70
DSA Congressional Candidate Alexa Avilés bows out as Mamdani backs self-described “liberal Zionist” and opponent of BDS, Brad Lander (www.thecity.nyc)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by to c/electoralism@hexbear.net
32 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Context on Lander’s Israel issues

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/26/lander-makes-questionable-claim-in-sidestepping-politically-charged-israel-divestment-question/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nyc-pension-investment-israeli-arms-173300901.html

Formerly a DSA member himself, he left after Al-Aqsa Flood

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2024/08/02/brad-landers-israel-problem-00172425

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 16 points 10 months ago (3 children)

And quite frankly, Lander probably has a much better shot at winning that primary, Mamdani endorsement or no. So there’s some realpolitik in play as well.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

    Why endorse at all? Why not just do what he promised, just keep his mouth shut and focus on his plan for running the city?

    Obama 2.0, that's why. Dude is already planning for the future.

    We'll see if he is able to convert into something for anyone other than himself, but right now, by centering everything around purely himself without anything to show for it, without even honoring a vote, he is setting up the political machine to be around himself and no one else, which is mighty dangerous for someone who is supposedly challenging the system. Even Lenin at least entertained a pretense towards democratic decisions within the party, even if he liked to stack the deck. At this point DSA is literally more 'authoritarian' than the Bolsheviks.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Obama 2.0, that's why. Dude is already planning for the future.

    He can’t be a literal Obama 2.0, as he wasn’t born in the US and thus can’t be president. Even if we’re talking about a more small-scale Obama, mayor of NYC is a notorious political dead end. There’s a long history of politicians trying and failing to translate being mayor into higher offices. If this some Machiavellian power scheme, and not just bog standard “you scratched my back now I’ll scratch yours” politics, it’s a bad one.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago

    Obama is just the most convenient example, I've seen dozens of progressive politicians do the same thing as Zohran here, and it usually ends as the gravy train of speaking gigs for non-profits and universities. This type of person is what San Francisco was built on.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent