Quite stunning. Sad part is, if they ran nationally they’d likely get 45% of the vote. Spoiled babies. The link might get you to the full editorial and excerpts below.
What the rise of the Mamdani left means for the Democratic Party and the U.S.
It’s tempting to dismiss Tuesday’s primary sweep by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) as an artifact of weird New York City. It is that, but also more. The victories by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s slate of leftists will change the Democratic Party—and perhaps the politics of the country.
The three socialist candidates for Congress endorsed by Mr. Mamdani defeated “establishment” Democrats, including two current House incumbents. Add the races for the New York Legislature, and seven of eight candidates affiliated with the DSA won on Tuesday. This was a rout for the far left over the left.
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It’s hard to overstate how far to the left the Mamdani slate is. Aber Kawas, who won the primary for a state Senate seat, has said she found it “reprehensible” to apologize for 9/11 when America hasn’t apologized for its “system of capitalism, and racism and white supremacy.” We guess she won’t be going to the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero.
Darializa Avila Chevalier (pictured with Mamdani), who ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat, was a leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University after the 2023 Hamas massacre. She was for Hamas. She has called for abolishing police, prisons and borders. She called Joe Biden a “rapist” and “war criminal” and says the U.S. is “occupied” Native American land and called the country a “f— disgrace.” She favors seizing private property.
How could she and the rest of the Mamdani slate win? One reason is that Democrats have run America’s biggest cities for decades, yet haven’t solved the problems of unsafe streets, lack of affordable apartments and failing public transit. Rep. Dan Goldman’s main campaign theme was that he impeached Donald Trump. He lost too. As the patent medicine of the left fails, and Republicans aren’t competitive politically in New York City, the voters turn further left.
Another reason for the socialist rise is that mainstream liberals put up so little resistance. Like other Democrats, Mr. Espaillat shares the socialist left’s goals but wants to get there more gradually. This is a feeble answer when angry voters want immediate progress. The defeated Democrats in New York refused to make principled arguments against socialism or the antisemitism of the Mamdani left.
After Tuesday they may offer even less resistance. They will face more socialist challengers across the country, and history says they will try to survive by accommodating the left’s ideas. …
One certain loser from all this will be support for Israel. The Mamdani slate is called the “Hamas slate” for good reason. It will be hard for any Democratic candidate for President to be even as supportive of Israel as Mr. Biden was. Expect the left to try to make cutting off arms sales to Israel a party litmus test.
Republicans may gloat about this far-left Democratic turn, but that is a mistake. Perhaps it will help them keep some House seats this year. But it bodes ill for democracy when the party of the center-left swings even harder left. And many Trump Republicans are also dabbling with socialist ideas.
The socialist vision of class conflict and everything-for-everybody economics has ruined many countries. Sooner or later socialism crashes into reality, but it can do plenty of damage before it does.