Baffling Political Miscalculation
It is now Election Day in New York, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) never endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City. He wouldn’t even say whether he voted for him.
It wasn’t for lack of opportunity — he was asked about his conspicuous non-endorsement nearly every time he talked to reporters in recent months, and repeated some pablum about having productive conversations with the candidate.
“I voted and I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City,” he said Tuesday afternoon at his press briefing when asked if he voted for Mamdani.
His accomplice in baffling political miscalculation, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), grudgingly endorsed Mamdani late last month. He was quick to undermine his own reluctantly given support, though, answering “no” when asked whether Mamdani is the future of the party, instead providing this illegible quote: “I think the future of the Democratic Party is going to fall, as far as we’re concerned, relative to the House Democratic Caucus and members who are doing great work all across the country.”
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate who seems to be cruising to a win in the Virginia gubernatorial race, is less responsible than congressional leadership but performed equally dismally on the topic.
When asked by CNN about Mamdani winning the soul of the Democratic Party, she said snidely: “Then maybe he should be a Democrat.”
She then went on to dismiss his campaign promises as both deceptive and impossible to deliver, adding that that’s why she herself doesn’t promise to do anything, just to try to do things. I can hear the enthusiasm swelling now.
Hillary Clinton, now over a decade removed from a position of party leadership, still has its instincts (asked whether she would have voted for Mamdani): “You know what? I don’t vote in this city. Look, I am not involved in it. I have not, you know, been at all even asked to be involved in it, and I have not chosen to be involved in it. I will be there the day after, and everybody else should be too, no matter what happens.”
These Democrats are palpably terrified of the right’s guaranteed next move — to make Mamdani the radical, socialist, MUSLIM face of the party. Every crime in New York, and maybe everywhere, will be his fault. There will be nonstop “coverage” of the disaster wrought by putting a young charismatic brown guy in charge.
But instead of planning for and counterprogramming that attack, they cower. Schumer seems to be preparing to use his non-endorsement as some kind of washing of hands — “this isn’t my fault” — as if Fox News won’t anoint Mamdani king of the Democrats the second the results are in.
This reminds me of the dithering over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) bid to lead the oversight committee. Leadership passed her over, instead giving the messaging job to the now deceased and at-the-time very sick Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA).
They were so frightened of the right wing’s inevitable fixation on her that they crumpled into a defensive crouch, silencing one of their most effective communicators. Of course right-wing media wasn’t going to cover the Connolly Oversight Committee — he presented absolutely no threat.
Democratic voters are screaming their disapproval with the party, but establishment types stay the course, silencing or undermining any figure in the party who offers even a chance to whip up some enthusiasm.
Democrats desperately need leadership change in the party, and it’s not just the geriatrics that need ousting. Mamdani is a hopeful glimmer of that new era — but he will have to forge ahead under unrelenting attack from the opposing party and its media apparatus, and with no institutional support whatsoever from his own.
— Kate Riga
House Republicans Demonize Mamdani
As the MAGA world and Fox News whips its viewers into an unjustified and Islamophobic frenzy over the potential election of Mamdani tonight, House Republicans and the New York Young Republican Club are seeking to legitimize those various right-wing efforts to demonize the insurgent candidate and actually block him from office. The New York Post published an article over the weekend, outlining the ways in which this effort is unfolding. Basically, Republicans think that they can prevent Mamdani from being sworn-in as mayor if they can get Congress to ban the 34-year-old candidate from taking office under the 14th Amendment, claiming that his activism, including calls to resist ICE, might fit within its prohibitions on officeholders who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or who has “given aid or comfort to the enemies.”
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has taken it upon himself to legitimize the effort in Congress.
— Nicole LaFond
Unleashing the Kraken on Maduro
2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado was sounding more like Sidney Powell this week than a Nobel laureate.
Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain suggested to Machado on a podcast that the U.S.’s Caribbean military buildup may be tied to Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and “the allegation that voting machines and people close to Maduro’s circle were involved in the election.”
It’s a reference to one of the strangest claims to come out of the feverish, frantic search for a way to explain away Trump’s defeat that year. Sidney Powell explained it most memorably alongside Rudy Giuliani during a press conference, blaming Hugo Chavez for creating vote-rigging software that was later deployed in the U.S. as part of an international communist conspiracy.
Machado halfheartedly suggested to Husain that the Venezuelans were involved, saying there’s “no doubt” that Maduro and others “are the masterminds of a system that has rigged elections in many countries, including the U.S.” She also mentioned an investigation that the U.S. is conducting into the matter.
This is the first link I’ve heard between Trump’s desire to take out Maduro and 2020 election conspiracy theories.
— Josh Kovensky
In Case You Missed It
Time Capsule: Our Dick Cheney Obituary … From 2012
The latest from Emine Yücel on Capitol Hill today: Trump Says He’ll Defy Court Order, Withhold SNAP Until Dems Drop Demands and Reopen Gov’t
NEW from Allegra Kirkland: What We Lost When Condé Nast Unceremoniously Shuttered Teen Vogue
Morning Memo: Pam Bondi Waves Magic Wand To Solve Her Lindsey Halligan Problem
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Big Win For Voting Rights As Judge Blocks Trump EO
What We Are Reading
Mike Johnson’s lies keep getting lost in the facts
Trump readying “living hell” for GOP senators over nuking filibuster
FBI fires, unfires, refires agents linked to Jack Smith probe
So, it sure sounds to me like he didn’t vote for him, and doesn’t want people to know he voted for Cuomo.
Democrats are unpopular. This is why.
Schumer has dual loyalties, to America and Israel. And that includes Netanyahu, and the butchery and starvation over there.
I have always generally liked Schumer, but this conflict hurts his legacy and is not acceptable. Israel has been wagging the dog for decades, and to the extent that Schumer has supported that, one should ask if he’s the best person for that job. We need new blood there. He should retire from the leadership in ‘26, if not earlier.
So, it’s easy to say “corporate Dems” this, and AIPAC that, but Mamdami is unproven. I think the question of “is he the future of the party” is insulting and unserious. Yes, he should have been endorsed as the Democratic nominee, but let’s see if he outperforms Bill de Blasio once in office before we anoint him the savior of the human race. I hope he does, but until he governs he’s still a question mark. He could be Tom Bradley or he could be Dennis Kucinich.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has taken it upon himself to legitimize the effort in Congress to ban Mamdani fro taking office.
Section 3 of the 14th amendment does allow Congress to bar an elected official from office if they have engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution. But they need two-thirds of both houses to do this.
I’m sorry but calling to resist ICE is not an insurrection. They could have very well used it then against convicted felon.