Election Day 2025

 

 

 

I have voted in every election, national and local, since I turned 21 back in 1960. I have always regarded it as a civic duty. Yesterday in my hometown of Fairfield CT was no exception even though only local positions and issues were on the ballot.

I must confess that I knew practically nothing about any of the candidates or town charter revision issues on the ballot. So, I fell back on identity politics. I have been a Republican for over 50 years and so tend to vote straight Republican even in local elections. This year was no exception especially when insider information alerted me to some nefarious goings on in Town Hall by the new Democratic administration.

I did make two exceptions. I voted for a Democratic friend who was running for a minor office, and I voted for a Democrat who was running for the zoning commission who spent some time discussing zoning issues with me and a friend while canvassing our neighborhood. He seemed affable, and well-meaning. Of course, my vote is usually meaningless since my district has been gerrymandered to normally vote Democratic.

Anyway, I offer the above as a preamble to my thoughts on the elections that made headlines yesterday. Elections are not always decided on issues or substance but on perceptions. These elections seemed to be examples of identity politics. Answer this question. If you only looked at images of the three candidates in this year’s New York mayoral election, who would you have voted for?

Zohran Mamdani, the eventual winner, looked youthful, energetic and self-confident. Andrew Cuomo had the appearance of an aging bloodhound. He appeared to be a relic of a failed past that even Democrats would like to forget. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, was another relic of the past. The young Guardian Angel of the Giuliani era is now an old man. 

New York has always been a city of the young, with waves and waves of immigrants replacing the older generations and taking their place in politics. I believe young people supported Mamdani because he looked like them, not because of his radical views. What else would explain why nearly half the voters identified as Jews in polls supported him despite his apparent antisemitism? Of course, he also had the almost unanimous support of New York’s large Moslem community.  

I know little about the issues in the New Jersey and Virginia, but I suspect that identify politics were also at work in those states. Pollsters had predicted tight races, but two attractive Democrat women won going away despite obvious problems during their campaigns. 

The Democrats have learned their lesson and are abandoning the old timers in favor of the new. It looks to me now that Chick Schumer is toast and that AOC, if not Mamdani, will take over. 

Republicans must take heed. Trump is Trump and no one can duplicate him. He is old but still appears young, energetic, and charismatic. Moreover, he has a great sense of humor and can even joke about himself. Republicans must also abandon the old guard and come up with new faces. They may not be Trump, but they can at least try to be as authentic and genuine as he appears.

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