Mamdani and the burden of proving that the American left can still offer a real alternative

WashingtonThe "flood the zone" strategy, championed by Steve Bannon since his war roomFrom where the MAGA software continues to dictate terms, a chaotic situation has arisen in which the left struggles to find a space from which to respond. The forcefulness with which Donald Trump and the entire American far-right have operated has managed to spread a miasma over the country that makes it almost impossible to imagine a way out. The Democratic Party's impotence all this time has stemmed from its inability to offer a real alternative to the version of reality that Trump has imposed. Against the party establishment, Zohran Mamdani has been the first to envision a feasible alternative that does not revolve around reacting to the far-right's provocation, but rather around a center that is originally his own.

The young politician now holds in his hands the fragile hope that it is still possible to reverse the advance of the conservative counterrevolution galloping through the United States and projecting its echoes into Europe. Mamdani, a socialist who embodies the most left-leaning and also the smallest wing of the Democratic Party, now has New York as a major showcase for his platform. Expectations are high for the newly elected 34-year-old mayor—expectations he has fully embraced—andThe inauguration was a staging of the generational handover.With Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders officiating the swearing-in ceremony, the city's new mayor bears the weight of demonstrating that it is still possible to build a livable city—in other words, to offer a real and feasible alternative.

The revolutionary communications campaign, with a social media strategy that It has already begun to be imitated by other young politicians from the Democratic partyThe Democrat's proposal was a first step. But now is when Mamdani must demonstrate that his campaign promises are truly actionable and effective. At a time when the narrative of the culture war is completely hijacked by the far right—with the help of algorithms that are anything but neutral—and when being right has ceased to matter in political debate, Mamdani has returned to one of the most cross-cutting issues there is: material conditions and the cost of living. Making New York livable for New Yorkers again, something that is increasingly global and that can be applied to so many other major cities.

Mamdani's promises, as freeze rents, provide free buses, and guarantee free healthcare for children, They are not much different from the ones Trump made during his campaign that got him back to the White House. From the "Make America great again" to the "Make New York affordable again"At a time when most of the Democratic Party wanted to demonstrate that it remains the party of order with a strategy typical of old-school politics, Mamdani has chosen to fight fire with fire and embrace populism. While most Democrats have continued to make half-hearted proposals, even opting for the most conservative positions, he has taken the middle road: 'I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being labeled a radical,' he said.

The words of Thursday's inaugural address carry weight because they also break the spiral of silence into which the American left seemed to have fallen in recent years. Trump's rhetoric, pregnant with lies such as a revolution against the supposed repression of the so-called elites..." wokeThe success of the US president is not isolated: there is a whole new megaphone for the ultraconservative movement that has exploited the resentment of the working and middle classes, channeling it against a new enemy. Trump shifted the socioeconomic discontent of many of his voters from focusing on economic elites—like the Silicon Valley billionaires—to targeting cultural elites linked to progressivism. Consequently, defending principles that were social consensus a few years ago, such as equality between men and women and the right to exist for LGBTQ+ people, automatically meant becoming part of this cultural elite. A syllogism that is false, but which has taken hold and allowed the right to turn the tables and appropriate the victimhood narrative that the left has used for many years. Much of the Trumpian narrative rests on this victimhood and on placing historically privileged classes and groups in a position of false helplessness. The campaign for Considering white South Africans as "refugees who are victims of genocide" is a clear example.

Sociologist Eva Illouz wrote in The emotional life of populism that "the political language of victimhood is now entering a new phase in its history: having been appropriated by the right to accuse the old left of being oppressive, it can no longer be used effectively by liberals." Mamdani has dispensed with victimhood rhetoric and returned to targeting the economic elites with a clear message, and all the other "isms" (feminism, anti-racism, etc.) that could be associated with the cultural elite have simply been integrated as a natural part of his political approach. In his inaugural address, Mamdani didn't have to shoehorn in the idea that New York is a diverse immigrant city, nor did he mention it: he simply spoke about the city's culinary offerings. Although his strategic refocusing has worked in mobilizing the vote and reconciling the left with the working classes, all of this could crumble if he ultimately fails to deliver improvements in citizens' daily lives.

In 2026, it begins with a laboratory in New York that will either split the Democratic Party or serve as a compass for the legislative elections. For now, the Democratic establishment must digest an uncomfortable reality: voters can't say who is at the helm of the party – a poll conducted by Political "At the end of 2025, this was indicated—and for the moment, Mamdani has the advantage of being one of the few recognizable and charismatic faces."