Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritarians
“M
y friends, the world is changing,” Zohran Mamdani told supporters in the run-up to the New York City mayoral election. “It’s not a question of whether that change will come. It’s a question of who will change it.” Today, Mamdani becomes one of those people.
People are so fed up with the status quo that they opt for anything but continuity. But Democrats and most democratic parties worldwide have shied away from offering real alternatives. This has pushed voters into the arms of the extreme right, even fascist forces. Mamdani set out to break their monopoly over visions for a different future – and won a resounding and historic victory. The last time this many voters turned out to vote for a mayor in New York City was in 1969.
Democrats everywhere have a lot to learn from Mamdani’s astounding success. Centering his campaign on making life affordable again, Mamdani won because he offered hope. He won because he demonstrated that democratic representatives can stand up for their constituents’ most basic material interests. This restores democracy’s promise. As fascist movements gain ground globally, his victory provides something desperately needed: the beginning of an antifascist economic program that can win back people who have lost faith in democracy itself.
