Zohran Mamdani is being hailed as the future of the Democratic Party, and there is little the party establishment can do to stop him. While most Americans may be fatigued by news out of New York and the socialist candidate currently leading the city’s mayoral race, what happens in the Big Apple could unfortunately have ripple effects across the entire country.
On Thursday night, New York hosted its first debate between three leading candidates: Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Mamdani. You can read my night-of analysis [here]. But beyond the debate itself, I have one additional takeaway about the race as a whole.
The reason Mamdani—a state assemblyman backed by the Democratic Socialists of America—has captured so much media attention is that he embodies the evolving zeitgeist of the Democratic base. What strikes me about Mamdani is not just his radicalism, but his open embrace of it.
Sure, he has moderated some of his positions since the heady, revolutionary days of 2020. For instance, he no longer publicly claims the NYPD is a threat to public safety or posts photos of himself flipping off Christopher Columbus statues. He has also avoided discussing issues that he and almost everyone on the Left supports once in power.
Yet, Mamdani’s policy positions remain significantly to the left of what the Democratic Party publicly admits to supporting. It couldn’t be clearer that he’s a true believer. His radicalism is hiding in plain sight.
Consider some of his proposals: government-run grocery stores? Mamdani is all for it—you can bet there’ll be slick social media videos celebrating the first grand opening. Free city bus rides? Don’t worry, the “rich” will pay—and presumably, crime will go down as a result. After all, if the bus is free, is fare evasion even a crime?
Don’t call it defunding the police; instead, call it funding social workers who will supposedly make crime on the subways disappear. These ideas are not new—many have been tried, some even in New York—but Mamdani’s young base likely doesn’t know or care about that.
On cultural issues, Mamdani is “woke” across the board. His most dedicated staffers and supporters are members of the DSA, seeking to seize power by any means necessary. It would be a mistake to think their goals are limited to redistributing wealth or seizing the means of production.
Most importantly, Mamdani represents a Democratic base that wants someone who will “resist” President Donald Trump at all costs. To understand the Democratic shutdown strategy, look no further than Mamdani himself.
Not long ago, the assemblyman made a name for himself by loudly confronting Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan over the arrest of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil—a Palestinian refugee—has become a martyr of sorts for the Left, likely because of his support for Hamas.
Mamdani leads a Green-Red coalition that more openly embraces socialists and Islamists than previous iterations of the Democratic Party would have acknowledged. This coalition works well in today’s political climate, given the collapse of the Democratic establishment.
The Democratic base does not want moderation; they want confrontation and theatrics. They don’t want “abundance” for all—they want to soak their enemies and give to their friends. They want blood—mostly rhetorical, sometimes literal. Mamdani delivers what the base demands, even if his policies ultimately differ very little from those of the “moderate” Democratic establishment.
Think of it this way: the clashes on college campuses between protesters and university administrations mirror the battles within the Democratic Party. Activists and the base create a ruckus, and party leaders shift a bit to the left to appease them. This tension pulls the party continually leftward until today’s establishment looks like the anti-establishment Left of yesterday.
Mamdani represents the triumph of the activist Left over a tired Democratic establishment that can no longer justify itself. Politically, the current establishment has proven to be a loser. The country is no longer interested in Biden-ism or Cuomo-ism—the American people have seen through these approaches.
As a result, instead of putting forth “moderate” candidates and introducing radicalism only after gaining power, the Democratic base is now embracing a more strident form of leftism. Think Bernie Sanders—but younger, slicker, and packaged for Millennials.
Whether this approach will succeed outside the bluest cities and states remains an open question. But it undoubtedly marks a serious and potentially dangerous shift in American politics.
Where the old Democratic establishment might have “evolved” to avoid losing support or facing angry voters, the new upstarts are unfazed by reality. They adopt the most left-wing positions and stubbornly stick to them, no matter the consequences.
Once in power, are they likely to back down? Mamdani embodies an uncompromising, ruthless version of the Left that will not be deterred by political or practical realities.
If Mamdani wins, his approach may become a model for others. His potential election as New York’s next mayor is not just a threat to New Yorkers—it could reverberate across the entire country.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/10/19/mamdani-represents-the-zeitgeist-of-the-militant-democrat-base-hes-a-dangerous-man/