By Natalie Sandoval
North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong Un probably wouldn’t poll well among Americans. Except among progressive liberal arts undergrads bumming around a Brooklyn coffee shop.
New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) faction “endorsed the People’s Summit for Korea … which bizarrely calls for the reunification of the country — with despot Kim Jong Un in charge,” reports the New York Post. The summit was held in a Harlem church, July 25-27. (RELATED: Critical Piece Of Socialist Rising Star’s Platform Exposed As Total Bogus)
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is the most prominent member of the NYC-DSA. The mayoral candidate has yet to issue a statement on his organization’s support for the People’s Summit event as of early afternoon Wednesday.
“What does it tell New York’s Chinese and Korean immigrants who fled to the city to get away from oppressive regimes?” political strategist Hank Sheinkopf told the New York Post.
“What does it say to [others] who fled here because of repressive regimes? It tells them that if you support Mamdani, the people who are with him are going to do terrible things to us,” he continued.
In a slightly bizarre twist, foreign policy has apparently taken center stage in a mayoral race in the United States. Homeless and down-on-their-luck New Yorkers might be left scratching their heads. At least discussion of Korean reunification provides relief from endless debate over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Mamdani’s chances of winning the general election are high. He’s the only candidate with a net positive image among voters, according to a poll conducted July 16-24 by Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions. Pollsters surveyed 1,453 registered New York City voters and reported a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Mamdani leads by double-digits when paired up against any opponent. That includes a head-to-head race against Democratic incumbent Eric Adams, who is seeking reelection as an Independent. Pollsters report that 70% of NYC voters are dissatisfied with the “way things are going” in their city. At least some of that dissatisfaction is pinned on Adams, with 54% of respondents strongly disapproving of his mayoral performance. Another 18% somewhat disapprove of his performance.
And Mamdani may be picking up steam. He earned the support of 35% of registered voters, more than any of the other 3 mayoral candidates, in a poll conducted between July 2-6 by Slingshot Strategies.
Mamdani’s coalition is comprised of “working-, middle- and upper-middle-class renters spanning white, Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods,” according to a New York Times (NYT) analysis of his victory in the primary election.
“Asian” is a catch-all encompassing Chinese, Indian, Korean, Pakistani, etc. Chinese voters, foreign-born and U.S-born, make up the largest bloc of Asian voters. They account for 43.6% of NYC’s Asian voting-age citizens, according to a report from the Asian American Federation.
So one has to wonder if Mamdani’s coalition will lose some of those voters who may have considered throwing him a reluctant vote. Especially those who may remember life under socialism.
Mamdani has called for pulling police out of high crime areas. He denounced the New York Police Department [NYPD], writing, “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer, and a major threat to public safety. What we need is to Defund The NYPD.” Mandani also said that “Queer liberation means defund the police.”
Zohran Mamdani has called for emptying jails and releasing violent criminals, because “Violence is an artificial construct.”
Mamdani has called for having the government run grocery stores, even though such stores lose money, cost taxpayers, and result in increased food waste and reduced choices of food. Shoppers are “frustrated” by the rancid smell, expired food, and empty shelves at a taxpayer-funded grocery store in Kansas City.
Mamdani also proposed arbitrary, extreme restrictions on rent that would leave landlords with too little money to maintain housing units, which could turn much of New York into a slum.
Laura Gillen, a House Democrat on Long Island, recently criticized Zohran Mamdani, saying, “Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City. His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs. Beyond that, Mr. Mamdani has called to defund the police and has demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing. He is the absolute wrong choice for New York.”
