Read the article without a paywall here, (FUCK the New York Times)

This hit piece came out at the conclusion of the second day of early voting here in NYC, where totals for days 1 & 2 are nearly double those from our last mayoral election cycle in 2021, despite miserable rainy weather on both days.

Additionally, some early voter demographics are in as well, and they bring some troubling news to the political establishment, who are deeply invested in seeing the failure of Zohran Mamdani’s openly democratic socialist campaign. When Mamdani launched his campaign in November of 2024, he was polling at a mere 1%, with only 12% name recognition. After a meteoric rise through a well communicated ad campaign across social media platforms, Zohran Mamdani has been able to reach all of the voters that traditional Democratic Party politics have been hemmorhaging recently: young people, Muslim voters, and white men, which has brought Mamdani’s campaign to a near tie (49%-51%) with disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo in the final round of ranked choice voting.

High voter turnout and enthusiasm are extremely important factors if Mamdani wants to win, and with two days of voting in the books, some trends have emerged. At many election precincts (including my own), the Mamdani campaign canvassers were the only ones present, handing out campaign material and ranked choice voting instructions in multiple languages tailored to the neighborhood each polling place is located.

Disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo has already committed to running an independent campaign for mayor in the general election if he loses the Democratic primary. Additionally, current (also disgraced) current mayor Eric Adams has committed to running an independent campaign for mayor in the general election. The Working Families Party, a minor party slightly to the left of Democrats here in New York, has stated that they are strongly considering running a Mamdani campaign in the general election should he lose the Democratic primary. Republicans will also field a candidate, meaning the upcoming general election will be contested by at least 4 major candidates.

  • fox [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    32·
    2 days ago

    The Dems want the votes and energy of nominally pro-social policies but from messaging alone, not content. If Mamdani was offering the same shit as Adams or Cuomo or Bloomberg he’d stay polling at 1% and conversely if Cuomo offered what Mamdani was he’d be polling at 90% despite his crimes and scandals. Bernie didn’t get massive crowds because he was just so good at campaigning, he got massive crowds because he was promising good things instead of bad things. But Dems are so utterly locked into neoliberalism that they can’t ever even pretend to offer good things and instead expect voters to choke on the status quo.

    • PKMKII [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      17·
      2 days ago

      Bernie didn’t get massive crowds because he was just so good at campaigning, he got massive crowds because he was promising good things instead of bad things.

      See, from my perspective “offering good things” is good campaigning. That the DNC doesn’t see that just speaks to how much the consultant class that wants to make everything about crafting the perfect (and expensive) TV ad have taken over the party.