The thirty something year old Zohran Mamdani threw a challenge to Donald Trump in his speech. His exact words (in a stentorian tone of voice) were, ‘Donald Trump, since I know you are listening, turn the volume up’. This statement, typical of 30-year-olds, has not only an air of arrogance about it but also is ominous.
Decoded Mamdani appears to be vying for the highest office of the US, seeing the mayoral contest as the first rung of the ladder. I have no quibble with Mamdani’s ambition. But the man needs to gain a perspective on the nature of his victory. So why did Mamdani win?
The reasons are manifold. If a few salient ones can be culled, they pertain to the cost of living in NYC, the housing crisis, education, cost of childcare, transportation and so on. These are the issues that Mamdani has, in his election manifesto, promised to address.
Never mind the populist tone and tenor of the manifesto, how can Mamdani provide free transportation, address the cost of housing and living, transportation issues without taxing the exchequer? Basic economics, suggests tax and spend is one possible answer. Will New Yorkers live with high taxation for the sake of public good provision?
Hypothetically, if yes, would business that is the nerve centre of NYC live with high taxation? If no, then will there be differential taxation in NYC? Re transportation, NYC is in a pathetic state. What will Mamdani do to cover expenses? The point of delineating these questions is that Mamdani’s election promises are mostly rhetorical.
To arrive at some golden mean between rhetoric and policy, Mamdani will have to compromise between the classics: labor and capital. Will the electorate accept that? And if this is the template of Mamdani for the US, then it is not sanguine.
So, is it only because of his pre-election promises that Mamdani won?
No. He won because broadly NY and in particular NYC is a blue state; it is democratic defined by a staggering diversity. Granted that some or many white American’s may have voted for him, but this is purely because of the largely blue nature of the region. Along with the NYC’s staggering diversity, the vote went to Mamdani.
In this sense, New Yorkers, may have wanted to offer a riposte to Donald Trump. To infer from this that he can actually get into the white house at some point in time, is sheer folly (of a childish nature) and ‘irrational exuberance’. NYC is not the US; nor is the US NYC.
The city can be a bellwether for capitalism, globalization and finance but despite its glorification, NYC is not representative of the US. Where does Mamdani get his irrational exuberance from?
The moment (of victory) itself and broadly the disarray in the Democratic party- ideationally, ideologically and in terms of leadership appear to have congealed together to make Mamdani lose contact with reality. He probably senses an opening for leadership in the democratic party.
The sense is correct but the structural, conceptual, policy reasons for the party’s decline is not. Hypothetically, if Mamdani were to angle for and position himself for the highest office in the office, he has two options: offer a compelling vision against Trumpist MAGA nationalism or be the US establishment’s poster boy or front man.
Re the former, it is improbable and re the latter, eminently possibly makes him another wannabe front man undercutting any new political ideas and philosophy. Mamdani then, to repeat, is letting the victory go to his head. This I suppose maybe natural given his age and inexperience.
If Mamdani were really grounded, he would in all sobriety and gravitas have reached out to Donald Trump and offered bi-partisan support for resolving the grave problems and issues that US faces.
But, nay, the 30 something year old by saying what he said is playing to the gallery (democratic) and electrifying his base. But Mamdani’s ‘base’ is too diverse and too different for him to be the binding glue. I have a nagging feeling that given some of Mamdani’s fantastic pre poll pledges and promises, he may in all likelihood flounder on the policy fronts.
If this happens then Mamdani will be like the proverbial ‘flash in the pan’ phenomenon - fleeting and ephemeral. While I wish the new mayor of New York well, but for himself, for NYC and for the US, the thirty something year old needs to take a crash course in sobriety, humility and gravitas!
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