Karl Marx said that history repeats twice: “[T]he first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
asserted
history → say → farce
Marx was describing the 1848 revolution in France, but he may as well have been describing the socialist campaign of Nithya Raman in Los Angeles.
uncertain
he → describe → Angeles
Raman leads incumbent Karen Bass in the latest polls for LA mayor.
asserted
Raman → lead → mayor
If that lead holds, she will achieve the second major socialist victory since Zohran Mamdani in New York last November.
asserted
she → hold → York
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asserted
Sign → sign → California
Both share the same radical policies and have the same core constituency of disaffected elites.
asserted
Both → share → elites
Both went to top colleges; both are immigrants of Indian origin; both chose a far-left path.
But while Mamdani has leadership qualities that allow him to drive his agenda forward, Raman is a weak leader who lacks charisma and vision.
Mamdani has the persuasive skills to create an illusion of success; Raman is singularly uninspiring, both on social media and on the stump.
asserted
Raman → go → stump
Mamdani was a state legislator who built his profile behind a bullhorn, as a rabble-rouser in the antisemitic street protests that erupted after the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
asserted
that → build → attacks
He mobilized the “trustafarian” activists who have disrupted New York City politics since the Occupy Wall Street movement, and joined them with a growing constituency of immigrant voters, especially from the Muslim community, which (ironically) has expanded rapidly since the 9/11 terror attacks.
asserted
which → mobilize → attacks
Raman, in contrast, is a city councilwoman who began her career in LA as a policy wonk.
asserted
who → begin → wonk
She focused on homelessness — to no great effect, as it has increased since she arrived in LA over a decade ago.
asserted
she → focus → LA
She has a self-effacing persona that is unusual in big-city politics, and perhaps unsuited to it.
asserted
that → have → it
Her main skill appears to be timing: She rode the Black Lives Matter protests to victory over incumbent David Ryu in 2020, and is now taking advantage of Mayor Bass’ deep unpopularity.
But unlike Mamdani, and unlike Bass, the councilwoman struggles with coalition politics.
asserted
councilwoman → appear → politics
Her core supporters remain the hipsters of Silver Lake and the city’s permanent left-wing activists.
asserted
supporters → remain → Lake
Raman owes her surprise second-place primary finish to organizational discipline, not to broad appeal.
asserted
Raman → owe → appeal
Her council district includes the middle-class homeowners of Sherman Oaks, who could barely contain their frustration with her when they hosted a mayoral debate in August.
uncertain
they → include → August
Another example: Mamdani is widely considered to be an antisemite.
asserted
Mamdani → consider → ?
He is obsessed with hating Israel; it is the cause that motivates everything he does, the one issue on which he cannot even force a smile.
asserted
he → obsess → smile
Yet he reaches out to visibly religious Hasidic Jews, some of whom are indifferent to Israel, and launched a plan to fight antisemitism, which gained attention, fatally flawed though it may be.
uncertain
it → reach → attention
Raman, in contrast, barely visited places like Pacific Palisades until she was running for mayor.
asserted
she → visit → mayor
She presented a credible plan for rebuilding, but hardly anyone noticed.
asserted
anyone → present → rebuilding
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It is too early to say whether Mamdani has governing skill to match his other political skills.
asserted
Mamdani → download → skills
He endorsed several anti-Israel radicals in Democratic primaries in New York City, and ousted several incumbents.
asserted
He → endorse → incumbents
Candidates across the country are copying his style.
asserted
Candidates → copy → style
They barely flinch when he targets rich investors, or frightens thousands of homeowners by publishing their addresses.
asserted
he → flinch → addresses
In fact, Democrats seem to be enjoying the show.
asserted
Democrats → seem → show
Raman, by contrast, barely won the endorsement of her own socialist organization.
asserted
Raman → win → organization
The local Democratic Socialists of America (DSA-LA) threw a tantrum when she pointed out that Measure ULA — the so-called “mansion tax” — was discouraging developers from building new apartments.
asserted
ULA → throw → apartments
(It turns out that taxing the rich doesn’t create housing for the poor; it just means less housing for everybody.
asserted
it → turn → everybody
Those ties were mended.
asserted
ties → mend → ?
But she’s their follower, not their leader.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
And she refuses to state whether she agrees with the DSA’s radical policies.
asserted
she → refuse → policies
Like gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, she avoids substantive debates.
asserted
she → avoid → debates
When The California Post asked her specific yes-or-no questions, based on the DSA’s own manifesto, she refused to answer.
asserted
she → ask → manifesto
These included questions such as: “Does she support using eminent domain to move privately owned housing into public or community ownership?
asserted
she → include → ownership
She knows a “yes” will alienate voters, and a “no” will irritate the DSA.
asserted
no → know → DSA
She lacks the courage, and the strength, to lead.
asserted
She → lack → courage
The tragedy of Mamdani’s rise in New York City is that he is undoing reforms that turned the city around in the 1990s.
asserted
that → undo → 1990s
He is also threatening entrenched ethnic communities, especially Jews, who now experience their beloved city as a hostile place.
asserted
who → threaten → place
Mamdani has been protected thus far from the consequences by the fact that Trump’s border policies (which he opposes) have lowered crime and ended the migrant wave that flooded the city.
asserted
that → protect → city
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
