I listened to the speechs from Spanberger in Virginia, Sherrill in New Jersey, Newsom in California and Mamdani in New York City. Governor elect Spanberger and Sherrill were good, Governor Newsom great, but Mayor elect Mamdani was outstanding.
What struck me about Mamdani was his recognition that the power of the 1/100 (of 1 percent) was real and that he was under no illusions that they would use every ounce of that power to destroy him if he won the Mayorship.
“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate,” he said. “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a Democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.”
He also gave me the impression that he was not kidding when he said that he would not be returning to the status quo.
As has so often occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour. They want the people to fight amongst ourselves so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long-broken system. We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore. They can play by the same rules as the rest of.
Starting with the election of Saint Ronnie in 1980 the Republicans and their Billionaire Overlords have spent decades attempting to kiil the New Deal Policies and return the US to the bad old days of Lochner and Liberty of Contract. With the re-election of the Convicted felon they were on the cusp of achieving this goal. Now here comes this upstart politician from New York threating to destroy all of their work. Unamerican. Socialism.
The Election of soon to be Mayor Mamdani as sent a message to both Republicans and Corporate Dems (here's looking at you Leader Schumer) that the age of the Oligarchs is over.
Our greatness...will be felt by every rent-stabilized tenant who wakes up...knowing the amount they’re going to pay hasn’t soared since the month before...by each grandparent who can afford to stay in the home they have worked for...by the single mother who is safe on her commute and whose bus runs fast enough that she doesn’t have to rush school drop-off to make it to work on time.
