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As someone who ran a hard-fought senate race against Elizabeth Warren in 2012, I don’t agree with her on many policies, but I have to give her credit for her honesty about political sensation Zohran Mamdani.
Asked about the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate this week, the Massachusetts senator urged her fellow Democrats to embrace Mamdani’s socialist plans as the “Democratic message.”
Imagine that: a clear (albeit extreme) answer to a direct question rather than contrived talking points. Other Democrats are offering mealy-mouthed canned responses to questions about Mamdani, including my opponent in the New Hampshire Senate race, U.S. Representative Chris Pappas, D-N.H., who won’t take a position on Mamdani’s candidacy, and is calling me “pathetic” for raising the issue.
The outcome of this fall’s mayoral race in New York City has implications poised to resonate far beyond the five boroughs. Not only would the epicenter of capitalism falling into the hands of an avowed socialist send a dangerous message to our innovators and the world, but it will shape the future of the Democratic Party struggling to find its footing. Less than a year after getting their electoral clocks cleaned by President Donald Trump, the party’s national standing has plummeted to a 35-year low.
Republican candidates need to do more than sit back and watch the Democrats implode. We must loudly and clearly explain to voters what socialism means. Remind them it’s been decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, but a group of extreme and uniformed politicians are trying to bring back some of its core tenets. Mamdani has called for the abolition of private property and discussed “the end goal of seizing the means of production.” These should be relics of a failed economic playbook that belongs in the history books, not modern political debates.
Capitalism is the greatest force for good this world has ever seen. It has lifted people up from poverty and provided opportunities for those at the bottom. And I am one of them. I went from being a kid on welfare to the halls of Congress and then to serving as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa decades later.
That upward mobility doesn’t exist in Mamdani’s socialist worldview. He frames his arguments around free handouts and government-run grocery stores. In his mind, it’s better to spread mediocrity widely than strive for excellence through hard work. It’s free for everyone until it doesn’t exist for anyone.
Believe it or not, it won’t be long before presidential candidates are kicking the tires on campaigns for 2028, especially in my home state of New Hampshire, the site of the First in the Nation presidential primary (at least on the Republican side, the Democrats decided to move it back in line to boost former President Joe Biden’s electoral prospects).
Should he win this November, Mamdani is poised to become one of his party’s biggest stars. His fellow socialist, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., is ascendant. Juan Williams, a well-respected Democratic voice even boldly predicted this week: “Say hello in 2028 to President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
The copycat phenomenon is well underway. In Minnesota, a socialist challenger to the incumbent Democrat mayor has been dubbed the “Mamdani of Minneapolis.”
The recent trend lines are concerning. A 2021 Gallup poll found that just half of young Americans had a positive view of capitalism, while a separate survey showed that 62% of younger voters held a “favorable view” of “socialism.” The Occupy Wall Street movement that was born in many of America’s major cities a decade and a half ago has graduated to an open embrace of socialism.
With President Trump atop the ticket, the GOP made steady gains last year among younger and working-class voters. With every Democrat on record opposing tax cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” not to mention provisions like “No Tax On Tips,” we have a compelling story to tell about our vision for the future.
If we don’t, it’s more than just politics at stake. It’s the future of our country. Democrats’ economic vision is the one outlined by Sen. Warren and Mamdani: more government programs funded by higher taxes. Unlike those two politicians, most aren’t willing to admit it, but given the chance, their policies would be ruinous.
The post It’s not just Democrats. Socialist Mamdani’s plans should worry Republicans nationwide appeared first on Fox News.
