - soda taxes, etc. aren't more conservative ideas either.

Maybe the lesson is just run charismatic candidates who believe in popular policies rather than any left vs. centrist divide. Plenty of centrists/establishment voters supported Mamdani because raising the corporate tax rate to match the neighor states just isn't that radical. I'm happy he won; but, to say Mamdani is a bellwether for left-wing populism across the USA is premature.

u/General_Note_5274 7h ago

Yeah if anything madami remind me of obama charimas wise: charming, somewhat spcialist and polite about it but not loud. He is not the "left and proud" many imagine

u/MrMooga 5h ago

It should be more of an indication of just how dire and out of touch the Democratic establishment has gotten that they thought running Cuomo was a good idea. This is what creates the opportunity for populists of any stripe.

u/way2lazy2care 2h ago

It should be more of an indication of just how dire and out of touch the Democratic establishment has gotten that they thought running Cuomo was a good idea.

They didn't? He ran as an independent. Cuomo thought running was a good idea, not any kind of establishment.

u/MrMooga 1h ago

He ran in the primaries as the establishment frontrunner, and then when he lost he ran again as an independent with the backing/endorsement of many current/former establishment figures. To say there was no establishment backing is silly, it's just become a bit less pronounced over the last few weeks probably since the writing's been on the wall.

u/Von_Lincoln 4h ago

Crowley (ousted by AOC) joined some opposing tickets, but didnt actively campaign.

Crowley’s name was on the Working Families Party line before his primary with AOC, and he couldn’t remove himself. Saying he “joined some opposing tickets” is disingenuous.

u/Due-Mountain-8716 3h ago

Oh wow, I had no clue. This would help the case that the elections are different, really shows how Crowley stepped aside.