Unfortunately, I heard some Democratic news analysts on the FT Swamp Notes podcast say basically that. That you can’t really do what you say when you campaign. That you campaign in poetry and govern in prose (whatever that means). They were referring to Mamdani’s aggressive critique of billionaires and how he suggest silly things like free bussing.*
They will say that they didn’t lie. That they would love to do all this stuff. But we have to be realists here. And the things is if you critique them, they call you a child.
Whatever happens in progressive politics, we need to be careful. I don’t know if we can make it far with out the establishment, but if we do ride along side with them, we should make it clear that we have the will of people behind us and we should expect them to betray us the first chance they get.
* The more establishment person wrapped her critique in how free bussing doesn’t solve the issue with the subways. This reminded me of how Republicans criticized Biden’s work on student loan forgiveness because tuition was still high. Neither side is wrong, but let’s do something that makes a difference for the average person.
Unfortunately, I heard some Democratic news analysts on the FT Swamp Notes podcast say basically that. That you can’t really do what you say when you campaign. That you campaign in poetry and govern in prose (whatever that means). They were referring to Mamdani’s aggressive critique of billionaires and how he suggest silly things like free bussing.*
They will say that they didn’t lie. That they would love to do all this stuff. But we have to be realists here. And the things is if you critique them, they call you a child.
Whatever happens in progressive politics, we need to be careful. I don’t know if we can make it far with out the establishment, but if we do ride along side with them, we should make it clear that we have the will of people behind us and we should expect them to betray us the first chance they get.
* The more establishment person wrapped her critique in how free bussing doesn’t solve the issue with the subways. This reminded me of how Republicans criticized Biden’s work on student loan forgiveness because tuition was still high. Neither side is wrong, but let’s do something that makes a difference for the average person.