What is the Democratic Party anyway?
More thoughts on wtf is up with "the establishment"
Not breaking any news here: Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for the New York City mayor defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo. It’s a turn of events that no less than The New York Times, The BBC, Gothamist, The City, Mother Jones, WNYC, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and CNN, are all calling “stunning.” (Come on guys.)
The speed (and seemingly wide margins!) of the results are shocking, but that Cuomo lost is ultimately not that surprising — he was a truly a terrible candidate and a terrible person!
He had a long list of scandals behind him dating back decades, and he ran a truly low-energy and lazy campaign.
Mamdani, by contrast, ran a campaign that was joyful. He energized everyone — especially young, diverse, and low propensity voters in a way that Democrats have been struggling to do in recent elections.
Knowing nothing else about the race, in a contest between a corrupt aging disgraced sex pest backed by sketchy billionaires versus a young, hopeful, earnest, new voice focused on cost-of-living issues and backed by 50,000 energized volunteers, what do you think would happen?
In retrospect, though, it is a little surprising the Democratic establishment (as much as it exists, a point I’ll get to shortly) didn’t rally behind any of the other candidates besides Cuomo.
They certainly had many choices! They could have gone with Adriene Adams, the speaker of the city council, or Brad Lander, a popular former city councilman and current Comptroller of the city, or my personal fave, Zellnor Myrie, a sitting state senator, or hell, even billionaire Whitney Tilson.
Instead they seem to have lined up behind Andrew Cuomo. And now, some are posturing like they’ll stick by him into the general if Cuomo decides to run as an independent.
So let me make three points here:
The Democratic “establishment is weak” — hell, it barely exists in the first place.
We live in an age of weak political parties. There’s arguably never been a time in American history where the “establishment” holds less power — less power to choose candidates, less power to influence how the base thinks, less power to control outcomes.
I wrote about this a few weeks ago, in the context of institutions making threats in primaries before voters even had a chance to weigh in:
These are empty threats because the official party institutions (and even most of the affiliated super PACs which basically function as official arms) are not as powerful as they’d like to be.
I can say this with my full chest, as a professional Democrat: There is no secret cabal of decision-makers who drive a singular plan. (If there was, do you think all of this is how any of it would go?)
There is only a loosely connected group of elected officials, activists, donors, grasstops leaders, and of course, voters, who drive us all forward in hopefully a generally similar direction.
Sometimes all those people come around to the same general goal — see: this time last year, when after the debate, it became clear that Joe Biden was not fit to run for re-election — but even in that effort, there was tension and disagreement.
More often, it functions like a web of group-chats and social media posts, convenings and dinners, all without anyone really in charge.
The DNC is not in charge (90% of what the DNC does, despite what people on social media think it should be doing, is coordinating data infrastructure for campaigns plus organizing and running the presidential primary process).
Donors are not in charge (as much as they’d like to be).
Even the electeds themselves are not really in charge (especially the ones who don’t have solid bases of enthusiastic supporters behind them.)
Democratic voters are in charge. And they have made their position abundantly clear.
The primary process is how we as a party decide what we believe.1
If the Democratic party leadership — especially the ones who represent New York City — don’t do a full-throated endorsement of the Democratic Party nominee who won a very competitive primary, fair and square, they will have only themselves to blame for the absolute fury and primary challenges against incumbents that will ensue.
The party brand’s further crash-and-burn will be their fault.
Listen. I get it. Zohran has some political positions that make some people uncomfortable.
FWIW, I think those anxieties are overblown, especially given the context of what powers the mayor actually has. (For those who are concerned about his positions on Israel or anti-semitism, I’d encourage you to read Bess Kalb’s moving piece on what would actually enable Jewish safety right now, or Michelle Goldberg’s column from this morning on how many Jews in NYC love him.)
I see concerns that he’s over-promising and may under-deliver.
If that’s true, at least he’ll get caught trying — which is more than most members of Congress can say right now…
Plus, he absolutely has the trust of his supporters and the communication skills to explain why and how he has to make trade-offs.
And if those concerns are unfounded and he is able to get things done, great! NYC will be a more affordable place to live and thrive for everyone who wants to call it home.
I also see the frustrations that the GOP will use Zohran’s victory to try to paint the entire Democratic party as socialist. To that I say: Come ON. They called Joe Biden a socialist! They plastered Nancy Pelosi’s face over direct mail and scary TV ads for years!
But more broadly, leadership requires taking strong positions — which means some people are going to disagree with them. That’s the proverbial cost of doing business. If we keep operating from the same old risk-averse playbook and triangulating ourselves to appeal to everyone, we’re going to keep getting the same old results (namely: fascism) and ultimately appeal to no one.
If people like Sens. Gillibrand and Schumer, and Rep. Jeffries — who are all elected by the same voters as Zohran Mamdani! — don’t get in line, they will be the ones who bear responsibility for voters’ disillusionment with the party. They will be the ones responsible for our losses.
To reiterate an earlier point:
If they (and anyone else across the party who seems to be crashing out big time) were really so spooked about a possible Zohran victory, they could’ve done something about it six months ago and thrown their weight publically behind literally any other challenger besides Andrew Cuomo.
That they didn’t is a damning indictment of their own political instincts and more importantly, their values. (And also, again: proof that no one is really calling the shots!)
Change is coming, whether they like it or not.
As I write this, nearly 2,500 people have signed up with Run for Something to run for office since Zohran’s victory on Tuesday night.
(More will likely stream in over the weekend — get our updates on Monday for the latest!)
He’s inspired waves of young people to raise their hands and say “yeah, maybe I can run and win, too.” Many of them will take on Democratic incumbents at various levels and some of them may win. Others still will run against crazy extremist Republicans and some of those will win, too.
We’re on the tipping point of big change, which is scary. (I get it!)
But you can either embrace it and shape what comes next — or try to fight the change and lose. Those are the only two options.
In related/unrelated reading:
New leaders can bring energy or fresh thinking, but they can also reset norms. New York’s primary on Tuesday, to some, felt like a referendum on a particular old-school style of leadership. Amanda Litman, president of the Democratic group Run for Something, who last month published a book about millennial and Gen Z leadership called “When We’re in Charge,” saw the primary as “part of a larger changing of the guard.”
“You had Cuomo, the quintessential boomer boss who harassed his workers, veers from goal to goal with the only unifying ideology being his own political power,” Ms. Litman said. “Compared to Zohran’s millennial cringe, which was, in the best possible way, sincere, earnest.”
Am I lucky that When We’re in Charge, a practical guide to what it’ll be like when millennials and gen Z are in positions of power, just came out? OR HAVE I BEEN RIGHT FOR YEARS? Only one way to know.
Join the thousands of people currently reading and order it in any format you’d like — fun fact: If you have Spotify premium, you already have access to the audiobook!
Before you come at me about how “primary voters picked Biden” blah blah blah - be intellectually honest with yourself — that was not a real primary. There were no serious challengers and the cohort of DNC leaders who organized the presidential primary process, as directed by Jim Clyburn, intentionally structured it so that Biden would walk away with it in the first state. Zohran won against a crowded, competitive field. Not the same!
Mamdani ran with clarity, offered real policies, and refused to back down when attacked. He showed that when you stand for something, people notice. It will be exciting to see how he builds his coalition in the next few months and fends off attacks from both democrats and republicans.
If we keep operating from the same old risk-averse playbook & triangulating ourselves to appeal to everyone, we’re going to keep getting the same old results and ultimately appeal to no one.
Excellent read from Amanda Litman @runforsomething.net