Getting Sentimental

It's no longer "the economy, stupid"

The primary victory of Zohran Mamdani has reignited debate about anti-capitalist sentiment. In particular, his “billionaires shouldn’t exist” comment sent the business lobby into a tizzy:

The bad news is that NYC does not allow residents to own guns, so this is more likely going to be a series of 1,000-word tweets in support of a deeply flawed candidate freed of indictment only by the refusal of the Trump DOJ to prosecute him. As a reminder, Adams was a Democrat when he ran in 2022.

Oh… but that was then… and this is now. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Many expressed outrage and shock, convinced that the elevation of Mamdani is an indictment of American economic ignorance. But I have to hand it to a “random Redditor” for accurately calling this one:

One dude ran on a platform of making stuff cheaper in the most expensive city in America. He is a good speaker, young, funny, and conventionally attractive. The other major candidate was a serial sexual predator who was basically forced to resign from public office in disgrace, is almost 70, and couldn’t even pronounce his opponent’s name correctly. — MrPrez180

This is the changing of the guard. The NYC Democratic establishment went with the “safe” Joe Biden-choice (name recognition) and lost yet again. A divided opposition in the general election, with former Guardian Angel Curtis Sliwa (71) reprising his losing campaign against Eric Adams, and Eric Adams (64) playing the Ralph Nader third-party spoiler. Surprise, surprise, the 33-year old Mamdani carried the youth vote and drove a surge of new registrations:

The Democratic primary skewed radically younger than the 2021 election; expect 2026 and 2028 to become even more skewed as the Boomers finally exit stage right.

In other words, get ready for more of this — because the people are unhappy and “jobs” and “inflation” no longer explain “Why?”:

While political tribalism plays a role, with Democrats and Republicans split since 2016, note that BOTH parties have seen a 32-40 point sentiment decline since the first Trump administration: