The Failure of Race Baiting
Looking forward and back, at the mid-point between elections. Candidates should keep their eye on the ball and remind voters what really matters, and why.
I started receiving text messages from “unaffiliated” groups in late September, not terribly long after Zohran Mamdani beat the odds and the prognosticators to win — overwhelmingly — the Democratic primary. “Stop Zohran! Save Your City!” they screamed. “Socialism, antisemitism, extremism. They’re all coming to NYC if Zohran Mamdani becomes Mayor. We need Andrew Cuomo.” These messages were paid for by “Fix the City, Inc.” which was “not expressly or otherwise authorized or requested by any candidate or the candidate’s committee or agent.” That opaque disclaimer — the apotheosis of the non-denial denial — defies deciphering by grand grammarians, stunning syntacticians, and cunning cryptologists alike. The idea that super PACs do not coordinate with candidate committees — despite being prohibited by law — somehow requires a suspension of disbelief on a scale capable, if it were an actual physical force, of moving mountains or sending Dorothy back to Kansas. Also, Santa Claus is real.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Andrew Cuomo himself took to thundering: “If Zohran Mamdani is elected Mayor, Donald Trump will invade New York City.” News flash for the former governor: Trump will do what he wants no matter what. In his endorsement of Cuomo the toddler-king tweeted: “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home.” News flash for the naked emperor: New York sends far more to Washington than it receives back. I don’t believe for a moment that this city is, or ever has been, “beloved” by Trump. The narcissist-in-chief loves no one but himself; adulation is the only thing that can fill his sails puny, and as he plunges further into dementia his tiny cognitive landscape requires ever more flattery and praise.
And he hates New York, especially the Manhattan core. The boy from Queens grew up resenting the swells; he is forever the outsider with his nose pressed to the glass, begging to be invited in and accepted. His presumed wealth bought him the invitation in, but he is still — and forever will be — awaiting acceptance. He is a buffoon, a laughing stock, an interloper tolerated for his amusement value as he stumbles and bumbles around.
A ton of shit (no other word will do) was thrown at Mamdani during the two months between primary and general election. His restraint should be a model for progressives and even centrist Democrats seeking election or reelection anywhere: Don’t take the bait. Hammer your policy points. I myself would be too tempted to correct the “communist” slur with fact, to point out that the oligarchs themselves live in a rarified socialist paradise where profits are private and losses are passed on to the public. Another tempting riposte: If you’re going to throw around scare words (communist! socialist!) it might be a good idea to know what they actually mean. But implicitly calling people stupid isn’t a particularly convincing debate strategy.
Mamdani dared to dream big (free buses for everyone!) and hit the ground running, which isn’t easy in the best of times. These are hardly good times, and the mayor surely had one eye trained closely on the events in Minneapolis. Surely he — and Governor Hochul, and other mayors and governors around the country — have ready plans against the next ICE invasion. Note to the Democratic leadership: stop asking us for money for “the next election” and start showing us that you actually stand for something. Stop tacking to the center; stop trying to triangulate and split the difference; stop pretending that these are normal times; stop beginning your commentary on Venezuela and Iran with irrelevant milquetoast pablum.
Yes, Maduro is a bad guy and held his office with no legitimacy; the mullahs are a repressive regime with no real popular support or mandate. That’s NEITHER THE POINT NOR THE SALIENT ISSUE. The Trump administration is out of control; it runs roughshod over the laws of this land and every other; it cares not a whit for treaties, international law, or the Constitution of the United States — a law which, not incidentally, every senior official has sworn to uphold. They have invaded Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit. Raids in poorer neighborhoods of New York City are frequent and not much reported. ICE is a terrorist organization, funded by our tax dollars.
The impeachable offenses mount daily. Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer: You need to say so. Introduce articles of impeachment. Make the case. Will the House pass them? No, and that is not the point. It’s time to put every Republican on record defending the indefensible. Public opinion is against the administration, but it is not with the Democratic Party. If you don’t understand why, the answer is simple: you don’t stand for anything. You play it safe instead of standing on principle. This moment is not safe for anyone. Timidity and fecklessness are not attractive qualities in leadership.
“We have serious problems in this country, and we need serious people to fix them.” So says Andrew Shepard, the title character in Rob Reiner’s “The American President.” Today’s Republicans — birthed by Gingrich, midwifed by McConnell, and in thrall to Trump — are not serious about anything but amassing power and money for themselves and their biggest donors. Democrats, so far, appear to be more about the next election than about actually moving the country away from the shithole.
And voters: If you really want to help yourselves: maybe you should vote for the Democratic Socialists. They dream big. They stand for something.