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democratic socialists of america
Instead of Fearing Mamdani, Mainstream Dems Should Follow His Lead
Democrats need Zohran Mamdani and other young politicians with fight in their hearts and rage in their bellies who can show that Trump is bad for working people and terrible for America and the world, and who can point the way forward.
Jun 27, 2025
Leave it to the Democratic Party to snatch existential crisis from the jaws of electoral victory.
The stunning success of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, in the race for New York City mayor is causing anguish in the Democratic Party.
It’s one thing for U.S. President Donald Trump to call Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic.” That’s to be expected from the vulgarian-in-chief. It’s another for Matt Bennett, co-founder of the centrist Democratic group Third Way, to warn that Mamdani’s “affiliation with the (Democratic Socialists of America) is very dangerous.”
Mamdani is the corporate Democrat’s biggest nightmare—a young, charismatic politician winning over Democratic voters with an optimistic message centering on the cost of living.
Dangerous for whom? Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) nearly won the Democratic primary for the 2016 presidential election after announcing he was a democratic socialist—and probably would have won had the Democratic National Committee not torpedoed him.
Lawrence Summers, treasury secretary under former Democratic President Barack Obama, says the New York City results make him “profoundly alarmed about the future of the (Democratic Party) and the country.”
Well, I’m profoundly alarmed, too—by just this kind of vacuous statement. If polls are to be believed, the current Democratic Party doesn’t have much of a future. Mamdani and other young politicians with the charisma to connect with the people and a willingness to take on corporate America and Wall Street may be the only way forward for the Democrats.
Nor has the mainstream media greeted Mamdani’s upset victory with much enthusiasm. The Associated Press writes that “the party’s more pragmatic wing cast the outcome as a serious setback in their quest to broaden Democrats’ appeal.”
Pragmatic wing? Since when has the corporate establishment of the Democratic Party distinguished itself by its pragmatism or its quest to broaden Democrats’ appeal? If it were pragmatic—in the sense of wanting to win elections and fire up the base—Democrats would not have lost the House, Senate, and presidency in 2024.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post editorializes that “Democrats should fear that [Mamdani] will discredit their next generation of party leaders, almost all of whom are better than this democratic socialist.”
Bezos—who controls the content of the Post’s editorial page as he sucks up to Trump and is now occupying vast swaths of Venice for his wedding with Lauren Sanchez—is not the most credible source of wisdom when it comes to the identity of the Democrats’ next generation of party leaders.
Not surprisingly, the Post criticizes Mamdani’s proposals for a 2% annual wealth tax on the richest 1% of New Yorkers and for increasing the state’s corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 11.5%: “Mamdani’s tax plans would spur a corporate exodus and drive more rich people out of town, undermining the tax base and making existing services harder to maintain.”
It’s the same argument we’ve heard for 40 years: If you raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy, you’ll drive them away—from your city, your state, your nation.
Rubbish. The reality is that if you invest in your people—in their skills, education, affordable child care, affordable elder care, and the infrastructure needed to link them together—they’ll be more productive, and their higher productivity will attract corporations (and the wealthy). A major way to afford all these things is to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Mamdani is the corporate Democrat’s biggest nightmare—a young, charismatic politician winning over Democratic voters with an optimistic message centering on the cost of living. Putting together a multiethnic and multiracial coalition backed by a sprawling grassroots campaign that brings out enormous numbers of volunteers. Aiming to fund what average people need by taxing corporations and the rich.
Instead of wringing their hands over him, Democrats should follow his lead.
The largest force in American politics today is antiestablishment fury at a system rigged by big corporations and the wealthy to make them even richer and more powerful.
The corporate Democratic establishment—fat cats on Wall Street, corporate moguls in C-suites, billionaire backers of Democrats who will do their bidding, and the big-named Democrats who endorsed Andrew Cuomo—are the biggest problem for the party. They are standing in the way of it’s mounting a forceful response to Trump and providing a blueprint for the future.
Trump is killing the economy, fueling inflation with his tariffs, reducing the U.S. government to rubble, and destroying our relationships with our allies. He’s readying another giant tax cut for the wealthy and big corporations—this one to be financed by cuts in Medicaid, food stamps, and other things average people need, along with trillions more in national debt.
My old friend James Carville advises Democrats to “roll over and play dead.” With due respect to James, Democrats have been rolling over and playing dead too long. That’s one reason the nation is in the trouble we’re in.
If Democrats had had the guts years ago to condemn big money in politics, fight corporate welfare, and unrig a market that’s been rigged in favor of big corporations and the rich, Trump’s absurd bogeymen (the deep state, immigrants, socialists, trans people, diversity-equity-inclusion) wouldn’t have stood a chance.
My simple advice to congressional Democrats: Wake the hell up. According to polls, most Americans don’t want a Trump Republican budget that slashes Medicaid, food stamps, and child nutrition in order to make way for a giant tax cut mostly for the wealthy.
Most don’t want tariffs that drive up the prices they pay for food, gas, housing, and clothing. Most understand that tariffs are taxes paid by American consumers. Most don’t want a government of, by, and for billionaires. Most believe in democracy and the rule of law and don’t want Trump trampling on the Constitution, acts of Congress, and federal court orders.
Not only should Democrats be making noise about all this, they should stop relying on so-called “moderates” to speak for them. The nation is in clear and present danger. Democrats must stand up for American ideals at a time when the Trump regime is riding roughshod over them.
Democrats need Zohran Mamdani and other young politicians with fight in their hearts and rage in their bellies who can show that Trump is bad for working people and terrible for America and the world, and who can point the way forward.
We need a new generation of leaders who are the voices of democracy, freedom, social justice, and the rule of law. A new generation that gives meaning to the “we” in “we the people.”
Instead of fretting over Mamdani, the Democratic Party should embrace him as the future.
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2 Truths the Dems Should Take Away From Mamdani’s Win
Message for the Democratic Party: Recognize that America once again has a vibrant and visionary left and welcome a new generation of progressives, and yes, socialists into the party.
Jun 27, 2025
“We have won a city where… the Mayor will use their power… to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party.”—Zohran Mamdani, June 24, 2025
Zohran Mamdani’s spectacular victory in Tuesday’s Democratic Mayoral Primary in New York City taught us two essential truths about the contemporary American political landscape. Two truths that add up to one unmistakable message for the Democratic Party.
Truth #1: The Democratic Socialist-Social Democratic-New Deal politics that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reintroduced to the country in 2016, and which Zohran Mamdani articulated so brilliantly in his campaign, speak to the needs and desires of the American people, and they resonate with voters.
Truth #2: The campaign operations of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere—are exemplary and victorious! They are defined by youthful inspiration and disciplined commitment. They represent the polar opposite of the cynical big-money-driven campaigns that have done so much to corrupt our democracy.
Message for the Democratic Party: Recognize that America once again has a vibrant and visionary left and welcome a new generation of progressives, and yes, socialists into the party.
Now is an excellent time to discuss the formation of a caucus of socialists committed to creating a truly vibrant and democratic Democratic Party.
Sadly, the party’s recent record is not promising on this front. The overwhelming experience of the tens of thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters, from across the entire country, who organized to enter into the Democratic Party after 2016 was that they were rebuffed, made to feel unwelcome.
Now, in 2025, the stakes are even higher. We need to defeat fascism. And victory by the Democratic Party remains the clearest route to defeat Trumpism and save our open democratic society.
Given this, we can’t simply hope that the Democratic Party establishment will cease to be recalcitrant. We have to organize to open the party up, so that it can embrace 1) policies that address the needs of the country’s majority and 2) the most-inspired group of (predominantly young) political organizers in the country.
Now is an excellent time to discuss the formation of a caucus of socialists committed to creating a truly vibrant and democratic Democratic Party.
As a longtime member of DSA and the executive director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) (the organization that led the successful effort to draft Bernie Sanders to run for President in 2016), I look forward to working together with all progressives and democratic socialists to transform the Democratic Party into the peoples’ party that the country needs at this perilous—and, yet, also promising—moment in our history.
Read PDA’s proposal for an Outside-Inside-Outside strategy to transform the Democratic Party here.
Read PDA’s endorsement of Zohran Mamdani here.
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NYC’s Compelling Mayoral Primary Is a Microcosm of the Democratic Party
What the polls lay bare are the same problems Democrats have on the national level, the divisions that exist among the various component groups that have made up their coalition.
Jun 23, 2025
This week, all eyes will be on the fascinating race for mayor of New York City. One reason it’s so interesting is because New York plays such an outsized role in American life. It’s the home of some of America’s defining cultural symbols: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, Times Square, Broadway, and Harlem’s Apollo Theater. It’s also the country’s most populous and demographically complex city, with its five unique boroughs surprisingly coexisting in the same political entity.
The city is also beset by many of the challenges confronting America, writ large: crime, housing, drugs, immigration, racial and ethnic tensions, problems with policing, gentrification, the high cost of living, and political polarization. And yet, New York remains a magnet, drawing hundreds of thousands of new immigrants from all over the world and young people from across the U.S. to settle there, attracted by its allure and its promise of opportunity.
With all of New York’s complexity and problems, it’s a wonder that any politician would want to take on the Herculean task of governing it. And yet, here we are, one day away from New York’s primary elections with nine major candidates vying to be the Democratic Party’s nominee to compete in November’s general election.
Because of his history of activism and compelling personality, some have compared [Mamdani’s] meteoric rise to that of Barack Obama.
What makes this contest even more compelling to consider are the multiple layers of subtext that define it.
Of the nine major Democrats in the race for their party’s nomination, one is a former governor, two are citywide elected officials, one is a former citywide official, and four are elected state legislators. At this point, the two leaders are former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and State Rep. Zohran Mamdani (D-36).
Cuomo, age 67, served 10 years as governor until he was forced to resign under a cloud of charges ranging from the vindictive way he dealt with staff and other officials, to corruption, mishandling of Covid-19 in nursing homes, and most significantly credible charges of sexual harassment by a dozen women.
Cuomo has the endorsement of much of the state’s Democratic establishment and the financial support of billionaire-funded political action committees that are spending millions on his behalf. He is running a campaign focused on his experience—a double-edged sword—and emphasizing his centrist approach to politics, which in this polarized political environment is attractive to some New Yorkers and divisive to others.
Cuomo’s major opponent, Mamdani, is a 33-year-old who has been in the state legislature for a scant four years. Despite his youth and inexperience, his progressive agenda and charismatic style have catapulted him into a near-tie for the lead. Mamdani is running with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America and other left-leaning organizations in New York. His grassroots-led campaign has made him a leader in individual donations and provided his effort with a record number of volunteers.
Both come from markedly different yet prominent family backgrounds. Cuomo is the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, a revered figure in the Italian American community. Before running for governor, Andrew served as his father’s chief of staff and “fixer.” He later served as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Mamdani is an Ugandan-born Muslim of Indian descent, who also has prominent parents. His father Mahmood is a world-renowned progressive intellectual and professor at Columbia University. His mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning filmmaker. Zohran came to the U.S. with his parents at the age of seven and became a U.S. citizen in 2018. He was a student activist and after graduating was active in a number of progressive causes and campaigns. Because of his history of activism and compelling personality, some have compared his meteoric rise to that of Barack Obama.
At week’s end, different polls show Cuomo up by 10 or by four, and another putting Mamdani up by two. Beyond the horse race, the polls also tell another story—one that puts in stark relief some of the divisions plaguing today’s Democratic Party. Cuomo leads decisively among voters who are Black, Catholic or Protestant, non-college educated, poorer, older, and hold moderate or conservative views. While Mamdani leads or is tied with Cuomo among white, Latino, college-educated, wealthier, liberal, and younger voters. And Mamdani leads among one of the largest groups of New York Democrats: those who have no religious affiliation. It’s also notable that despite Cuomo and establishment Jewish organizations making a big issue of Mamdani’s refusal to take a solidly pro-Israel line, he is running closer than expected to Cuomo in the competition for the Jewish vote—which may get even closer as the candidate in third place, Brian Lander, who is Jewish and also critical of Israel, has “cross-endorsed” Mamdani in the primary contest.
What the polls lay bare are the same problems Democrats have on the national level, the divisions that exist among the various component groups that have made up their coalition: young versus old, white versus non-white, religious versus non-religious, wealthier college-educated versus working class.
Because this election features what is called “ranked-choice voting”—in which voters pick their top five candidates in order and then votes are tallied, weighted by preference—it is still too close to call. A final layer: This fascinating contest is prelude to November’s race, when the Democratic nominee will face New York’s current mayor, who’s running as an independent, and may also include the runner-up from the primary, as both Cuomo or Mamdani could run on a third-party slate.
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