Notice what he is doing He puts forward a moderate proposition, framed in a way that makes it difficult to come up with a legit counterargument "A state with equal rights" Now his opponents start screaming, and yelling and losing their minds He is like an adult in a nursery

Some thoughts on Zohran Mamdani’s victory Many are trying to explain his success with some accidental factors such as his “personal charisma”, Cuomo's weakness etc Still, I think there may be some fundamental factors here. A longue durée shift, and a very profound one

1. Public outrage does not work anymore If you look at Zohran, he is calm, constructive, and rarely raises his voice. I think one thing that Mamdani - but almost no one else in the American political space is getting - is that the public is getting tired of the outrage

Outrage, anger, righteous indignation have all been the primary drivers of American politics for quite a while For a while, this tactics worked Indeed, when everyone around is polite, and soft (and insincere), freaking out was a smart thing to do. It could help you get noticed

Now, however, there is a massive oversaturation on the market of outrage. It is not only that the people are tired. Like, they are, but that is not the whole story It is also that when everyone is yelling, the marginal utility of your personal yelling is approaching zero

As of 2025, you can stand out of the crowd, if you behave, show decorum, politiness and self control In fact, a great deal of Mamdani’s success has been based not on “charisma” per se, but on the fact he was behaving like an adult in a room full of toddlers

What stands you out in a crowd today, is reason, moderation and self control Anger, indignation and getting constantly triggered just makes you like everyone else There's too much anger around, the market is oversaturated, people are tired of it, and it does not pay anymore

2. Identity politics do not work anymore One great innovation of Zohran’s campaign is that a Blue candidate stopped insulting entire demographies for no good reason at all and then act as a surprised pikachu face when they turn against him