‘A Trump of the Left’?

The Democrats Fall in Line

One of the dark speculations of our current era concerns what would happen if there were “a Trump of the left” — that is, if someone just as demagogic, power-hungry, and destructive as the dictator were to arise among the progressives.

I believe we now have a definitive answer to that question, as a result of Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy for mayor of New York. For obvious reasons, he cannot fill the role of a true “Trump of the left,” but the reaction to his advent is instructive, and disturbing. Mainstream Democrats were quite wary of him at first, even while the left-wing of the party embraced him enthusiastically both before and after his primary victory, and asked indignantly why the remains of the party establishment weren’t quicker to jump on the bandwagon. Was it his devotion to the cause of “Palestine,” a cause all right-thinking people ought to embrace completely and uncritically, from the river to the sea? Was it his righteous advocacy for the poor, as shown by his proposals to abolish fares throughout New York City’s transit system, impose a rent freeze, and open city-owned groceries to sell cheap food? Surely, anyone who has any qualms about these ideas, let alone opposes them, is a heartless reactionary who wants to see people starve in the streets! This is the left-wing version of MAGA magical thinking, but cautious Democrats have been scolded for not jumping right on board with what they are told younger voters are yearning for.