Adam Schiff’s Warning to Democrats: Learn from Zohran Mamdani
Democrat Zohran Mamdani during campaign at Brooklyn (Image Mamdani on X)
California Senator Adam Schiff says Mamdani’s laser-focused, ground-up campaign offers a blueprint for Democrats—one built on local realities, not national fantasies.
By TRH Foreign Affairs Desk
New Delhi, November 16, 2025 — California Senator Adam Schiff, reflecting on Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory, told the Chicago Tribune that Democrats should stop hunting for a singular national figure to define the party—and instead study why Mamdani connected so deeply with voters.
Schiff said Mamdani’s strength was simple: he ran on issues people couldn’t ignore—rent, food costs, and daily survival—and stayed relentlessly disciplined.
“He had a very clear agenda that he stuck to with ruthless discipline,” Schiff said. “It was focused on meeting New Yorkers where they lived—literally—and where they lived was in a city they loved but couldn’t afford.”
Schiff stressed that while voters may debate Mamdani’s policy solutions, they could not dispute his ability to identify what people cared about and speak to it directly.
“That’s what we all have to do,” he added.
But Schiff warned Democrats against drawing a single ideological conclusion from Mamdani’s win. His model, he argued, cannot be duplicated everywhere.
“You know, he wouldn’t win a governor’s race in Virginia or New Jersey,” Schiff said. “Abigail Spanberger probably wouldn’t win the mayor’s office in New York.”
Instead, Schiff said, the party must abandon the instinct to elevate one faction or personality as the face of the Democratic brand.
“Maybe the lesson for Democrats,” he said, “is to stop trying to decide what one figure represents the party and start embracing a broader diversity of people—including a diversity of viewpoints.”
Schiff’s message comes as Democrats debate how to counter rising economic dissatisfaction and a newly emboldened Republican apparatus. Mamdani’s victory, grounded in hyper-local organizing and economic urgency, is now stoking internal conversations about how the party reconnects with voters who feel left behind.
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