2025 & 2026 Elections

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The meltdown from this will be pretty epic. The Democrats will try to spin a socialist winning that’s endorsed by Bernie. Fox will lead with this every night.

Cuomo was on the ticket. That’s the unknown. Were folks just not really wanting that again?
 
It isn't hard to understand Mamdani's appeal, especially when compared to Cuomo. Being seen as a status quo, establishment candidate is toxic in both parties right now, and Cuomo is nothing if not a retread and symbol of status quo Establishment Democrats. Mamdani is young, attractive, a fresh face, and whatever else he definitely is seen as the outsider with new ideas, socialist or not. It shouldn't be surprising that he's doing this well, even if he loses in the end in the primary or the general.
 
Mulberry Heel said:
It isn't hard to understand Mamdani's appeal, especially when compared to Cuomo. Being seen as a status quo, establishment candidate is toxic in both parties right now, and Cuomo is nothing if not a retread and symbol of status quo Establishment Democrats. Mamdani is young, attractive, a fresh face, and whatever else he definitely is seen as the outsider with new ideas, socialist or not. It shouldn't be surprising that he's doing this well, even if he loses in the end in the primary or the general.
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In the age of Trump, folks can overcome anything. Refusing to say Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state is wild but Trump has said crazier.
 
HintonJamesHeel said:
In the age of Trump, folks can overcome anything. Refusing to say Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state is wild but Trump has said crazier.
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I don't know if he'll win the general election or not - I think he has a good chance - but there are worse places to be as a candidate than being seen as a young, dynamic, idealistic fresh face outsider bucking the tired old dinosaurs and status quo types in your party and in NYC politics generally. We'll see what happens, but I wouldn't count him out by any stretch.
 
Paine said:
Republicans are about to find out that red baiting has lost most of its potency. If they position themselves against young energy like Zohran, they’ll suffer for it.
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Cherry picking. NYC is hardly the best test case for this theory. Along with the other most liberal big cities, it’s a layup for this kind of thing.

But the rest of the country is where elections are being lost, not in liberal big cities.
 
Zoo_View said:
How many names on the ballot?

Cuomo would be dead last on my ranked choice list.
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There were nine. You could rank up to five, but are not required to vote for more than one.

Ranked choice is still fairly new to NYC voters, but people have learned you’re not forced to use all five rankings, and you don’t rank anyone you are outright opposed to (which sounds obvious but might not be when there are fewer than five candidates running for an office).

With a little ranked choice experience under our belts this time, there weren’t many ballots out there with both Cuomo and Mamdani on them.
 
Paine said:
Do you think I’m saying NYC is Ohio? Think you’re the first person to raise the “but what about the heartland” concern? Everyone’s heard it.

Calling this race a “layup” completely misses the point.

If it was so easy, why did Andrew Cuomo come out of exile to stop it? Why did donors spend $25 million trying to bury Mamdani? Why did the New York Times and top Democrats either attack him or stay silent? You don’t mobilize the entire political machine for a “gimme.” You do it because you’re scared.

If NYC’s such a “layup” for the left, why is Eric Adams mayor right now? Why hasn’t the city had a socialist mayor in generations? Funny how when a leftist wins, it was always inevitable. But when a centrist wins, they get book deals and CNN town halls.

Likewise, the GOP isn’t panicking just because Mamdani won a primary. They’re panicking because red-baiting didn’t work, even under maximum pressure. They’ve been calling Pelosi, Obama, and Biden socialists for years. The smear’s lost its meaning.

If Republicans run that same playbook against young, working-class candidates with clear material demands, they won’t look strong. They’ll look out of touch and afraid.
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So in your mind this is a template to take to places like Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, etc.? Red-baiting doesn’t work there either, is what you’re saying?

*and Eric Adams ran as a Democrat, by the way. He’s been essentially booted out of the party but he would not have gotten into office if he weren’t a Dem. He fooled a lot of folks and also benefited from ranked choice, which was brand new in that election.
 
Paine said:
No, I’m saying if red-baiting doesn’t work even against an actual socialist under $25 million of attack ads and institutional firepower, then maybe, just maybe, it’s not the silver bullet you keep pretending it is.

Nobody said copy-paste Mamdani into Florida. What I said is the GOP has cried “socialist” at every Democrat for the last 15 years, and it’s lost its sting. When you call everyone a Marxist, eventually people stop caring.

This race showed that voters can look past the smear when a candidate speaks directly to their material needs. That should be a wake-up call.
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In New York City. Home of AOC.

This simply does not mean what you seem convinced it means. There is no copy/pasting Mamdani anywhere other than the handful of most liberal cities. And in every other city and town, a self proclaimed “socialist” has torpedoed his/her campaign before its even begun, and before the (potentially very strong) merits of that campaign could even see the light of day.

In the wider scale, the word is an albatross and that ain’t changing.
 
This was the Democratic Primary - in NYC. That’s a primary that tilts left.

Let’s see a socialist do well in a general election in a purple state.
 
Paine said:
Then you might want to respond to what I actually said, not the cartoon version.

Nobody’s claiming Mamdani can win a general election in Georgia tomorrow. What I did say is that red-baiting failed in a high-stakes race under maximum pressure. The label didn’t sink him, even with $25 million in attacks and Cuomo personally trying to destroy him. That matters.
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I wasn’t addressing you.

I was expressing my opinion.
 
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