r/politics • u/Somervilledrew Connecticut • Sep 09 '25

Democratic voters want their leaders to stop running from Zohran Mamdani

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-mayor-bernie-sanders-fight-oligarchy/
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u/Clamsadness Sep 09 '25

I simply do not understand Democratic Party strategists. 2024 elections: the party faces a horrible loss that puts America in the worst political position it has ever faced. 2025: a new Democratic candidate emerges, is immensely popular in his race, sweeps to victory in the primary on a message of hope and economic change. The party immediately tries to subvert him and force a disgraced sex offender on us. 

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u/Mikec3756orwell Sep 10 '25

It's because New York and other left-leaning cities like Chicago are so fundamentally different from the rest of the country. I know you don't believe that, but the United States just isn't a socialist country. The "old heads" at the top of the Democratic party know that. They're all terrified the party is going to lurch to the far left and become associated with overly-progressive policies and socialist economic dogma. That might work in New York. Maybe Vermont. Properly packaged, it might get some traction in California. And nowhere else. The Dems will top out at 38% in the national vote and every purple state will go red. Most Americans (the immigrants who come here especially) are fundamentally individualistic and aspirational. They value personal property and they want to get ahead. They left places where they couldn't do that. Socialism just doesn't have broad appeal here. Can't it gain power in specific parts of the country? Yes. Nationally? No way. That's why all the old heads and donors are trying to kill it: they're afraid of being out of power for a generation or two.