2025 & 2026 Elections

[mpaer]

I assumme about anything would be better than Adams
He should likely be sharing a cell with orangeman at Butner Federal Penitentiary

 

[duluoz]

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.

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]

I assumme about anything would be better than Adams
He should likely be sharing a cell with orangeman at Butner Federal Penitentiary

Not Curtis Sliwa.

 

[Paine]

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.

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.

 

[duluoz]

How many names on the ballot?

Cuomo would be dead last on my ranked choice list.

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.

 

[WaynetheDrain]

We do NOT need Zombie Politicians.

<Insert Joe Biden quip here>

 

[duluoz]

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.

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]

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?

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.

 

[duluoz]

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.

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.

 

[Paine]

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.

Love that we agree Mamdani can’t be copy-pasted everywhere. Good to see we’re making progress. Now let’s talk about the actual point: why the smear failed so badly, even in a high-stakes race with $25 million behind it.

You keep saying this race “doesn’t mean what I think it means,” but it’s your theory that just got stress-tested and failed.

You claimed a week ago that the label “socialist” is political suicide. That it kills campaigns before they begin. That the merits never even get heard. But Mamdani wore that label openly. Ran on it. Embraced it. And still won a high-turnout, high-stakes race with the full weight of the political establishment against him.

If that doesn’t at least challenge your assumption about how fatal the word is, then you’re not analyzing, you’re rationalizing.

Again: nobody’s saying this can be cloned everywhere. But if red-baiting failed under those conditions, with $25 million in ads, coordinated media smears, and Cuomo himself entering the race, then it’s time to stop pretending the label is an albatross by default.

It’s not 1992 anymore. The electorate is shifting. The fear isn’t landing like it used to. And you’re going to keep being surprised by that if you can’t let go of the old playbook.

 

[Zoo_View]

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]

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.

Did you read any of my posts up to this point?

 

[Zoo_View]

Did you read any of my posts up to this point?

Yes.

 

[Paine]

Yes.

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.

 

[Zoo_View]

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.

I wasn’t addressing you.

I was expressing my opinion.

 

[p5mmr9]

What a disaster of choices for New York and the Democratic Party. Mamdani will provide a wealth of material for the mouth breathers on the Right. And on the other side - imagine thinking, "Cuomo is our guy."

 

[Paine]

I wasn’t addressing you.

I was expressing my opinion.

Got it, you weren’t addressing me. Just repeating a debunked argument I’ve already addressed directly but without tagging me so you could pretend the conversation didn’t happen.

 

[duluoz]

You claimed a week ago that the label “socialist” is political suicide. That it kills campaigns before they begin. That the merits never even get heard. But Mamdani wore that label openly. Ran on it. Embraced it. And still won a high-turnout, high-stakes race with the full weight of the political establishment against him.

Political suicide *outside of the most liberal areas* which NYC happens to be. I’ve seen the Mamdani groundswell firsthand and had plenty of conversations around town that made me believe a win was possible here. HERE. In NYC. Not many other places.

Here’s what I said and you have now selectively reframed:

And as for it being viable as-is in some local races, sure. Some. But republicans anywhere and everywhere will still point to the state and federal representatives and legislators who endorsed the “socialist,” and we all get saddled with it.

And calling each other comrades, no matter how infrequently or tongue-in-cheek, is the stupidest and most tone-deaf way to serve up red meat on a silver platter.

There’s simply no defending nor rehabilitating the term in a way that makes more sense than just finding a new label for the same ideological platform. It’s maddening that it persists, but another of many ways Dems just don’t understand messaging.

 

[lawtig02]

What a disaster of choices for New York and the Democratic Party. Mamdani will provide a wealth of material for the mouth breathers on the Right. And on the other side - imagine thinking, "Cuomo is our guy."

The sad reality of this moment is that nobody in his or her right mind would run for a major political office. We're lucky to have some really good masochists still out there, like Jeff Jackson, Adam Stein and (to be fair to my more progressive friends) AOC, but it's really, really hard to consider exposing oneself and one's family to the absolute shitstorm that is modern American politics.

 

[p5mmr9]

Mamdani leans into Democratic Party stereotypes and that will clearly be used as ammunition against the Democrats going in to 2026...and if he actually wins the election - his inexperience will almost certainly yield growing pains at best which will (in addition to some of his more questionable policy proposals and his remarks vis a vis Israel and the Palestinian conflict and what can be broadly interpreted as veiled swipes at Jews) likely have some impact on the 2026 election.

The real problem is that there are very few national Democratic Party leaders with a national media presence. So, when one garners significant national attention - it's under significant scrutiny. Mamdani isn't the type of politician we should want under that type of national scrutiny.