Talk Traditions of the Brahmin Left

Over several weeks this spring, the New York times offered two revealing reports on the mindset of the Democratic Party's lead-ers. the first indicated that major donors were gearing up to "spend tens of millions of dollars" to "find the next Joe Rogan" in an effort to counter the popularity of right-leaning podcasters and improve the par-ty's reputation among younger, less affluent voters. the second declared that lead-ing Democratic figures were withholding endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, the par-ty's nominee for mayor of New York City. this reticence emerged even as it became clear that Mamdani had earned his surprisingly decisive primary victory in part by appeal-ing to just those voters whom donors had hoped to reach, through just those means they had hoped to use: grassroots online media. Readers of both articles, in fact, might reasonably pause to wonder whether each referred to the same political organi-zation, as the nattily attired assemblyman from Queens would seem to be everything Democrats could hope for in 2025. Instead, some donors are apparently kicking the tires on every possible general election alterna-tive, up to and including the scandal ridden, MAGA-curious sitting mayor, Eric Adams.