As a progressive, I am suspicious of Mamdani. I doubt that the newly elected mayor of New York is the best antidote to Trumpism or its greatest energizer. In the Republican headquarters, those who are frightened by the shock wave of the “socialist” Zohran Mamdani and those who rub their hands in front of a politician who is the perfect manifesto of everything that the radical right is passionate about: cosmopolitan, university, woke up and the Muslim immigrant who wants to raise taxes and control the prices of vegetables and flooring.
Before popping the champagne (or chai latte), progressive strategists, both inside and outside the United States, should separate the useful lessons of last week’s election from the dangerous temptations. Mamdani has strengths and weaknesses both in his political personality and in his program.
On a personal level, the most valuable thing is not what it symbolizes (and the most underlined thing: that it is the voice of the marginalized), but what it does: Mamdani is a communication genius. In today’s politics, the key is to reach the greatest number of people in the most direct way. It’s Trump’s secret. And Mamdani, with a masterful use of social networks, has been able to appear on our mobile or television screens, from New York to Valdemorillo. Its success is difficult to understand even for experts. It does not seem to obey a certain tactic in the use of the most modern technologies (hundreds, if not thousands of young people have been trying the same thing for years), but rather the oldest quality of leaders since the times of the Greek polis: charisma. Mamdani has that ability to attract citizens’ attention precisely because. Democrats should use it. And period.
But Mamdani is not a symbol of the marginalized. The son of renowned intellectuals and a student of the most exclusive schools, Mamdani is more unlikely to present himself as a champion of the working class than Trump himself. Both politicians are New Yorkers from good families, and if Trump’s parents were richer, Mamdani’s were more educated, which almost determines more how things will turn out for you.
And, at the level of his policies, the opposite is true: what is notable about Mamdani is not what he wants to do, but what he symbolizes. Their specific proposals are dubious (like rent control) or expensive (like free transportation or preschool), but they represent what really matters to America (and Europe): affordability. Life is priceless. And Mamdani’s intuition is priceless.
