I’m no fan of Zohran Mamdani. As I’ve previously mentioned, he’s a fresh face pushing very old ideas – and yet somehow his pitch that he represents something new is working. He’ll probably get elected next week as mayor of New York. And if he does and ends up implementing most of what he’s advocated in the past, he will fail. Period. No question about it. New York will go through one of its patented convulsions and someone new will have to later step in to pick up the pieces. We saw this scenario unfold after the disastrous ‘70s, 9/11 and Covid., etc. Bottom line: New York will survive Mamdani. … And that’s a worst-case scenario. … Who knows? Once in office, Mamdani might be more pragmatic than thought (sort of like Michelle Wu, who’s committed to strong city services, despite her ideological priggishness ) or maybe even pull a Francois Mitterand, i.e. making dramatic policy u-turns after realizing his Bowdoin classroom theories don’t work in the real world. … Either way (worst-case scenario or Mitterand redux), Mamdani’s democratic socialist ideas will get discredited – yet again. So hold the hysteria, please. 

Btw: While NY will survive Mamdani, this is my real fear: “The Democrats’ Civil War is between Kamala’s Emptiness and Mamdani’s Revolution.” … I hope she’s wrong. Such a choice will only strengthen a MAGA movement that needs to be stopped if America is ever going to heal.

Btw II: This is what NY and most other American cities need: A Mike Duggan-like mayor. Definitely read the Post editorial. The centrist Duggan, after impressively turning around Detroit, is now running for governor of Michigan.