Less than a week before the New York City Democratic primary for mayor, Andrew Cuomo is leading state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani 55-45 in the 7th round of projected voting. New York City has that "vote until we get the winner we want" process known as "ranked choice voting," so pollsters have to play a game of "what if?" to achieve any realistic results.
A Marist poll in May showed Cuomo leading Mamdani by 24 points in the fifth round, excluding undecided voters. The poll carries a hefty 4.3% margin of error with 11% undecided.
Mamdani is running on the fusion ticket of the Democratic and Democratic Socialists of America. The Muslim lawmaker has been endorsed by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez, and recently by America's favorite socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sanders said in a statement that Mr. Mamdani was running an “inspirational” campaign and was a “visionary” leader who promised to soak the rich. If you're Sanders, what's not to like?
“Our nation faces a fundamental choice: Will we continue with a corporate-dominated politics driven by billionaires or will we build a grass-roots movement fueled by everyday people, committed to fighting oligarchy, authoritarianism, and kleptocracy?” Sanders said.
That sounds an awful lot like the Democratic Party, but who's keeping track?
The Brooklyn-born Sanders knows well enough to give lip service to Mamdani and not much else. He's not campaigning with him and has no plans to make any appearances at his side.
The endorsement gives Mr. Mamdani a boost at a moment when a super PAC supporting Mr. Cuomo is running a torrent of television advertisements depicting Mr. Mamdani as too “radical” to be mayor.
Mr. Mamdani, 33, said in a statement that he admired Mr. Sanders and called him “the single most influential political figure in my life.”
“Make no mistake: Oligarchy is on the ballot,” Mr. Mamdani said. “Andrew Cuomo is the candidate of a billionaire class that is suffocating our democracy and forcing the working class out of our city.”
So it's the "billionaire class" that's causing residents to flee New York City for their lives, and not Democratic politicians like Mamdani?
Cuomo had won endorsements from most unions and the Democratic Party establishment. He also won late-stage support from key Orthodox Jewish groups. That's probably because of what Mamdani said recently about Palestinian "rights" and the "Intifada."
“To me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” said Mamdani, who has long been an outspoken critic of Israel. “And I think what’s difficult also is that the very word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means struggle."
So "intifada" isn't a call to eliminate the Jewish state. It's a word Jews use to describe the "struggle" of Palestinians for equal rights.
What we don't understand is that the use of the word "intifada" is all a big misunderstanding!
Mamdani said, “As a Muslim man who grew up post-9/11, I’m all too familiar in the way in which Arabic words can be twisted, can be distorted, can be used to justify any kind of meaning.” So when Arab protesters are screaming for "intifada," they're inviting Jews over for a cup of coffee?
Andrew Cuomo has a slightly different take on the use of the word "intifada." At the very least, the former governor has recognized Israel's right to exist. Mamdani has not.
Mamdani, who is polling in second place behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has faced criticism over his approach to Israel during the campaign. He has declined to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and said he would divest from Israel if elected, among other comments and actions that have raised alarms among many Jewish voters.
Cuomo, who has deemed rising antisemitism “the most important issue” in the race, has for his part denounced calls to “globalize the intifada,” saying that such phrases are “giving license to come after Jews.”
Mamdani is a threat to Jews. He's also a threat to anyone who doesn't want to see New York City continue its slide into chaos. Mamdani and his Democratic Socialists will ruin New York City and blame the billionaires.
