With Mamdani, Democrats flirt with full-tilt socialism. But his plan is alarming.

USA Today

02-07-2025

If progressive Democrats prevail in determining the party's direction, their agenda would pose the biggest threat to our nation's future.
The Democratic Party is in the doldrums.
For the past decade, it's been so obsessed with trying to take down Donald Trump that it's overlooked what it stands for. Former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris certainly couldn't conjure a coherent platform. Party infighting and chaos have ensued.
'We're like a solar system with no sun,' U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, recently said in a speech at the Center for American Progress. 'We don't act as a team, and when we don't work as a team, we turn our guns on each other, and it's so, so, so, fruitless.'
As the party looks to the future, I'm wondering what direction it plans to go and what 'team' will win.
Some Democrats – like Slotkin – have encouraged the party to embrace a message that appeals to a broader range of Americans. Even far-left California Gov. Gavin Newsom has dipped his toes in the waters of moderation, at least on some issues. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has no problem calling out the problematic progressives in his party.
Yet, there is another, more troubling, direction where it appears Democrats may go.
Socialism and antisemitism should set off alarms – not applause
New York City Democrats in June went all in for self-proclaimed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, choosing the 33-year-old state legislator as their primary pick in the mayoral election this fall. They rejected the more 'traditional' Democrat on the ballot, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The leading takeaway from Mamdani's victory in the nation's largest city seems to be that the party should take note and perhaps adopt some of the vision that spoke to Big Apple liberals.
Yet, that vision is alarming – or should be – to anyone who believes in capitalism and true democracy. Mamdani claims he wants to make the city 'affordable,' but his proposals would do the opposite. He envisions a much more powerful government that controls the lives of New Yorkers.
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Mamdani proclaimed on X that he is 'running for Mayor to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver free universal childcare.'
Those straightforward-sounding goals carry a lot of baggage.
In an editorial ahead of the primary, the left-leaning New York Times warned against voting for Mamdani: 'He is a democratic socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance. He favors rent freezes that could restrict housing supply and make it harder for younger New Yorkers and new arrivals to afford housing. He wants the government to operate grocery stores, as if customer service and retail sales were strengths of the public sector. He minimizes the importance of policing.'
Mamdani also said he wants to 'shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.'
Oh, and he doesn't think 'we should have billionaires.'
In addition, Mamdani, who is Muslim, has a well-documented history of standing against Israel and defending the use of antisemitic language, including phrases such as 'globalize the intifada.' As violence against Jews in America grows, that's troubling.
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Americans feel democracy is under threat. Embracing socialism won't help.
Mamdani's fellow big-government-loving politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, are likely thrilled with a broader embrace of their socialist vision.
Democrats should think hard, however, about whether that is the road they want to take.
Americans are already fearful about the future of our democracy. The country will celebrate its 249th birthday on Friday, July 4. A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that 76% of respondents believe democracy is under serious threat.
Most Democrats point to Trump as the reason for their fears. Yet, if progressives prevail in directing the party's future, it would be their agenda that poses the biggest threat to the country.
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Socialism – even the more palatable-sounding 'democratic socialism' – would upend the free markets and discourage individual initiative, strengths that have made America the economic force it is today and that are central to our republic's success.
Sen. Slotkin is right: Democrats do need a 'sun' to center their party. They should choose it carefully.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [e-mail] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques