Why?
Why the Democratic NY Mayor race is not surprising. Plus OBBB passage and BRICS attempt to replace US dollar.
To be a successful populist politician, there are two criteria to satisfy:
Be Charismatic
Speak to People’s Pain
Note that your policies don’t really matter, because if you do the above, enough people will give you a chance to fix their problems because at least you seem to understand what those problems are.
Given this, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s defeat of former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo for the NYC Democratic Mayoral primary should not really be a surprise. Mamdani identifies as a ‘democratic-socialist’, but the appeal of socialist ideas is not just a NY thing. Recall that Bernie Sanders, a self-avowed independent Socialist, essentially won the Democratic primary for President twice before being thwarted by shenanigans.
Sanders’ success with his 2016 run on a shoestring budget saw a race in 2020 by Democratic frontrunners to appropriate his socialist ideas. Biden’s presidency went down in flames as people saw what happens when those ideas are actually implemented - massive spending and climate focused energy policies resulted in a sharp increase in the cost of living. Ironically, cost of living was central to Mamdani’s campaign and may be a key issue Democrats run on in the mid-terms.
Mamdani’s campaign, which was focused on lowering the cost of living, claims it has found a new blueprint for Democrats who have at times appeared rudderless during President Donald Trump’s climb back to power.
Not convinced that what Mamdani represents may spread? Check the 18 min mark in this video for a discussion between Steve Bannon and Caroline Wren about how smart the messaging from Mamdani and how Republican’s need to up their game if they are going to compete in the mid-terms.
One Big Beautiful Bill Passes
Even proponents admit it is far from perfect and spending cuts were pitiful, but given the closeness of the vote, any more would jeopardize its passage and with it, key pieces of Trump’s agenda. All four Idaho reps supported the bill.
BRICS Takes Aim at US Dollar
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa but includes other countries covering about 40% of the world population. While this is the 16th meeting, there are expectations that this conference will produce a serious plan to replace the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The meeting, in Brazil, has been dubbed the ‘Rio Reset’ and the plan would likely require some sort of gold backed currency.
The messaging all over Rio is ‘Sovereignty, Stability, Solidarity’ and represents a growing distaste for the reliance on the US/western financial system. Russia, in particular, was targeted by the Biden Administration and the G7 when it froze Russian assets then used profits from those assets to fund Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Trump has threatened an additional 10% tariff on nations participating in any plan to challenge the US dollar.