by Don Keelan

I can only imagine what Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden are thinking when they witness the direction the Democratic Party has taken in 2025–to the left of socialism.  

All three presidents were aware that national elections are not won by positioning oneself on the extreme left or right of the political spectrum. An election is won by capturing the center of the political party and the country.  The Democratic Party’s current debate is whether that long-held axiom is still valid. 

The far-left of center’s emeritus, Senator Bernie Sanders, has established himself as the political demolition expert for the undoing of what Clinton, Obama, and Biden have always advocated. 

The former presidents might be referred to as “senior spokespersons” for the Party, but who is listening to them when you witness the almost daily outbursts emanating from Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City and Jasmine Crockett of Texas? You can add former VP candidate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. All disciples of the avowed socialist, Bernie. The latter, a two-time loser at attempting to have his message, which won over Burlington and Vermont, become the national political standard.

Add to the above-noted socialists, NY State assemblyman Zohan Mamdani, from Queens, NY, the successful winner of that city’s recent Democratic Mayoral Primary. It may seem unlikely, but the 33-year-old avowed socialist is further to the left than his idol, Bernie, and he is knocking on the door of possibly becoming the next mayor of NYC. 

WSJ’s reporters, Joshua Chaffin and Victoria Albert, noted in their June 28^th write-up, “Mamdani did not hide his political convictions. His victory post on X reads, ‘It’s official: we won. I am going to Albany to fight, to tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor & build a socialist New York.’’’ 

Instead of going to Albany, Mamdani should take a trip to Montpelier and see how much his idol has accomplished in 40 years by advocating similar goals. Burlington’s former luster has been washed into Lake Champlain, and the State’s housing, education, and healthcare are in disaster mode.    

The Vermont Senator has put Burlington and Vermont in his rear-view mirror. He is crisscrossing the country with AOC on his coattails and drawing huge crowds of young people, continuing to advocate his message of the last 40 years: “There has to be a major transfer of wealth in America in order to fund the cost of the giveaways.”

Mamdani has the magnetism of an earlier Barack Obama, and according to Chaffin and Albert, “He has panicked the Democratic Party’s aging establishment, who worry that the ground beneath their feet is shifting in the direction of a younger, more ideological wing of the party.”

Being young and having new ideas are certainly characteristics that should be welcomed by both political parties. What worries one significant segment of the NYC Democratic Party, the Jewish segment, is that there is deep and valid concern. The WSJ reporters noted, “the triumph of a Muslin candidate who refused to disavow the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ has prompted doubts about their place in a city that has been a quasi-homeland.” They went on to quote Hank Sheinhopf, a veteran Democratic political strategist and rabbi, “This is the end of Jewish New York…many Jews will leave, he predicted.” Hopefully, this will not be the case.

I am not surprised by what Mamdani accomplished last month. The NYC Democratic Party’s primary included an opposing candidate, Andrew Cuomo, with a less-than-desirable resume. 

Based on what is occurring in NYC and other Democratic controlled  U.S. cities, the new Democratic (Socialist) Party has the following goals:

Free Health Care
Free Housing and Rent Freeze
Free Higher Education
Free Transportation
Free Day Care
Forgiveness of College Loans
Free Food
Realignment of Policing

The above will be accomplished by increasing taxation of the rich. It makes no difference to them that the top 10% now pay approximately 80% of all income taxes. There is room to get a lot more, as well as it is a great way to secure votes.  

The Democratic Party lost the 2024 election. The Party was not listening to its centrist base and still does not wish to. The college-educated elites who back the Bernie idols do not make up most American voters. As for the Party’s contempt for the present administration, they should be ready for a continuation in 2028.

The author is a U.S. Marine (retired), CPA, and columnist living in Arlington, VT.