The Political Class Is Responsible for the Man They’re Trying to Stop
The frantic, all-out effort to disqualify Zohran Mamdani in the closing days of the Democratic primary betrays a lack of serious planning by New York’s political and economic elites when it comes to the very important matter of who runs our city. The same people dumping millions into last-minute attack ads should have been investing time and money to recruit, educate, and encourage young leaders.
It’s widely understood among members of the city’s 1 percent – the world of mansions and trust funds, private schools, and European vacations – that protecting and reproducing la dolce vita is not a passive or casual endeavor. It means talking one’s way into a good co-op; snagging a pre-kindergarten seat in the right prep school; hiring trainers and tutors to nurture any hint of a child’s athletic, intellectual or artistic talent; spending summers bonding with like-minded families in the Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard or Fire Island; regularly placing funds in a trust managed by a good law firm; and actively networking to set up one’s child for college admissions and a first job after graduation.
It would be unthinkable for the average well-to-do family to leave such important matters to chance. And yet, when it comes to the equally vital matter of maintaining New York as a safe, exciting and tolerant home, the city’s elites occasionally get a reminder that we tend to recruit Gotham’s elected leaders from working-class institutions like CUNY, union halls and neighborhood political clubs, places that are governed by lifestyle choices and values that are very different from those of the one percent.
All of which brings us to the progressive movement powering the momentum of the 33-year-old assemblyman who, if elected, would be the youngest mayor in a century. With a focus on taxing the wealthy, freezing rents on stabilized apartments, and creating free bus service, Mamdani’s campaign is built on promises to lower the cost of living. He is currently polling better among Latino voters than his main rival, Andrew Cuomo, and appears to have a lock on younger voters.
Alongside endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mamdani has built an army of volunteers he claims has grown to more than 40,000 and knocked on more than 1 million doors. “This is a campaign that we not only are planning to win, but actually we’re confident of doing so, because eight weeks ago Andrew Cuomo was winning the final round by 40 points. Two weeks ago we cut it to 20,” he told me recently. “We brought it down to 12, and then a few days later we brought it down to less than nine points. It’s a single digit race.”
The consensus among political insiders is that Mamdani is indeed within striking distance of an upset. The latest Marist Poll finds that he has cut Cuomo’s lead as the first choice for Democratic voters in half, to about 11 points. A survey by the conservative Manhattan Institute found a nearly identical 12 point lead for Cuomo. But those polls don’t take into account the almost daily major campaign headlines, including the televised final primary debate, in which Cuomo appeared rattled at times; a cross-endorsement between Mamdani and Comptroller Brad Lander and another pairing up with candidate Michael Blake; and the high-profile arrest of Lander by ICE agents as he tried to assist a migrant at immigration court.
Cuomo, at 67, would be the oldest mayor in city history. New York’s establishment – business leaders, wealthy donors, the county Democratic organizations and the editorial boards of the New York Times and the Daily News – have lined up against Mamdani and are supporting Cuomo, including many of the same individuals and institutions who demanded that he resign as governor four years ago.
There are legitimate reasons to prefer Cuomo or one of a half-dozen other viable candidates over Mamdani. As a relatively new lawmaker, he’s largely untested as a manager, and he has a troubling tone-deafness when it comes to discussing Israel and Palestine, from throwing around hot-button words like genocide and intifada to supporting cultural and economic boycotts of Israel, a place he says he refuses to visit. His close affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America means Mamdani is nominally in favor of the organization’s calls for “the abolition of capitalism” and ”the nationalization of businesses like railroads, utilities, and critical manufacturing and technology companies.”
But whose fault is it that this talented young man, like so many other newcomers, ended up affiliated with far-left organizations? Did any of the people and institutions now howling for Mamdani’s disqualification consider taking seriously the calls from disaffected liberals to help lower the cost of living for working families? Did their army of consultants and lobbyists consider building relationships with the firebrands we all knew were destined to seek higher office some day?
The Queens Democratic organization, long closed to new blood, got toppled by Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 defeat of the party’s chairman, Rep. Joe Crowley, but has continued to discourage young upstarts like Tiffany Cabán, who in 2019 came within 60 votes of winning the primary for district attorney but has settled in as a productive, progressive member of the City Council.
“This is a change election,” said former mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime foe of Cuomo’s who has not endorsed anyone in the race and says the attacks on Mamdani by Cuomo and the corporate PACs who support him – sentiments echoed by the Times editorial board – reflect a status-quo mentality that dismisses progressive policies out of hand.
“These guys don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I am so sick of the elitism and the out-of-touch reality of the Times. What city are they living in?” de Blasio told me. They’re basically saying, ‘Vote for the corrupt guy, Andrew Cuomo. Vote for the guy we said was corrupt and should resign because he’s more the status quo. He’s more reliable.’ Yes, he’s more reliably corrupt. He’s reliably part of the problem that created the affordability crisis in New York City today.”
By contrast, says de Blasio, “Here’s my message about Zohran or about Brad Lander or about Adrienne Adams: I like their values, I like the understanding of the city, I like their ability to want to move the levers of government for real change. And this notion that somehow change can’t happen? We’re being sold a bill of goods here. It’s absolutely bullshit.”
When he announced his run for mayor in March, Cuomo appeared to be planning a coronation rather than a campaign. What he got instead was the difficult assignment of trying to quash a progressive movement. His campaign, which has no field operation to speak of, is relying on his near-universal name recognition, along with millions in campaign funds, manpower supplied by labor unions, and a tsunami of corporate and real estate cash being poured into independent political action committees.
The $15 million raised by one pro-Cuomo super PAC called Fix the City got a last-minute boost when ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg kicked in another $5 million, bringing the haul to $20 million. The New York Apartment Association, an organization of landlords, is spending $2.5 million on Cuomo’s behalf through a committee called Housing for All. The outpouring of cash suggests panic among the elites, who are funding around-the-clock attack ads.
When the dust settles after Tuesday, I hope the corporate donors, party bosses and editorial board members try a more thoughtful approach to dealing with the city’s young leaders. The same corporate leaders who spend lavish amounts of time recruiting on campuses, building summer internships, and developing career pipelines need to apply a similar approach to finding and supporting young politicians, many of whom can be persuaded to develop creative, centrist solutions to urban problems. A little time and effort now will save millions of dollars and a ton of angry agita later.
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