Is Zohran Mamdani The Return Of Emil Seidel?

## Details

This event will be hosted and moderated by Ceit Hustedde (Longtime Member of Buddytree)

## Details
Here are a few important points.

• The discussion questions are viewable online, so we will save paper by not printing them out.

Here are the video and discussion questions for this event:

• https://buddytree.daily.co/4xWu7NrSGOSXWyViCjOt

Spoiler: no, no he is not. But who will he be after this historically rhyming victory?

Videos:

Plans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2aeuEUccuE (10:52) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjVAnZwdq5s (5:13)

Victory speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOQT_4A1eb8 (23:22)

Mamdani vs Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibxMTuSEgt0 (22:05)

Future of the Democratic Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibxMTuSEgt0 (14:35)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/voters-cast-ballots-in-elections-that-could-signal-future-of-u-s-politics (3:14)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/voters-sent-washington-a-message-to-put-everyday-americans-first-jeffries-says (6:46)

History's rhyme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIkIVyik5w (55:26)

Reading https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform

(Francisco's recommendations, I haven't read them, can't vouch for them) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/opinion/mayor-mamdani-new-york-election.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/opinion/democrats-mamdani-sherrill-spanberger.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/democrats-cost-of-living-affordability-platform/684847/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2025/11/democrats-election-problem/684854/

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/11/05/democrats-risk-drawing-the-wrong-lessons-from-one-good-day

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/11/05/a-night-of-big-wins-for-the-democrats

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/10/30/the-battle-for-new-york https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/08/24/zohran-mamdani-is-promising-lots-of-things-he-cant-actually-do

Questions:

1. What do you understand about the conditions that led to Mamdani's election?

2. Do you see his platform as viable? Are there any problems he ignores, or problems he has created to campaign on?

3. Is it fair to compare early 21st century NYC to early 20th century Milwaukee? What added challenges might Mamdani face in enacting his policies? Does he have any advantages that the Sewer Socialists did not?

4. Mamdani's opponents have tried to make him the "real" face of the Democratic Party. What does his victory mean for the future of the party? Will there be meaningful changes in the overall policies and platforms, in the type of candidates that are supported and encouraged to run for office?

5. Mamdani is not the only significant winner in recent elections. Do you see enough similarities in the other Democratic victories to truly point to changes in voters' expectations and politians' plans?

6. Would Democratic Socialists be better off running as their own party rather than as a subparty of the Democrats? Would they be able to build enough voter support to be a national force, or will they be limited to city and state races?

7. Will future Republican candidates campaign differently based on the results of this past November 4th? What changes do you see happening in that party?