In the aftermath of self-declared socialist Zohran Mamdani鈥檚 defeat of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race鈥檚 Democratic primary on Tuesday, Jesse Arm鈥攚riting for City Journal鈥攍ooked at how three people could shape the general election鈥檚 outcome come November. 鈥淔irst is Donald Trump. The president grew disgusted by New York鈥檚 politics and has spent the past decade relishing his exile in Mar-a-Lago and the White House. But New York is still his hometown, and if he wants to stop the candidate he has described as 鈥榓 100% Communist Lunatic,鈥 he may have the muscle to do it. Last November, Trump won 30 percent of the city鈥檚 vote鈥攎ore than any Republican mayoral candidate has earned since Ronald Reagan. He could endorse [Curtis] Sliwa. Or he could quietly offer Sliwa a creative federal post and clear the path for [New York Mayor Eric] Adams. 鈥 The second player is Mamdani. He鈥檚 a serious political operator and an ideological hardliner, but not a fool. He surely knows that if he wants to become the Democratic Party鈥檚 most important new national figure, he may need to soften some edges,鈥 Arm wrote. 鈥淭he city鈥檚 political and philanthropic elites are the third key player. They can鈥檛 undo what鈥檚 happened, but they can still shape what comes next. If the goal is stopping Mamdani, someone鈥擜dams, [NYPD Commissioner Jessica] Tisch, whoever鈥攎ust consolidate the majority of voters for whom Mamdani may yet prove too far-left.鈥
Can starting think tanks help the Democratic Party regain its footing after an electoral loss? It depends, Tevi Troy wrote in Politico. 鈥淪hortly into Ronald Reagan鈥檚 presidency, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in which she described America鈥檚 foreign policy before Reagan as 鈥榣ose a country, gain a restaurant.鈥 Her audience, recognizing the pattern of foreign policy defeats and new D.C. restaurants featuring Vietnamese, Iranian and Afghani cuisines, laughed uproariously. Her insight might just as well describe another decades-long D.C. cycle: lose an election, gain a think tank,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淭he major parties have a habit of responding to electoral defeat by creating such institutions to generate new ideas and produce talent for the inevitable return to power 鈥 witness the creation of a new Democratic think tank called Searchlight. Think tank history tells us that this latest iteration can play an important role in the Democratic Party鈥檚 climb back to relevance. But the institution only works if a party is aiming for a reboot or a new direction. And it鈥檚 not clear Democrats are ready or willing to do that.鈥