It’s About Prices

There was one clear message from yesterday’s elections: it’s all about the cost of living.

The Democrats got creamed a year ago not because most voters loved Donald Trump or embraced his full agenda. They were pushed toward him by a Democratic Party whose image was too far to the left on social issues and pulled toward him by his promise to do something about high prices.

A year later, Trump’s done nothing about the cost of living. In fact, he’s made it worse through his tariffs. And so yesterday his party paid the price for that.

All three major Democratic winners last night focussed on the cost of living. In New Jersey and Virginia their candidates were moderates while in New York City it was a Democratic Socialist, but they all stayed on message. They won because they made the most important thing to voters the most important thing to them. On top of that, they all benefited from a fired up base that was going to show up to vote against Trump no matter what the message was.

So that’s the simple lesson going into the mid-terms. The base is going to show up no matter what you say. Much of Trump’s base will vote only in elections where he’s on the ballot. But persuadable voters will respond to the cost of living and they’ll vote mostly against what Trump’s done (or not done) in that regard, not so much for the Democrats. The last thing the party needs is a big, bold agenda that will only serve to scare voters away.

The greatest risk the party now faces over the next year is Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Last night, Fox News covered only his speech — ignoring victory speeches made by Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrell in New Jersey. That’s because Republicans will want to define the whole Democratic Party by everything Mamdani says and does. They see him as the gift that will keep on giving as he bankrupts the city or raises taxes or says intemperate things about the Middle East or whatever.

This puts Mamdani in a tough spot. If he governs by staying focussed on the cost of living he’ll be doing a favor to his party nationwide. But I know something about the hard-left. It’s a coalition of narrow zealots. They care only about their cause and they refuse to see the bigger picture. So, they’ll line up outside his office, taking credit for his victory and now demanding that they get 110% of whatever it was they imagine he promised them. Anything less will be unacceptable. In fact, even getting everything they want will be unacceptable. They’re just like that.

Mayor of any city is not a job for an ideologue. The reality is that you have to balance the budget, collect the garbage, plow the snow and fix the streets. There just isn’t much time to fix the Middle East or bring down American capitalism. Mamdani needs to realize that he can do nothing to satisfy the left. He should start moving to the center tomorrow. Focus on the practical, tangible, nuts and bolts stuff. He’ll help his party and maybe even get reelected. He’ll anger the hard-left, but he would do that anyway because they want to be angry. They are not interested in governing.

Instead, here’s what Mamdani should do. I have a friend who suggests that Democrats buy space on the ribbon board on Times Square. The message would simply be the current price of beef or eggs or electricity or housing, etc.

Whether or not they do that literally, that should be all the party does for the next 12 months. Memorize the current costs of stuff people need. Repeat those prices like a mantra. Blame Trump. Promise to do something about it. And, for the love of God, do not get specific.