Normally would not have been paying close attention to the off-year primary of a mayoral election, but Zohran Mamdani has just won an upset victory of the Democratic primary of the New York mayoralship, with the election in November.

Mamdani beat the frontrunner, former NY governor (and sex-pest) Andrew Cuomo who was very much an establishment do-nothing Democrat. The reason I'm posting this is that Mamdani has basically been all over my twitter feed the past few months as a charismatic, people-first, left-leaning populist, very much working the streets of New York and building a popular movement in America that I haven't seen since Sanders. Good transformative policies too if he can implement them right, rent freezes/elimination of bus fares etc. Given he's all but guaranteed to win the election in November as the Democratic nominee now, he'll likely emerge as a major progressive force in the country as the leader of its most populous city.

basically Zohran's strategy is what the Democrats really should be doing, it's a positive, energetic campaign that meets people where they're at and I hope to see more of it. With the usual right-wing suspects finding ways to call him a Muslim communist or whatever.

What’s interesting is how modern left wing populism tends to be an upper middle classy elitist type thing and right wing populism now tends to be more a working class type thing. I saw this tweet and it kind of reflects that as well.

Though of course remember that in NYC, earning $50k is not exactly elitists living large, you can see on that map it's a lot of the city - so a small sample for that poorest bracket.

Still I think it's a stretch to characterise right-wing populism as 'real, of the poor' movements and left-wing as 'champagne socialism' (not that earthy poor views are more meaningful either!). My view is that is fairly adequately explained by left-wing populists having a disadvantage in the information economy while right-wing populists get institutional money to support them in their endeavours, (Mamdani really put in an amazing effort to counter that), and time-poor voters in the poorest brackets are most susceptible to not hearing about any but the most talked about candidates, some good examples in the vox pops in a video I saw going around lately, so many had heard of nothing but Cuomo:

Cuomo also won large among the Black demographic, and because of the Republican party being just a racist's club, even conservative and moderate Blacks tend to be voting in Democratic primaries, as they tend to be poorer unfortunately, that contributes. Mamdani won most of the other demographics.

rent freezes and free buses also famously upper-class policies

hopefully this is a good sign of what is to come in the next few years 🤞

50k-100k is not upper middle class even outside of NY. that’s like public school teachers and librarians and postal workers. unless you have a Peter thiel “you’re only working class when you grunt and hit things with a wrench (even though plumbers can make over 100k)” view of labor, then yeah alright.

I don’t get the arguement that upper class can’t represent the working Classes. In Britain Labour have always been a coalition of upper class intellectuals and working class trade unionism.

Not saying that but the higher the bracket the more his support went up

And yeah there are various factors but that’s just a consistent observation over a period of time in a few countries.

It’s like there is big gap between what a movement thinks it is from what it actually is. What they think they’re representing and what they’re actually representing are often two different things.

Not saying poor people’s opinions matter more but a working class type movement without the working class is not the most authentic image. I always heard left wing populism was bottom up yet everything I’ve ever seen in my lifetime has never shown that to be the case

I literally do not see how this sort of movement is 'without the working class'.

> High donor numbers (indicating support from the broader public) in comparison to Cuomo's rich donors and party-stalwart endorsements

> Mamdani constantly walking out among ordinary New Yorkers and talking to them, just watch his victory speech, he describes vividly his understanding of the workers of New York across the city, Cuomo barely made an appearance in the city

> Policies that affect issues that working class people care about

> The commentariat class turning up their nose because of superficial issues (Israel-Palestine isn't really NYC mayor's job description yet it was probably the media pundits' favourite question to ask Mamdani because he's a Muslim)

It is just this perception that working-class means gruff men doing manual work on docks when it includes everyone from baristas to truck-drivers to teachers even if you aren't following a Marxist view (appropriate, with this kind of candidate) at which point it would include anyone who isn't a capital owner and, by definition, works for their living.

More voters in the higher brackets I'd still just explain a product of richer voters having better information environments and therefore familiar with his energetic campaign. New York Democrats can be pretty progressive even when they earn more.

I would challenge you to find a Democratic campaign (and even most Republican ones) that's more connected with working people. On many Democratic campaigns this is somewhat of an acceptable criticism, even when their rallies dwarfed Republican rallies and working class voters came out for them hugely in urban environments, on the biggest popular Democratic campaign since Sanders (relative to its scope) it's ludicrous.

9 hours ago, Liam Sota said:

What’s interesting is how modern left wing populism tends to be an upper middle classy elitist type thing and right wing populism now tends to be more a working class type thing. I saw this tweet and it kind of reflects that as well.

Yeah, because Trump, Musk and Farage are well known for their poverty-stricken backgrounds.

1 hour ago, Steve201 said:

I don’t get the arguement that upper class can’t represent the working Classes. In Britain Labour have always been a coalition of upper class intellectuals and working class trade unionism.

And Labour were a working class predominately party but they are not now. So this is a concept of the 80’s you’re talking about. Not my lifetime. That’s why I added modern left wing populism.

51 minutes ago, Iz 🌟 said:

I literally do not see how this sort of movement is 'without the working class'.

> High donor numbers (indicating support from the broader public) in comparison to Cuomo's rich donors and party-stalwart endorsements

> Mamdani constantly walking out among ordinary New Yorkers and talking to them, just watch his victory speech, he describes vividly his understanding of the workers of New York across the city, Cuomo barely made an appearance in the city

> Policies that affect issues that working class people care about

> The commentariat class turning up their nose because of superficial issues (Israel-Palestine isn't really NYC mayor's job description yet it was probably the media pundits' favourite question to ask Mamdani because he's a Muslim)

It is just this perception that working-class means gruff men doing manual work on docks when it includes everyone from baristas to truck-drivers to teachers even if you aren't following a Marxist view (appropriate, with this kind of candidate) at which point it would include anyone who isn't a capital owner and, by definition, works for their living.

More voters in the higher brackets I'd still just explain a product of richer voters having better information environments and therefore familiar with his energetic campaign. New York Democrats can be pretty progressive even when they earn more.

I would challenge you to find a Democratic campaign (and even most Republican ones) that's more connected with working people. On many Democratic campaigns this is somewhat of an acceptable criticism, even when their rallies dwarfed Republican rallies and working class voters came out for them hugely in urban environments, on the biggest popular Democratic campaign since Sanders (relative to its scope) it's ludicrous.

Comparing to Cuomo isn’t going to add much since he’s a 90’s style New Yorker with various scandals and a history of achieving little. He was the perfect candidate for a more fringe type candidate to beat at this moment in time.

More donors is a silly metric. Anybody representing socialism will get more donors as there is an ideology behind it tons of people follow. That’s like someone appealing to evangelicals. This is nothing to do with working class I would imagine most donors were the group I’m talking about anyway.

Walking out among ordinary people? Come on now. This is like a royal saying oh you actually interact with the commoners? You take that ghastly tube to work? This is very normal and standard. Is this really your idea of working class relatability? You have to be kidding me here.

Not really seeing the relevance to working class on the Israel questions. It’s a standard New York obsession thing because of the big Jewish population.

Yeah of course truck drivers are included but somebody being a part-time barista while they’re at college is probably not most of the time. I think a lot of people cosplay as working class so much they forget what it is. They forget they’re not it. Then they ignore the actual working class and think the issues they’re interested in are working class issues. That’s how the this disconnect exists particularly in left wing spaces and college/uni spaces. Better information environments? Seems a bit of a reach. Everyone has access to the same info. Most people hadn’t heard of him because he’s new and they don’t follow politics and don’t really give a damn. It’s really that simple.

24 minutes ago, Suedehead2 said:

Yeah, because Trump, Musk and Farage are well known for their poverty-stricken backgrounds.

Way to miss the point completely.

37 minutes ago, Liam Sota said:

Comparing to Cuomo isn’t going to add much since he’s a 90’s style New Yorker with various scandals and a history of achieving little. He was the perfect candidate for a more fringe type candidate to beat at this moment in time.

More donors is a silly metric. Anybody representing socialism will get more donors as there is an ideology behind it tons of people follow. That’s like someone appealing to evangelicals. This is nothing to do with working class I would imagine most donors were the group I’m talking about anyway.

Walking out among ordinary people? Come on now. This is like a royal saying oh you actually interact with the commoners? You take that ghastly tube to work? This is very normal and standard. Is this really your idea of working class relatability? You have to be kidding me here.

Not really seeing the relevance to working class on the Israel questions. It’s a standard New York obsession thing because of the big Jewish population.

Yeah of course truck drivers are included but somebody being a part-time barista while they’re at college is probably not most of the time. I think a lot of people cosplay as working class so much they forget what it is. They forget they’re not it. Then they ignore the actual working class and think the issues they’re interested in are working class issues. That’s how the this disconnect exists particularly in left wing spaces and college/uni spaces. Better information environments? Seems a bit of a reach. Everyone has access to the same info. Most people hadn’t heard of him because he’s new and they don’t follow politics and don’t really give a damn. It’s really that simple.

what is "working class relatability" to you? walking out on the street in ratty clothes carrying a bindle? "working class" =/= abject poverty lmfao. it's "normal and standard" precisely bc the vast majority of people are working class.

and yeah a part time barista working for a college degree is working class. many working class people get or have degrees, not without enormous sacrifice on their part. the people most invested in claiming otherwise are usually Peter thiel culture war types who resent higher education as a bastion of wokeness.

Edited Wednesday at 22:472 days by dhwe

This is all so redundant.

We already knew that Trump was recently actively pandering to the poorer uneducated ignorant people so that’s not a surprise that those who earn more are more likely to be educated and possess some sort of critical thinking to correctly filter out republican nonsense.

There are a lot more left-leaning wealthy people in general nowadays. Doesn’t mean they ever switched, it’s a totally different generation. This is not a zero-sum game and those margin stats say nothing.

Also lol barista is not working class, sure! So funny to see lines drawn about how things in left-wing/college spaces nowadays are by someone who belongs to neither of those groups. Just stick to Twitter threads.

After torpeoding Obama's deal, only to repeat it, only to thrn cancel it ans bomb Iran, Trump has no said that the nuclesr deal eith thrm "isn't really necessary". What a f***in failure of a president.

Casting any principled left-wing campaign as something of the elite and 'cosplay of the working class' as is generally on to nothing, but THIS campaign?

Small donor socialists are part of the working class. See, a comparison to Cuomo is quite apt because not only was he the guy Mamdani was actually running against and fighting, the people who fund Cuomo are the same kinds of people who fund right-wing populists, rich oligarchs and people entrenched in power. The sort of people who fund left-wing populists are average people in the streets for the most part.

And yes, doing the whole charismastic politician who goes out among the people is a plus. Not forgetting that a few months ago he was just a random Assemblyman who decided to use his oratorical skills (the charisma just helps bring more people on board) to build a grassroots campaign to fight for ordinary people. It shows that he's ready to be there and be accountable to the people he meets. If he gets into office and doesn't do much, he won't be able to go out anymore, but you really get the impression he wants to be the sort of mayor where he has the popularity to walk out in public, and for that one needs to deliver in office.

Again, compare to right-wing populists, they also do photoshoots but they're controlled, they never give the impression of being a normal person with political skills, they're weird, closed off.

We've sort of covered this strange exclusion of people from the working class, but this framing appears to be people who like socialism and go to college aren't working class which is the most arbitrary and ridiculous exclusion in order to make the statement 'left-wing populists aren't real workers' true. A college-educated person working an average white-collar job, or a person from an average background in college and being an activist (as they are entering the workforce in the future) is working class. They just are. We're all in the fight against the oligarchs together, and mass political campaigns like this that promise direct economic solutions to the problems facing us all are the most direct and honest political campaigns imaginable, in contrast to the 'polemics against immigrants from the pulpit' that has come to characterise right populists the world over.

Why this is important, will the Democratic Party learn from the success of this campaign, or will they try another consultant-managed stab at neoliberalism:

Good op-ed from Bernie about what this campaign could mean for the near future of left-leaning American politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/25/democrats-learn-zohran-mamdani-victory

Have the courage to address the real economic and moral issues that face the majority of our people, take on the greed and power of the oligarchy and fight for an agenda that can improve life for working families.

Some may claim that Mamdani’s victory was just about style and the fact that he is a charismatic candidate. Yes. He is. But you don’t get a Mamdani victory without the extraordinary grassroots movement that rallied around him. And you don’t get that movement and thousands of enthusiastic people knocking on doors without an economic agenda that speaks to the needs of working people. The people of New York and all Americans understand that, in the richest country on earth, they should not have to struggle every day just to put food on the table, pay their rent or pay their medical bills. These are the people the Democratic consultants don’t know exist.

The future of the Democratic party will not be determined by its current leadership. It will be decided by the working class of this country. Increasingly, people understand that our political system is corrupt and that billionaires should not be able to buy elections. They understand that we should not have an unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality; that we should not be the only wealthy country not to guarantee healthcare for all; that we should not deny young people the right to a higher education because of their income; that we should not have a major crisis in affordable housing; that we should not have a minimum wage that is a starvation wage; that we should not allow corporations to illegally prevent union organization – and much, much more.

This is why this matters for Americans (and hopefully elsewhere if our side of the Atlantic can take any inspiration too that'd be good), that campaigns like this work. They work because of the masses of people who are excited about them and share that excitement with potential voters.

Rooney told me this wouldn’t happen

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-appliances-moves-washing-machine-151456116.html

That isn’t new, that’s part of a decade old strategy that started UNDER OBAMA to on shore manufacturing and has seen 3.5bn in investment in that time. This is the latest step of an already long running project. The Tariffs are irrelevant to this decision

Reading more than the headline is quite a helpful thing to do.

6 hours ago, Liam Sota said:

Rooney told me this wouldn’t happen

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-appliances-moves-washing-machine-151456116.html

That’s one company that was already moving operations to the US. Companies don’t make these long term decisions in 2-3 months - if we’re here in a year and there’s a huge return of manufacturing to the US then possibly it’s because of the tariffs, but like I’ve always said, all these manufacturing facilities and investment is within technology rather than people.

Supreme Court has blocked lower courts from blocking Trump’s orders in future. I think this means they can’t block tariffs and things like that anymore. The Supreme Court still can but that’s it. Pretty big judgment.