Of all the democratic socialists who piled into a Manhattan church on Wednesday evening, none had the cachet of the man handed a microphone toward the meeting’s close.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani offered some pleasantries — “Hello friends, Zohran, he/him, Queens D.S.A.” — before launching into his mission: torpedoing the candidacy of a left-leaning ally, Councilman Chi Ossé, who is attempting to unseat Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat.
The remarkable scene was both a reflection of the tricky political calculuses Mr. Mamdani confronts as he prepares to take office next year and the egalitarian nature of a group that served as the grass-roots organizing machine of his political success.
Why? Why does it make sense to you? Does Mamdani just need to say the words “affordibility for New Yorkers” and everything makes sense? Hakeem Jeffries is one of the most corrupt and worst Democrats. And right now he’s incredibly unpopular. Getting him out would be a massive win for the entire US. And this is probably the best timing window ever. Zohran doesn’t have to endorse chi, but using his own political capital against Chi is complete betrayal.
You mean by Mamdani clearly pushing them over the edge to support Jeffries?