Mamdani's Win Suggests a Socialist Future for Democrats and a Rocky One for American Politics
Many in the rising generation are embracing collectivist ideas.
After this week's election, many Americans cling to the hope that the victories of a couple of moderate-ish Democrats in blue states signal a future for that party different than the one heralded by the rock-star rise of Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who captures the imaginations of a lot of donkey-party voters.
I wouldn't count on it. Yes, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill offer a modicum of consolation to those desiring a centrist direction for Democrats, but the energy is behind the radical new mayor of Gotham who joins a rising tide of his comrades in dragging that party to the left. The future of American politics looks more fringe-y than ever.
"We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about," Mamdani shouted in an aggressive speech that surprised even Democratic commentators such as David Axelrod and Van Jones. It was a message that young voters, in particular, seem to embrace.
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Socialism Wins the Youth Vote
"Mamdani won about 62% of the vote among New Yorkers under 30, and more than half among those aged 30 to 44," Spain's El Pais noted in an analysis of the election, which was followed around the world. "By contrast, among voters over 65, he drew just 29%."
If the taste for a candidate who has called for "seizing the means of production" could be dismissed as a New York City fetish, we might mourn the plight of a great city and go about our business. But socialism has a strong following among young people, despite its history of generating poverty and terror. Blame it on a mismatch between expectations and results in the tumultuous economy (largely from government intervention) of the last decade-plus or blame it on public education that valorizes top-down collectivized economics over the individualism and free exchange of capitalism, but socialism has a growing constituency among people who will shape the future.
In March, Gallup found that "since 2010, young adults' overall opinion of capitalism has deteriorated to the point that capitalism and socialism are tied in popularity among this age group." Among millennials and Gen Z, support for both stood at about 50 percent. But among the youngest in that cohort, socialism is winning out over its freedom-friendly rival.
Last week, polling by Axios/Generation Lab revealed that "34% of surveyed two- and four-year college students say they have a somewhat or very positive view of socialism, compared with 17% who say the same for capitalism. Negative views of capitalism outweigh negative views of socialism by an even greater difference: 53% v. 23%."
The rising generation is dragging the Democratic Party to the left. While pollster YouGov this week reports "moderates and conservatives strongly prefer capitalism to socialism," it found that "a majority of those who identify as very liberal prefer socialism (59%)" and liberals slightly prefer socialism to capitalism, 29 percent to 27 percent. While not really accurate terms for what's going on in U.S. politics now, "liberal" and "very liberal" are common descriptors for dominant factions in the Democratic Party.
And while Gallup in September found Americans' views of socialism generally unchanged in recent years, it added, "stability in U.S. adults' opinions of socialism obscures Democrats' more positive views of it over time, from 50% rating it positively in the initial 2010 reading to roughly two-thirds in three readings since 2019. Those increases have been mostly offset by declines in positive ratings of socialism among Republicans." Polarized in all things, American politics grow more divided over economic systems.
Speaking of polarization, it's worth mentioning what's happening on the right as the left pines for the promised land of free stuff and class warfare promised by Mamdani; his fellow New Yorker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and the rest of the Democratic hard left. Radicalization is a game anybody can play.
Conservatives Wrangle With Groypers
Right now, Heritage Foundation president and embarrassment Kevin Roberts is in hot water for defending Tucker Carlson's cozy chat with racist Hitler/Stalin fan Nick Fuentes, whose influence is growing. (We should regret Charlie Kirk's assassination as much for his lost opposition to Fuentes as for all else.) Understandably, some staffers at the conservative think tank resigned in protest, and many others want Roberts out.
A conservative movement insider with insight into ongoing developments who spoke to me on background said young people on the right are a particular concern when it comes to radicalization. He worries about antisemitism among the younger cohort currently entering politics, many of whom he fears are groypers—racist Fuentes fans whom Roberts may have sought to court. We saw an example of that in last month's furor over racist chat messages among Young Republicans. My acquaintance attributes the problem to educations steeped in trendy Critical Race Theory. That education guided some students to the intersectional left, where they became enamored of socialism and identity politics. Others bought the collectivist focus on group identity but flipped the script on who makes up the good guys and the bad guys.
Antisemitism and a Rush to the Fringes
As seems to be common among collectivists of all breeds, both groups are antisemites.
Antisemitism is certainly a problem with Mamdani and company. Before he entered politics, Mamdani tried his hand as a rapper. His musical output included the song "Salaam," which, as The Independent put it, "praised the 'Holy Land Five'—five men convicted in 2008 of donating over $12 million to Hamas" which is dedicated to killing Jews and staged the October 7 attack on Israel. He has since palled around with Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as a co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
That's in case you didn't worry enough about the direction of politics.
And whatever consolation is to be found in the seeming moderation of some of this week's winning Democrats, that has to be tempered by the fact that taking office alongside newly minted Gov. Spanberger in Virginia is fellow Democrat Jay Jones—who, as a candidate for attorney general, fantasized about shooting a Republican political rival in the head and watching that rival's children die in their mother's arms. Spanberger criticized Jones's comments but never called on him to drop out.
The future of American politics looks increasingly like one where the worst ideas, including socialism, racism, and political violence are embraced by American voters. We're not far from the day when Americans face a contest between the likes of Paul Ingrassia, the Republican who withdrew from consideration as head of the Office of Special Counsel after the revelation of racist text messages and his self-description as having a "Nazi streak," and Graham Platner, the Democratic Maine Senate candidate who calls himself a communist and had a Nazi tattoo which he only covered up after it became a campaign liability.
The Democratic Party is becoming more socialist. That might not be the worst of our concerns.
