Gary, Get a grip. You are vastly overestimating the brain power behind the Trump “strategist” fantasy. He honestly believes that if HIS NAME had been on the ballot, he would have won easily. His philosophy parallels Putin’s more than Reagan’s. It’s his basic philosophy. The last time America was in this situation, the solution was the “Great Depression” and WWII. Incrementalism isn’t going to solve anything in NYC.
Don’t prostitute yourself into another Trump apologist rationalizing your knee jerk reaction to Mamdani. Socialism doesn’t equal Communism. And you know that. Look at many Western nations, including Israel… there’s a lot of so-called “socialism” built into their system. Where’s your outrage there?
I lived in France when Mitterand was elected with the same accompanying hysteria. The affordability crisis is NYC has become existential for everyone but the wealthiest top percentages. The people who live there are entitled to deal with this problem without outsiders injecting their own battle scars leftover from the Cold War-Soviet Union landscape. The players are no longer clearly defined as to which side they are on. The world has changed. The chessboard is no longer so clearly defined. Stop looking backwards.
Thank you, Phyllis! I was pondering how to respectfully point out that a personal trauma from communism should not idealise centrist conservatism. Then I read your comment and my words became superfluous.
I hope that Gary's words here are not representative of the movement he is founding.
I’d still like to hear your thoughts on the subject, especially as a European, and as someone who knows Holland and the quality of life there. There’s no panacea, but all this absolutism has distorted the conversation into threats, sloganeering and jingoism. There’s room for debate, but not for intolerance.
For starters I would call Mamdani's proposal much more social democratic than democratic socialist. He does not attack capitalism, but pleads for a slightly fairer distribution of wealth, for example by taxing the extremely rich. To me that sounds exactly like the system most European countries have. In the Netherlands we have rent freezes in the social housing sector and a tax rebate on rent for those that still can't afford the rent, because housing is considered an essential right, like food.
The debate on issues like that in the USA seems less about economic or even democratic principles than about racism. I think it is difficult to find a true conversation around why one wouldn't want to lessen income inequality without taking into account systemic discrimination. I think Gary Kasparov underestimates the influence of race/colour in American politics and overestimates what Americans mean by communism and socialism.
Phyllis, the counterfactual we cannot access is whether the seeming absolutism today is a result of our current methods for monetization. Today, the details of various issues fall away but the sentiments have created an emotional quagmire.
Anyone over 50 remembers such public-private exasperation (“I’m not a wimp”) that tended to fade out over a few hours, maybe days. Now, such distorted conversation tends to live on for days, weeks, becoming ever more distorted - motivated - revived.
We complain that news cycles are shorter than our attention now, but the network has become our longer term, ruminating, distorting memory. The network has a “feeling”.
I can’t disagree. Americans are screaming about Mamdani calling him a “ commie-nazi-fascist” having zero understanding of the meaning of any of those monikers. The ignorance and ingrained stereotypes are simply staggering in what is supposedly the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. What an incredible waste of resources and a failure of leadership, education & governance.
You’d be surprised how much power the majority mayor of a city like NYC has over, for example, the cost of shelter, especially in the rental sector. He controls the regulatory environment in which the city’s housing market has to function. Price controls would have an enormous impact… but everything would be probably contested in the courts. He would likely prevail. 50 years ago, the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy and extraordinary powers were granted/ discovered to save it. Despite assurances to the contrary, the courts are heavily influenced by the politicians in charge. This is only one of the many ways the city’s mayor can make himself a vital figure in the cost of shelter. There’s a myriad of other ways the mayor is in the catbird’s seat. Just like with Trump & the presidency, the true limits to his authority have not been tested to the degree that Mamdani will probably push. But that’s why the voters of NYC overwhelmingly chose him. He has a mandate to reduce the cost of living. And I fully expect him to test new boundaries. That’s why he was elected.
Respectfully disagree on Mamdani. It's a mistake to let your opponent characterize you. and Trump's go to phrases about radical left-wing terrorists is old and tired. Mamdani is personable and likeable and articulate. He's focused on affordability and that issue speaks to the reality of the American economy. No, I am not afraid of Mamdani being an impediment to the Democrat chances electorally. I think he's a net positive. Of course, I may be wrong. But just on personality alone (which is more important than details) Mamdani is an easy choice for anyone vs Trump.
Respectfully I think you give Donald too much credit. Now his advisor(s) probably went thru that thought process (“Mamdani helps us”) and probably the last person that Donald spoke to before endorsing Cuomo told him to endorse Cuomo cause that is how Donald’s brain works. But i tend to think Donald endorse Cuomo cause he thought it would push Cuomo over the line(to the extent Donald thinks at all).
But GOP members who are thrilled about Mamdani winning should be mindful of all those Dems who wanted Donald to win the nomination in 2015, as he would be destroyed in the general election.
I think that the point behind Trump's endorsement of Cuomo was to shift votes from Sliwa to Cuomo, and that he was actually effective in doing that, but it wasn't enough for Cuomo to win.
Rather than a binary choice one vs the other, I think this more a broadening of the tent to include those from the left and yes, the right. There is a recognition, correctly so, that oligarchs wield an inordinate amount of power in politics that is counter to the democratic experiment and the ideals of this country. People see through the smokescreens of culture wars and left-right division that have been the tools of distracting the populace from what matters. Having a broad coalition, where collaboration on shared interests is the MO even where there may be disagreement in other areas is a winning formula.
Dems better keep their eyes on the ball. Mamdani may have riz but I have a hard time seeing him going beyond NYC. He ran a good campaign against the most terrible opponents including Adams and Cuomo. If anything, this prevented the Cuomo comeback for a future presidential run. The cozying up with Corbyn was terrible and one only hopes that he governs practically. Sherrill’s margin was unexpected but I was pleasantly surprised. She was not a good campaigner but I have high hopes for her as governor. It was quite a good story seeing her and former roommate Abigail Spanberger both making history last night.
Your analysis is great and i can see your point. I wonder two things however:
1. Trump hates to look weak. This morning Trump sounded like he had no plan and was beaten down. Not a “mission accomplished” moment.
"I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor," Trump said. "Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor."Trump added: "And they say that I wasn't on the ballot and was the biggest factor. But I don't know about that. But I was honored that they said that."
2. I havent seen this kind of enthusiasm for a candidate since Trump and Obama first came on the scene. There is the possibility that Trump branded Mamdani the communist antichrist because game recognize game.
I agree with Phyllis on Trump. He has attention span of a pigeon and I doubt he is playing 3D chess here. NYC is in steady decline. Unlike many other large cities, mostly in the South, its population has been stagnant and its GDP growth has been below USA average. The biggest risk for NYC is its tax base. 10% of wealthiest in the city pay 72% of taxes, while the bottom 50% pays almost nothing. When combined with state taxes, NYC has one of the highest tax burdens in the country. But what do we get in return? Lousy public schools despite $38k in spending per student, crumbling infrastructure, awful government services (we had to pay $1,000 expediter fee and wait several month to get city permit for minor kitchen renovation). Socialism sounds good on paper but how are we going to pay for it, especially if we lose a few rich people? I would be careful using Western Europe and especially France are a role model. Europe is a museum running out of money. There is no innovation, no economic growth with most countries buried in debt.
I for one can’t wait for the rich to start leaving NYC and make the housing market more sane. If you are one of those and you prefer shedding money for home insurance and hurricane rebuilding every year, rather than taxes for better schools, I’ll swap you for my house here in FL. Surely you’ll like a swampy retarded state full of morons waving guns, than the city that never sleeps? Deal?
FL has no income tax too, you don’t need heating most of the year, cooling you can compensate by going to the beach or fans eveywhere. That said, surely they have other ways to collect tax for their roads, schools and police? Or do you still think those things are not necessary? All that said - good luck and good riddance.
Additionally, a quick research on the NH tax structure will inform you that in fact most taxes in that state are collected from businesses, as opposed to individuals. Talk about “small government”. Maybe that’s the key. Overall in the US, the country of socialism for the wealthy and harsh capitalism for the rest, most taxes are collected from the working class. The wealthy have a swiss cheese of loopholes to avoid paying any taxes at all. Oh, and the population of NH is 1/6 of the population of NYC alone.
Big tent. The right candidate for the right locale. Affordability. Accountability to the voters, not the lobbyists, corps and dark money. Reform needed, but Momdani as the great new hope is not the answer; nationwide he’s likely to be a boon to the GOP, as Garry states.
The Guardian just explained how Mamdani's proposals seem totally normal to most Europeans. It also points at similar programs in the USA that work just fine:
Mamdani’s popularity will drop when he fails at bringing down the cost of living (a pretty hard thing to do). He’s charismatic like Trump but that will only take him so far.
Affordability In America And Purchasing Power Of The Dollar
It’s clear that there is an affordability crisis in the US So called “Socialist Democrats” Zohran Mamdami(New York) and Katie Wilson(Seattle) winning mayoral races in major US cities on opposite coasts of the country bring a resounding signal to America at large that the cost of living is a major issue concerning the electorate
But while the efforts at all levels of government should be applauded, the bandaids that are being put forth just like Harris tried to do in 2024 will not work because the underlying problem in the US economy is the failure of the currency and its purchasing power WHICH HAS LOST 99% OF WHAT IT WAS IN 1971 WHEN NIXON TOOK THE COUNTRY OFF A GOLD STANDARD That’s called inflation!!
The Fed’s economists are simply in denial that a return to a gold standard will help solve the inflationary spiral that the country is in along with cutting fiscal spending We are headed for a 1929 financial implosion unless the Fed wakes up but WE shouldn’t hold our collective breath The only thing to do now is get out of dollars and into Constitutionally(Article 1 Section 8)sound money which is gold and silver
Agree heartily! Nobody zeroes in on “Radical Lunatic Leftists” like MAGA. Trump has long promoted divider candidates. Progressives can’t resist dividers. They will shun victories to go down with them. Now comes the Mamdani Circus 🎶 🎪 buckle in. 🎢
Gary, Get a grip. You are vastly overestimating the brain power behind the Trump “strategist” fantasy. He honestly believes that if HIS NAME had been on the ballot, he would have won easily. His philosophy parallels Putin’s more than Reagan’s. It’s his basic philosophy. The last time America was in this situation, the solution was the “Great Depression” and WWII. Incrementalism isn’t going to solve anything in NYC.
Don’t prostitute yourself into another Trump apologist rationalizing your knee jerk reaction to Mamdani. Socialism doesn’t equal Communism. And you know that. Look at many Western nations, including Israel… there’s a lot of so-called “socialism” built into their system. Where’s your outrage there?
I lived in France when Mitterand was elected with the same accompanying hysteria. The affordability crisis is NYC has become existential for everyone but the wealthiest top percentages. The people who live there are entitled to deal with this problem without outsiders injecting their own battle scars leftover from the Cold War-Soviet Union landscape. The players are no longer clearly defined as to which side they are on. The world has changed. The chessboard is no longer so clearly defined. Stop looking backwards.
Thank you, Phyllis! I was pondering how to respectfully point out that a personal trauma from communism should not idealise centrist conservatism. Then I read your comment and my words became superfluous.
I hope that Gary's words here are not representative of the movement he is founding.
I’d still like to hear your thoughts on the subject, especially as a European, and as someone who knows Holland and the quality of life there. There’s no panacea, but all this absolutism has distorted the conversation into threats, sloganeering and jingoism. There’s room for debate, but not for intolerance.
For starters I would call Mamdani's proposal much more social democratic than democratic socialist. He does not attack capitalism, but pleads for a slightly fairer distribution of wealth, for example by taxing the extremely rich. To me that sounds exactly like the system most European countries have. In the Netherlands we have rent freezes in the social housing sector and a tax rebate on rent for those that still can't afford the rent, because housing is considered an essential right, like food.
The debate on issues like that in the USA seems less about economic or even democratic principles than about racism. I think it is difficult to find a true conversation around why one wouldn't want to lessen income inequality without taking into account systemic discrimination. I think Gary Kasparov underestimates the influence of race/colour in American politics and overestimates what Americans mean by communism and socialism.
Phyllis, the counterfactual we cannot access is whether the seeming absolutism today is a result of our current methods for monetization. Today, the details of various issues fall away but the sentiments have created an emotional quagmire.
Anyone over 50 remembers such public-private exasperation (“I’m not a wimp”) that tended to fade out over a few hours, maybe days. Now, such distorted conversation tends to live on for days, weeks, becoming ever more distorted - motivated - revived.
We complain that news cycles are shorter than our attention now, but the network has become our longer term, ruminating, distorting memory. The network has a “feeling”.
I can’t disagree. Americans are screaming about Mamdani calling him a “ commie-nazi-fascist” having zero understanding of the meaning of any of those monikers. The ignorance and ingrained stereotypes are simply staggering in what is supposedly the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. What an incredible waste of resources and a failure of leadership, education & governance.
But can Mamdani realistically do much about the cost of living?
You’d be surprised how much power the majority mayor of a city like NYC has over, for example, the cost of shelter, especially in the rental sector. He controls the regulatory environment in which the city’s housing market has to function. Price controls would have an enormous impact… but everything would be probably contested in the courts. He would likely prevail. 50 years ago, the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy and extraordinary powers were granted/ discovered to save it. Despite assurances to the contrary, the courts are heavily influenced by the politicians in charge. This is only one of the many ways the city’s mayor can make himself a vital figure in the cost of shelter. There’s a myriad of other ways the mayor is in the catbird’s seat. Just like with Trump & the presidency, the true limits to his authority have not been tested to the degree that Mamdani will probably push. But that’s why the voters of NYC overwhelmingly chose him. He has a mandate to reduce the cost of living. And I fully expect him to test new boundaries. That’s why he was elected.
A rent freeze would help, I’ve heard.
Yes. Why wouldn't he be able to?
How?
Please read this Guardian article https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/europe-zohran-mamdani-policies-normal
I’ll check it out. But note that national leaders have a lot more power than city mayors.
Still, a city of 8 million people could set a good example.
Respectfully disagree on Mamdani. It's a mistake to let your opponent characterize you. and Trump's go to phrases about radical left-wing terrorists is old and tired. Mamdani is personable and likeable and articulate. He's focused on affordability and that issue speaks to the reality of the American economy. No, I am not afraid of Mamdani being an impediment to the Democrat chances electorally. I think he's a net positive. Of course, I may be wrong. But just on personality alone (which is more important than details) Mamdani is an easy choice for anyone vs Trump.
Respectfully I think you give Donald too much credit. Now his advisor(s) probably went thru that thought process (“Mamdani helps us”) and probably the last person that Donald spoke to before endorsing Cuomo told him to endorse Cuomo cause that is how Donald’s brain works. But i tend to think Donald endorse Cuomo cause he thought it would push Cuomo over the line(to the extent Donald thinks at all).
But GOP members who are thrilled about Mamdani winning should be mindful of all those Dems who wanted Donald to win the nomination in 2015, as he would be destroyed in the general election.
That went swimmingly didn’t it?
Garry, there is no reason to surrender in advance to the GOP's fascist propaganda framing of Democrats.
> Trump knows his reputation in his hometown, and he knew the effect his intervention on Cuomo’s behalf could have.
Trump is a legend in his own mind. He probably thought Cuomo could win with his endorsement.
I think that the point behind Trump's endorsement of Cuomo was to shift votes from Sliwa to Cuomo, and that he was actually effective in doing that, but it wasn't enough for Cuomo to win.
Rather than a binary choice one vs the other, I think this more a broadening of the tent to include those from the left and yes, the right. There is a recognition, correctly so, that oligarchs wield an inordinate amount of power in politics that is counter to the democratic experiment and the ideals of this country. People see through the smokescreens of culture wars and left-right division that have been the tools of distracting the populace from what matters. Having a broad coalition, where collaboration on shared interests is the MO even where there may be disagreement in other areas is a winning formula.
Dems better keep their eyes on the ball. Mamdani may have riz but I have a hard time seeing him going beyond NYC. He ran a good campaign against the most terrible opponents including Adams and Cuomo. If anything, this prevented the Cuomo comeback for a future presidential run. The cozying up with Corbyn was terrible and one only hopes that he governs practically. Sherrill’s margin was unexpected but I was pleasantly surprised. She was not a good campaigner but I have high hopes for her as governor. It was quite a good story seeing her and former roommate Abigail Spanberger both making history last night.
Your analysis is great and i can see your point. I wonder two things however:
1. Trump hates to look weak. This morning Trump sounded like he had no plan and was beaten down. Not a “mission accomplished” moment.
"I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor," Trump said. "Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor."Trump added: "And they say that I wasn't on the ballot and was the biggest factor. But I don't know about that. But I was honored that they said that."
2. I havent seen this kind of enthusiasm for a candidate since Trump and Obama first came on the scene. There is the possibility that Trump branded Mamdani the communist antichrist because game recognize game.
I agree with Phyllis on Trump. He has attention span of a pigeon and I doubt he is playing 3D chess here. NYC is in steady decline. Unlike many other large cities, mostly in the South, its population has been stagnant and its GDP growth has been below USA average. The biggest risk for NYC is its tax base. 10% of wealthiest in the city pay 72% of taxes, while the bottom 50% pays almost nothing. When combined with state taxes, NYC has one of the highest tax burdens in the country. But what do we get in return? Lousy public schools despite $38k in spending per student, crumbling infrastructure, awful government services (we had to pay $1,000 expediter fee and wait several month to get city permit for minor kitchen renovation). Socialism sounds good on paper but how are we going to pay for it, especially if we lose a few rich people? I would be careful using Western Europe and especially France are a role model. Europe is a museum running out of money. There is no innovation, no economic growth with most countries buried in debt.
I for one can’t wait for the rich to start leaving NYC and make the housing market more sane. If you are one of those and you prefer shedding money for home insurance and hurricane rebuilding every year, rather than taxes for better schools, I’ll swap you for my house here in FL. Surely you’ll like a swampy retarded state full of morons waving guns, than the city that never sleeps? Deal?
We are leaving for NH. I prefer colder weather. Live free or die :), no sales tax, no income tax. Great state.
FL has no income tax too, you don’t need heating most of the year, cooling you can compensate by going to the beach or fans eveywhere. That said, surely they have other ways to collect tax for their roads, schools and police? Or do you still think those things are not necessary? All that said - good luck and good riddance.
NH kids consistently perform best, or close to the best in the country. (https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?sfj=NP&chort=3&sub=MAT&sj=&st=MN&year=2013R3), NH has the lowest crime rate in the country (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/safest-states), the roads are pretty good too despite the winter weather (https://www.newsweek.com/map-reveals-states-best-worst-kept-roads-2105065). Small government spending keeps the economy healthy. Lots of private, catholic and charter schools helps too.
Additionally, a quick research on the NH tax structure will inform you that in fact most taxes in that state are collected from businesses, as opposed to individuals. Talk about “small government”. Maybe that’s the key. Overall in the US, the country of socialism for the wealthy and harsh capitalism for the rest, most taxes are collected from the working class. The wealthy have a swiss cheese of loopholes to avoid paying any taxes at all. Oh, and the population of NH is 1/6 of the population of NYC alone.
The only thing that private, catholic and charter schools do is breed cults and out-of-touch entitled frats and brats.
Interesting, would love to see some data/research about this?
Can't argue with Garry, bloody hell he's right!
Big tent. The right candidate for the right locale. Affordability. Accountability to the voters, not the lobbyists, corps and dark money. Reform needed, but Momdani as the great new hope is not the answer; nationwide he’s likely to be a boon to the GOP, as Garry states.
The Guardian just explained how Mamdani's proposals seem totally normal to most Europeans. It also points at similar programs in the USA that work just fine:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/europe-zohran-mamdani-policies-normal
https://substack.com/@sergemil/note/p-178138133?r=3znpi3&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Mamdani’s popularity will drop when he fails at bringing down the cost of living (a pretty hard thing to do). He’s charismatic like Trump but that will only take him so far.
Affordability In America And Purchasing Power Of The Dollar
It’s clear that there is an affordability crisis in the US So called “Socialist Democrats” Zohran Mamdami(New York) and Katie Wilson(Seattle) winning mayoral races in major US cities on opposite coasts of the country bring a resounding signal to America at large that the cost of living is a major issue concerning the electorate
But while the efforts at all levels of government should be applauded, the bandaids that are being put forth just like Harris tried to do in 2024 will not work because the underlying problem in the US economy is the failure of the currency and its purchasing power WHICH HAS LOST 99% OF WHAT IT WAS IN 1971 WHEN NIXON TOOK THE COUNTRY OFF A GOLD STANDARD That’s called inflation!!
The Fed’s economists are simply in denial that a return to a gold standard will help solve the inflationary spiral that the country is in along with cutting fiscal spending We are headed for a 1929 financial implosion unless the Fed wakes up but WE shouldn’t hold our collective breath The only thing to do now is get out of dollars and into Constitutionally(Article 1 Section 8)sound money which is gold and silver
Agree heartily! Nobody zeroes in on “Radical Lunatic Leftists” like MAGA. Trump has long promoted divider candidates. Progressives can’t resist dividers. They will shun victories to go down with them. Now comes the Mamdani Circus 🎶 🎪 buckle in. 🎢