By Marc W. Polite
Good evening, everyone. As the dust settles from last week’s primary, a very telling response emerges from the body politic. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani went three for three on his endorsements, and the progressives and Democratic socialists he supported won. Also, Mamdani was able to keep a campaign promise and freeze the rent on about 1 million apartments for two years. Six months into his term, Mamdani is in ways, becoming the defacto leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic party.
These two occurrences caused the leadership of the Democratic party to buck, complain, and in some cases even crash out over the possibility of a democratic socialist takeover of the party. Why is the system threatened so by candidates that make good on their populist program and work to improve the lives of people in some way? Is it because you can’t fundraise off the fear of the far right? Hmm..
That’s neither here nor there. But, I want to raise a concern. It is good that people are enthusiastic about do nothing political incumbents getting voted out of office. Espaillat especially deserved to lose, with him running a racist campaign that channeled Trujillo. However, I am thinking that there is a distinct possibility that people running for office will begin to brand themselves as democratic socialists, and carry out the same political directives that the system demands. With the reality of the “Big Beautiful Bill” hitting everyone whether it be health care coverage loss or increased student loan payments, austerity is a reality of the moment. I would hate for an emergent wave of democratic socialists to come into office, only to be there to manage the decline. There are already a few examples of nominal socialists voting for austerity measures.
To go past the politics of austerity, it requires challenging the legitimacy of the choices presented. What is becoming known as “municipal socialism” will have some real opposition, and they’ll be united against this latest iteration in ways that may shock. One thing is certain- in the context of the November midterms, the lines are beginning to be drawn.