New York Democrats Nominate Socialist Zohran Mamdani for Mayor

He May Be a Communist or Islamicist, No One knows for Sure, But Safe to Say He is Unqualified to Run Even a Little Town.

You could be forgiven if you thought that after Democrats lost the White House, the Senate, and failed to take the House of Representative last year that they might make a move to the political center. This would seem like the rational thing to do considering that it’s clear that the American voters have rejected open borders, DEI policies, defund the police and other woke causes, and socialist economics. Well, on Tuesday night that belief, that Democrats might move to the center, was blown to bits when New York primary voters picked a socialist, and AOC backed candidate, Zohran Mamdani to be their mayoral candidate.

Does it matter? Does this nomination in New York have national implications? I believe so. To me the primary results indicate that Democrats are, and will be, in no mood to nominate a centrist candidate for President in a couple years. It is true that New York is not representative of the country, but we are talking about a primary. And New York Democrats are not much different than Democrats from any other state. For example, when I was young a Virginia Democrat was more conservative than a Democrat from New York, now I am not so sure.

Last week Virginia Democrats nominated for Lt. Governor a late term abortion supporting and Palestinian supporting state senator Ghazala Hashmi, and Jay Jones a Soros type lawyer for Attorney General. Both those candidates are every bit as far to the left as AOC and Mamdani. The national Party is moving left, not just in New York, but everywhere. There still may be some moderate Democrats out there, but all the energy is with the left-wing. And rather than move to the center it’s clear that Democrats want to find candidates to the left of Kamala Harris.

Some pundits were shocked that the establishment candidate, former Governor Andrew Cuomo lost to an unqualified socialist, but it should not have been a surprise. The city has moved to the left since Andrew Cuomo was Governor 10 years ago. And certainly, it’s no longer Andrew Cuomo’s father’s Democratic Party.

Mamdani still has to win the general election, but that is highly likely, because the Democratic nomination is usually tantamount to election in heavily Democrat New York. I think it is safe to say that Mamdani, a 33-year-old immigrant will become the first Muslim mayor of New York this fall.

Three things that I find interesting about Mamdani becoming mayor. First if he wins that will give the far left a trifecta, that is they will run the 3 largest cities in America, Mamdani in New York, Karen Bass in Los Angeles and Brandon Johnson in Chicago. Our top 3 cities in terms of population will have far left Democrat mayors. That should make it as clear as possible that the Democratic Party is not moving to the center, indeed there is no center anymore, the Party remains a far-left Party.

Secondly, he is young and inexperienced. He has never really run anything, the city of New York manages over a trillion dollars, and has an army of civil servants and departments to manage. How is Mamdani qualified for the job?

And finally, I remember 911, when New York got hit, and I remember seeing the World Trade Center go down. I don’t think then that I could have imagined New York electing a Muslim, an anti-Israel, Pro Palestinian radical who has suggested that we need to “Globalize the intifada”.

Mamdani cut an ad in Hindi, with English subtitles, and said that New Yorkers were having trouble buying food, clothing and shelter, and he proceeded to offer all kinds of giveaways. I think the reason he did the ad in Hindi was to appeal to lefty white voters. Speaking a foreign language warms the heart of white liberals, especially millennials. They crave diversity and I think the left views New York as an international city, not unlike London. And London has their woke mayor Sadiq Khan and I believe New Yorkers would also like a Muslim anti-western Mayor, and Zohran Mamdani fits the bill perfectly. He hates Trump just as much as Sadiq Khan.

In addition to identity politics, Mamdani had a sterling leftist record. In 2020 he talked about defunding the police, which Democrats claimed that he “walked back”. In a tweet, which he later removed, he claimed that the NYPD was “racist, anti queer and a threat to public safety.” He also has promised to keep New York a sanctuary city, and will oppose any city cooperation with ICE. To appeal to the anti Semites, Mamdani said that if elected Mayor and if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to come to New York that he would try to have him arrested. Ironically, he is not in favor of arresting illegal aliens, or shoplifters.

I do think Mamdani was smart to raise the issue of the affordability crisis. It is true that most people can’t afford to live in New York City, but his solutions would not help, rather they’d make things worse.

Mamdani benefitted by the voter’s economic ignorance. He was able to promote populist ideas, ideas which were the equivalent of telling a child that they can have pizza every night for dinner. Ideas which if enacted would destroy the city. He has praised rent control, which sounds good to many, but such a proposal disincentivizes housing construction. Why would someone build apartments, if the government blocks their profit. The main reason housing is so expensive is because of a lack of supply, and rent control discourages construction of new homes. It also stops renovation of older buildings with wasted space, which limits available housing.

He touched on other lefty ideas, such as a 30-dollar minimum wage which may sound good but lots of jobs would dry up because so many businesses would leave. He promised the social justice warriors that he would oppose overtime pay for police officers, which would help keep the police off the streets. No overtime and they are more likely to go home and not stay at work where they can harass New Yorkers.

He has offered all kinds of other popular goodies, such as free childcare, free bus rides and free college. Someone will have to pay for it, which will lead to higher taxes on an already overtaxed city. He has also suggested that to combat inflation that the city take over grocery stores. I think the Soviet Union tried that; it led to empty shelves.

But all of these are bad policies, and if enacted would sink the city. I think Hamdani knows it, and he has given himself some wiggle room. He said that if his policies don’t work, he’d “try something else.” It’s like he was FDR in 1932, but we know his policies don’t work.

Cities, like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are voting for their own destruction. It is sad, they were once great cities, but the people that live there now are mostly young and indoctrinated. They don’t care about facts. They want their socialism, and they believe that they can make it work – damn the laws of economics and common sense.

Mamdani’s nomination proves that the AOC Bernie Sanders wing still dominates the Democratic Party. And not just in New York. Look out because in 2028 Democrats will nominate a hard-core lefty. We learned that Tuesday night in the big apple.

David Shephard is the author of two books. Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice:An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books