Republicans desperately need to show people how their policies will improve their financial outlook. Only then can Republicans gain their support.
John Tillman
| Opinion contributor
Trump threatens to arrest NYC’s Mamdani if he blocks ICE
U.S. President Donald Trump said that if New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani interferes with ICE, then “we’ll have to arrest him.”
Republicans, thy urban savior is a democratic socialist − Zohran Mamdani.
Don’t get me wrong. Mamdani, who decisively won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, has hellish policy views. His socialist vision would spread a terrible rot to the core of the Big Apple.
Rent freeze? Government-run grocery stores? A $30 minimum wage? Mamdani’s pipe dreams couldn’t be worse for the people who would suffer under them.
If Mamdani wins the general election in November, New York will inevitably see an exodus in every important sense. Entrepreneurs will flee, driven away by punishing tax hikes that penalize success. Jobs will disappear, as mandates and crime attack small businesses from both sides. Hope, already in short supply, will fade further.
If New York wants to crumble, Mamdani is the ideal choice.
But while Mamdani’s socialism is beyond awful, the far left’s electoral strategy has been brilliant. And that’s where Republicans should learn some lessons. Especially if the GOP wants to win America’s big cities ever again, including the Big Apple.
Mamdani did two things absolutely right − two things that Republicans often fail to do.
Mamdani speaks to people’s needs
First: He spoke directly to people’s pocketbooks. Mamdani relentlessly focused on New York’s crisis of affordability. He talked about the soaring cost of rent, which has pushed low- and middle-income families to the edge of the city, if not farther.
He also talked about the skyrocketing price of groceries, which hurts families every time they go to a store or check out online. He talked to the workers who haven’t seen wage hikes in a while and can’t keep up with the cost of daily life.
Mamdani looked all these people in the eye and said − don’t worry, I’ll make life affordable again.
Of course, he won’t. His socialist ideas are unaffordable themselves and will further impoverish the people they purport to help. But he’s still talking the language people want to hear − the language of affordability.
Republicans need the same laser focus on the cost of living. Sure, combating crime is important. Sure, kids need better schools. And yes, there are plenty of leftist cultural ideas that Republicans should oppose. But making those the central focus of their campaigns, as Republicans have done in big cities for decades? It won’t work.
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Republicans desperately need to show people how their policies will improve their financial outlook. Only then can Republicans gain voters’ support − and get to work on all those other critical priorities.
Republicans need to build cultural infrastructure
But while culture wars don’t win races, culture building does. And that’s the second thing Republicans need to learn from Mamdani, and fast.
Mamdani didn’t come out of nowhere. He arose because the far left has spent years building a cultural machine to elect radicals like him. They have an on-the-ground presence in urban communities. They dominate social media and traditional media. And they’ve infiltrated K-12 education, higher education and the modern workplace, from Wall Street to Main Street.
Put simply, the far left has done the hard work before election season even begins. And when it does, they only have to flip the levers they control. Suddenly, they can get Mamdani’s message of affordability to the masses, all but ensuring his victory from the start.
When’s the last time you heard about Republicans making a similar play? They have next to no presence in urban communities. They spent decades refusing to develop news media and social media plans to reach minorities and people in inner cities. And the GOP also largely ignored educational and economic institutions. Only recently, in the age of Donald Trump, have Republicans started to fight the near-total leftist control in most of American life.
Republicans need to double − no, triple − down on culture building. They need to ensure that middle-of-the-road and even center-left voters hear a commonsense, conservative point of view throughout the day.
Conservative ideas are now almost nowhere to be found in the biggest cities, not even in the buildup to major elections. But if Republicans don’t compete year-round on the cultural battlefield, they have little chance of winning electoral fights.
Mamdani shows the way out of the wilderness. He won the primary, and may win the general election, not merely because of his charisma or “generational talent,” as the news media says. He’s rising because of a compelling message and cultural infrastructure that the far left have honed over many years.
Republicans should thank Mamdani for showing them the way. Then they should follow his lead − and ultimately save New York and every other big city from the evils of socialism.
John Tillman is CEO of the American Culture Project.