Thinking Citizen Blog —Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) and Zohran Mamdani, Democratic Party Candidate For Mayor Of New York — The Moment of Truth
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process Reform, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) and Zohran Mamdani, Democratic Party candidate for Mayor of New York — the Moment of Truth
There is an old saying that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Can Senator Chuck Schumer be Chuck Schumer and support Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for Mayor of New York?
Today, excerpts from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Chuck Schumer’s Mamdani Test.”
According to Newsweek, Mamdani has a 73.6% chance of winning in November. A poll reported in Politico shows 35% of registered voters supporting Mamdani versus 25% for Cuomo, 14% for Republican Silwa, and 9% for Eric Adams.
Any strong opinions? predictions?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“WILL THE SENATOR ABANDON HIS LIFE LONG CONVICTIONS?” (below, Senator Schumer)
1. “Mr. Mamdani is a socialist who spoke as an Assemblyman of ‘seizing the means of production’ and blamed Israel, not Hamas, on Oct. 6, 2023.”
2. “You’d think Mr. Schumer, the author in March of ‘Antisemitism in America: A Warning’ would have a lot to say about that. But the Senator who used to boast of being a shomer, or guardian, of the Jewish people today mainly guards his left flank.”
3. “He fears a primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another socialist, but Mr. Mamdani is more than just a test of right-left politics. This is a defining moment in Mr. Schumer’s political career.”
SENATOR SCHUMER CONGRATULATES MR. MAMDANI ON HIS VICTORY (below Mr. Mamdani)
1. “I have known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers and fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria.”
2. “He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, and opportunity.”
MAMDANI HAS SUPPORTED A BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL WHICH SCHUMER HAS CALLED A MODERN VERSION OF ANTISEMITISM
1. “None of this stopped Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose Manhattan district includes a substantial Jewish population, from endorsing Mr. Mamdani.”
2. “He even gave the candidate his kosher stamp of approval, saying they’d fight antisemitism together.”
3. “Asked if he will follow Mr. Nadler’s lead, Mr. Schumer said only that he has spoken to Mr. Mamdani and plans to meet with him.”
NB: “But what’s there to talk about. Mr. Mamdani has made clear his socialism and his views about Israel and Jews who support it. The question is whether Mr. Schumer is going to turn his back on a good portion of his life’s work.”
FOOTNOTE — Remember that being Mayor of New York is very different from being a Senator.
1. Mamdani, if elected, will be in charge of the nation’s largest police force (36,000 uniformed officers).
2. And the country’s largest education department (77,000 public school teachers).
3. And a budget of over $115 billion.
NB: Will there be a serious “Stop Mamdani” campaign? Why not? Should there be?
Opinion | Chuck Schumer’s Mamdani Test
Zohran Mamdani leads general election poll for NYC mayor
Zohran Mamdani’s chances of beating Eric Adams, according to polls
Opinion | If Zohran Mamdani Wins, Then What?
Opinion | We’ll All Pay for New York’s Mamdani Folly
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
