Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Across the country, Democratic candidates with progressive and left-wing [sic] backers are distancing themselves from some of their own supporters’ ideas — and getting plenty of space to do it. New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, for one, has separated himself from some proposals endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, despite his status as a member, and despite the group’s full-throated championing of his campaign. Mamdani responded to attacks from the New York Post and rival Andrew Cuomo that referenced the 2021 DSA platform — which included an end to ‘all misdemeanor defenses’ and ‘abolition of the carceral state’ — by telling reporters that ‘my platform is not the same as national DSA.’ He got no blowback for doing so from the national or city chapters of the country’s largest democratic socialist organization, which condemned Cuomo for having no ideas ‘of his own.'” (09/04/25)
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/04/2025/the-left-gives-its-candidates-some-wiggle-room