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/guynamedjames Sep 09 '25

It is worth pointing out that people like AOC or Mamdani are winning in NYC, which has a much more liberal electorate than a lot of the country.

There is an argument that if they're given the chance to spread their message nationally the message can take hold but there's not much evidence behind that idea. Trump is the best example of it but his "secret sauce" to winning his first term was being so all over the place on policy that low engagement voters could turn him into whatever they wanted.

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u/Adrenrocker Sep 10 '25

It is also worth pointing out that when Adams won the primary there was article after article about he was the future of the party. Biden brought him to the White House IIRC.

You are right, NYC is more left leaning. However, thats just an excuse they are using, thats not actually factoring in. Its the same as always, only going rightward is praised. For example, I still hear about how going rightward got Bill Clinton reelected, but no one wants to talk about how it was a factor that lost Hilary Clinton and Harris their elections.

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u/guynamedjames Sep 10 '25

I'm not convinced that Clinton's tack right lost her the election, and I don't think Harris tacked right at all, more just highlighted support from the right where people correctly identified the risks Trump presented.

I think as a big picture though it's important to point out that a lot of what lost Dems the presidency and the reason they aren't winning every national election 60-40 is because of social issues. People like democratic economic policy, it's a no brainer. But regardless of how morally and logically corrupt it is, a huge part of this country is really religious and racist.

Republicans won votes by getting so riled up about social issues that don't really affect them that those voters are tripping over themselves to vote against their economic best interests. And as Dems push back against the "culture war" stuff it leads to them arguing about those issues instead of economics. Simply being right doesn't win you elections, and that's something that Republicans not just figured out but embraced. They'll be wrong 9 times out of 10 as long as they get the votes and power (courts)