In a twist of comic irony, New York City — the embodiment of American capitalism — may soon have a democratic socialist mayor in 33 year old Zohran Mamdani.
That being said, assuming Mamdani wins November’s general election, the joke may be on national Democrats.
Put another way, even as a mayoral candidate, by dint of New York City’s status and his elevation into a national figure, Mamdani presents severe risks to the Democratic Party on the national stage.
And as the party looks to regain even one chamber of Congress next year, there is a very real chance that Mamdani’s extreme, socialist policies put the entire party’s political fortunes in jeopardy.
The first risk is if Mamdani’s primary victory portends, or ushers in, a seismic shift for the wider Democratic Party.
Coming at a time when Democrats are at a crossroads, Mamdani’s win may embolden progressives, sideline moderates and drive the party further to the left. If this is the direction the Democratic Party moves in, they will end up even less politically relevant than they are today.
At the same time, Mamdani’s views are considerably out of line with what mainstream Democratic views should be — particularly on the economy and public safety.
The U.S. is a capitalist nation. Although more can be done to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity and is protected by a social safety net, the U.S. is not a socialist country.
And on public safety, Mamdani, a past proponent of “defund the police,” is pledging to move “billions of dollars (from the NYPD budget) to a new Department of Community Safety” that emphasizes soft on crime measures, according to New York Post reporting.
With Democrats already struggling to overcome perceptions that they can’t be trusted to handle the economy or public safety. And given New York City’s prominence, Mamdani’s policies may quickly become the face of the entire party, a gift to the GOP.
The second, and arguably biggest, risk Mamdani poses lies in how he would govern.
Mamdani campaigned on endless handouts backed by huge tax increases, replacing police officers with social workers, and Soviet-inspired government-run grocery stores.
Whether Mamdani is able to implement any, or all, of these campaign pledges or not, Democrats will find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
Either Mamdani is seen as ineffective, and just another Democrat who promised utopia but was unable to actually deliver on his lofty promises. Or, more dangerously, New Yorkers get a firsthand lesson on the dangers of socialism, sparking a considerable backlash against the Democratic Party as a whole.
Worse, with New York City being a global center of culture, finance and entertainment, the entire country will witness the damage from Mamdani’s policies.
When government-run grocery stores show themselves to be a horrendous idea, which the Soviet Union has already shown them to be, Republicans will immediately pounce on this failure to underscore the danger in electing any Democrat.
Should crime spike due to a sharp reduction in the number of police officers, Democrats across the country will be branded as soft on crime.
Similarly, if excessively high taxes on the city’s high-earners cause capital flight, a destruction of the city’s tax base and drastically lower the overall quality of life, voters’ trust in Democrats to handle the economy will sink, and it’s already tremendously low.
Finally, there is the issue of how Mamdani will govern the city with the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
Due to his history of antisemitic remarks, whether his refusal to condemn “globalize the intifada” or unwillingness to accept Israel as a Jewish state, vitriol he’s never shared for other ethnoreligious states, there are very real concerns that under his leadership, New York City will be even more hostile for Jews.
Far from being a local issue, if Mamdani fails to protect New York’s Jewish citizens, it will reinforce perceptions that the Democratic Party is rife with antisemitism.
To be sure, national Democrats seem to be aware of the risks Mamdani poses.
Some moderates, such as Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), have been blunt, saying Mamdani’s “policies do not comport” with Democrats’ agenda.
Others, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-N.Y.) have taken a softer approach, but still indicate some unease with the socialist who has become the face of the Democratic Party.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday, Jefferies refused to endorse Mamdani or even say whether he was “convinced” about Mamdani and the kind of mayor he would be.
Asked about Mamdani’s policy proposals, Jefferies said, “Now, he’s going to have to demonstrate…that his ideas can actually be put into reality.”
Hardly a show of confidence from a party leader.
Taken together, the elevation of Mamdani and his extreme views may deepen the animosity and alienation many voters feel when they think about today’s Democratic Party.
If voters see Mamdani’s leadership devastating New York City and come to believe that this is what the Democratic Party has to offer, it stands to reason that Democrats across the country will pay the price, and likely for many election cycles to come.
Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”
