The success of the Mamdani campaign is forcing the Democratic Party and its leadership in the first place to rethink some of the assumptions that have guided their politics and decisions for decades. It should be approched as a opportunity to do some fresh thinking, not a moment to circle the wagons, to seek shelter from the storm, to defend past practices, to distance themselves from Mamdani. So far the jury is out.

As for Trump and the Republicans they will, without a doubt, respond in predictable ways to Mamdani’s electrifying campaign and victory, that is, cast Mamdani and the Democratic Party in the most negative light possible. Such cyncial, anti working class and racist posturing on MAGA’s part should be rejected and agressively countered.

In other words, what the Democrats and their allies shouldn’t do is turn a victory of sizable proportions into a breeding ground of division, recrimination, and abject retreat. Who needs that at this existential moment in the life of the country when so much hangs in balance.

Time to embrace some fresh thinking and confidently go on the offensive!