Panic at the Ballot Box
How Fear-Based Tactics Failed in the NYC Mayoral Primary. WOOHOO!!!
I had planned to write about something else this week, but the paternalistic uproar over the New York City Democratic primary election has me all worked up. It seems like a perfect topic to explore the monetization and exploitation of fear.
Warning: rant ahead!
The New York City Mayoral Primary: A Breakdown
As most of you probably already know, Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor in New York City. This is basically unprecedented because Zohran is a Democratic Socialist, while most of our recent mayors have been Republicans (Bloomberg, Giuliani) or Democrats-who-seem-to-actually-be-Republicans-and-actually-live-in-New-Jersey (Adams). Sure, we had DiBlasio, who was actually progressive, but due to his negative charisma, everyone kind of hated him even if they liked his policies. He also accidentally killed a groundhog! (Plus, there were accusations of corruption with real estate developers, but really, isn’t that almost every NYC mayor?)
So, what does this mean? In short, New York City is generally very bad at picking mayors.
As a voting bloc, we tend to mostly ignore competent policy wonks, although Kathryn Garcia almost won against Adams. We also have closed primaries (you have to be registered with a party to vote), and we tend to have turnouts below 30% in mayoral primaries.
Why does this matter? Obviously, a few shouldn’t decide for many. Local government tends to have a greater impact on our everyday lives than the federal government. Local issues also “trickle up” to become national issues.
“In a presentation for the 2016 American Political Science Association, three academics found that state parties began addressing the issues of abortion and gay rights many years before those issues began emerging in the national party platforms.”
I believe we drastically underestimate the importance of local elections, including primaries.
Full disclosure before I proceed: I ranked Brad Lander first because I like his record and think he’s an effective legislator. I ranked Zohran second, because I like his ideas, even though I think he’ll face major obstacles enacting many of them—although I think Lander will be a help in that regard, if he is awarded a place in the administration. But, per my last piece, Zohran actually has a proactive agenda, not a reactive one. I think that’s really important!
I did not rank Cuomo at all. I did not like his manipulative use of the IDC to block Democratic legislation and his sexual harassment.
The Reaction to Zohran’s Win
To put it bluntly: total hysteria. The media and assorted billionaires and celebrities basically lost their minds.
The infantilization of the voters has been sort of mind-boggling. Adams, our current mayor, was indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges last fall and there was less outcry about that than there is about Zohran’s primary victory. (I’ll also point out, cynically, that there is never an outcry about women feeling unsafe when sexual harassers or even convicted rapists are running for office.)
To be clear, I’m sympathetic to Jewish fears about anti-Semitism. I’ve (mostly) lived in two places, South Florida and New York City. Embarrassingly, I was in college before I realized that Jewish people were not, say, 40-50 percent of the US population, because that was my personal reality. When I was about twelve and already unenthusiastic about attending a Baptist church instead of my family’s usual Presbyterian services, I “lost religion” when the youth pastor said that Jews were going to burn in eternal hellfire because they did not accept Jesus as their savior. I couldn’t be on board with a God that let half my friends go to hell because they had different beliefs.
Unfortunately, anti-Semitism does seem to be on the rise, although I think there’s far more of it on the right. (I also think that blatant Islamophobia gets far less media attention, like this woman who was beaten on the subway for being Muslim.)
Regardless, after the primary, the accusations of anti-Semitism were flying—and, to be honest, they often seemed to stem more from the fact that Zohran is Muslim, rather than anything he said.
He has repeatedly denounced anti-Semitism. He’s done many interviews and has probably made hundreds of videos during his campaign (which is how I first became aware of him), but one small snippet from a Bulwark podcast has been seized upon. Zohran supposedly refused to decry the phrase “globalize the intifada.” I don’t believe that’s an accurate portrayal of what he said, but I’ll let you be the judge.
Here’s the two-minute clip. Maybe you’ll feel differently.
Regardless, the uproar over Zohran’s victory (or likely victory) was immediate.
Here’s what Debra Messing re-posted the night before the election, which seems straight-up bigoted to me by equating Muslims with terrorists. The post didn’t originate with her, but she clearly endorsed the sentiment.
Here’s what actress Jill Kargman posted on social media the day after the election, which seems to me—a non-Jew—to minimize the true horrors of Kristallnacht.
It’s from this New York Times article. Here’s a headline and subhead from another New York Times piece:
And, of course, the unfortunately ever-present Bill Ackman wrote multiple tweets about funding another candidate (it’s legally too late for anything but a write-in candidate) and taking some unspecified legal action.
And certain MAGA officials are looking into having Zohran deported because he is a naturalized citizen. New Yorkers—many of whom lived through 9/11, like me—are apparently not smart enough to figure out who is a “terrorist” and who isn’t. Cool, cool.
Look, I didn’t even rank Eric Adams in the last mayoral primary because I thought (rightfully, it turns out!) that he was a corrupt grifter, but…he won. Was I a big baby? No. I know how the democratic process works. I held my nose and voted for him over Sliwa, in a “lesser of two evils” kind of scenario.
Trust me, I would have loved to have been wrong about Adams. Unfortunately, I wasn’t!
Fear-Based Messaging Has Been Driving Elections
So, I probably don’t have to do much explaining about what I mean about “fear-based” following those screenshots. Is this fear rational? I don’t believe it is. Zohran has condemned both October 7th and the war in Gaza.
But fear is highly motivating for many people. It motivates them to vote. Personally, I’m done with the fear-based political messaging. I don’t want mailings telling me to fear an opponent—I want messaging that tells me what political candidates are planning to do. You know, proactive messaging instead of reactive.
I have a pet theory that the New York Post (owned by Rupert Murdoch) won the last election for Eric Adams because of the constant CRIME WAVE!!! headlines; this article seems to agree with me. Yes, there was a spike in violence during the pandemic, but murders and shootings have fallen dramatically post-pandemic. However, misdemeanors remain high.
To be honest, I was really heartened to see the cooperation between Zohran and Brad Lander as they cross-endorsed each other. (Funny that there are no glowing articles about this Jewish-Muslim alliance.) And when Brad Lander was arrested while escorting a man out of his immigration hearing, his fellow primary candidates Zohran, Adrienne Adams, Scott Stringer, Zellnor Myrie, and Michael Blake all showed up to demonstrate their support. In my opinion, this kind of alliance-building can only help Democrats. There needs to be more of it.
As a side note, someone on the internet was complaining vociferously about Zohran’s win. I asked them when they last volunteered on a campaign. The answer? Thirteen years ago.
I’m going to say this again and again. If you aren’t happy with your choices—either locally or nationally—get out and volunteer for someone you DO believe in. As I’ve pointed out again and again, political agendas tend to surface locally years before they make it into the national platform. Working for local candidates is the best way to direct the national conversation, although you’re not going to see instant payoff.
Whatever the outcome of the mayoral election, big money (like Cuomo’s super PAC) and fear-based political messaging failed in the primary. Perhaps that’s the real victory here.