Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor has been a source of optimism and inspiration for people across the country who hate the political establishment.
Many Democratic bigwigs panicked, refusing to endorse him. They huddled together in backroom meetings, plotting ways to defeat him. But after a few months, some in the party have changed their tune. Zohran has now been endorsed by a number of prominent Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
Pressure from the class enemy
Despite slanderous attacks in the mainstream press, Zohran is currently leading in the polls, ahead of his widely discredited, openly pro-capitalist rivals by double digits.
Over the last few months, the ruling class have been testing the frontrunner to see how well he’ll stand up to pressure. They initially feared Zohran’s campaign would embolden a section of the working class. They don’t want him creating an expectation of achieving reforms at a time when the crisis of capitalism requires attacks on the working class. But after observing the trajectory of Zohran’s campaign, their fears have been relieved.
These endorsements come after Zohran backed down in the face of attacks from the capitalist press. At a closed-door meeting with NYC executives, he promised to discourage his supporters from using the slogan “globalize the Intifada.” He later told The New York Times that he owed cops an apology for saying the NYPD was “racist, anti-queer, and a major threat to public safety” during the 2020 BLM movement. He’s also distanced himself from the Democratic Socialists of America: “My platform is not the same as national DSA.”
Zohran also had a series of phone calls and meetings with prominent Democratic politicians, including Hochul, Barack Obama, and Michael Bloomberg. While the content of the discussions remain secret, these meetings must have been, in part, a test of Zohran’s ability to withstand pressure from the class enemy. Both sides described them as cordial and productive, indicating the attitude that Zohran took in the face of this pressure.
Zohran showed Democratic elites that he’s willing to make concessions in exchange for gaining or maintaining establishment support. Rather than seeing him as a threat, they now see that he can be pressured and co-opted. At a time when the Democrats are weaker than ever, they see it as more useful to make him part of their team in order to give the party a “progressive” rebrand.
“Unifying our party”
Zohran was enthusiastic in response to Hochul’s endorsement: “I’m grateful for the Governor’s support in unifying our party, her resolve in standing up to Trump, and her focus on making New York affordable. I look forward to the great work we will accomplish together. Our movement is only growing stronger.”
This reveals the reason Zohran has made concessions. He sees the Democratic Party and its politicians as neutral in the fight for socialism. They’re “our party” and part of “our movement.” He doesn’t see his campaign as a way to raise working-class confidence, consciousness, and unity. Instead, getting elected is the end goal and support from the likes of Hochul is a useful means to that end.
The reality is that the entire political establishment, including the Democrats, defend the interests of the capitalist class and capitalism as a whole. They are enemies of the working class and the fight for socialism.
A genuine communist campaign for office would not have the goal of winning at all costs. Our aim would be to sharpen working-class consciousness as part of the broader class struggle—even if that meant losing the election. With this in mind, we would maintain class independence by running outside of both capitalist parties and wouldn’t crumble when pressured by the ruling class.
In bed with a strikebreaker
Contrary to Zohran’s statement, Hochul’s endorsement doesn’t make the socialist movement stronger, but weakens it by linking socialism to a staunch enemy of the working class.
Commenting on a potential strike of Long Island Rail Road workers, Hochul recently said:
We have to get away from the strike language, and the White House and others should be using their power to say: “You’re not allowed to strike. You cannot strike; work it out at the table.”
Zohran is now tied to this strikebreaker. By hinging his success on support from her and other class enemies, he’ll be forced to remain silent, or even support reactionary anti-worker policies like this.
But there is another path that Zohran could take if he understood the class line dividing society. He could take a step that would represent a real strengthening of the socialist movement: breaking with the class enemies in the Democratic Party and calling on his legions of supporters to form a party of the working class.