The Problem with Zohran Mamdani

The Eleven Demands list is a useful tool for evaluating candidates. Take, for instance, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (who is running in the Democratic Party primary). Let's compare:

• Eleven Demands: We need a minimum standard of living for everyone

• Zohran Mamdani: We need to lower the cost of living for working class New Yorkers

• Eleven Demands: Ban for-profit health insurance and reject all privatization schemes

• Zohran Mamdani: Take on the fragmented, for-profit healthcare system and lower costs

• Eleven Demands: Cut police budgets and reallocate the resources to the community

• Zohran Mamdani: Police have a critical role to play

• Eleven Demands: End the wars; end support of all governments that engage in settler colonialism and genocide

• Zohran Mamdani: Israel has a right to exist

• Eleven Demands: Focus on corruption and fix big money in politics and government

• Zohran Mamdani: <no results found>

There are many more examples that can be cited, but the problem goes even deeper than weak-sauce campaign talking points. Even if Zohran Mamdani's platform was perfectly aligned with Eleven Demands, he would never follow through because he is a member of a duopoly party that does not operate in our interests.

Of course the inevitable response to this is, "Yeah, but then the terrible candidate will win!" And this is the game they always play: Push people to put all their time and energy into blocking a monster like Andrew Cuomo, only to end up with another fake-progressive Democrat, another AOC. It's basically just another version of Trump vs. Kamala.

Even the New York City version of Ranked-Choice Voting is fake, in that they only allow it for party primaries, and not on the final election day. Party primaries should not even be utilizing the public voting system! It’s not that complicated. There should be a single voting day with a single ranked-choice ballot, but the system is rigged to favor the billionaire-owned corporate uniparty.

It's time for a kind of political militancy that says, "No, we're not falling for the con game anymore." Whether it's Zohran Mamdani, AOC, Rand Paul, or Thomas Massie, our position is simple: Exit the uniparty, or our answer is a hard "No."

We have clear demands:

The Democratic and Republican parties serve the interests of billionaires, mega-corporations, Wall Street, and the war machine. They are literally killing us. If a candidate cannot clearly express these simple facts, why would we even consider voting for them?

It starts with clear demands, and this is what a demands-based politics and movement look like. Join the Eleven Demands Collective at elevendemands.org and let’s make it happen.

_