One last thought - Zohran ran a very conventional campaign in a lot of ways. He had an incredible ground game and focused on basic cost of living issues while his opponent tried to beat him with culture war attacks about Gaza and Crime.
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Dems need to purge the magats who are hiding behind centrism because they can’t get elected in a “blue” state unless they “look” blue. Cuomo could move to a red state, run as a Republican, and win by a landslide without changing anything. Purge his backers too.
The alliances he was able to form were unique for a primary because of RCV, but are a great model for a general election. The big things that stand out are his video acumen and his authenticity, which I think are pretty linked. There’s nothing here other Dems can’t emulate.
It’s easy to fall back on cynicism like this but the reality of being a successful politician (and you have to be successful to get to the national level) is that you have to be able to be charismatic in a way that (at least) reads as real, and this gives the green light to do that.
I wouldn’t call Lander traditionally charismatic, but he reads as honest and real and that seems to have made a big impact on his ability to persuade his voters to give Mamdani a chance
That, to me, is the key; he walked the streets, talked to people about what concerned them, and communicated authentically. No hocus-pocus, and no entitlement.
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GOTV efforts do NOT make a ton of money for political consultants.
People still talk about John Lindsey's good looks.