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NYC mayoral race is looking with one week to go · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: To the US, and there's just a week until elections
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  Speaker 1: in some constituencies, which are being closely watched to see
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  Speaker 1: where voters stand ahead of next year's midterm elections. The
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  Speaker 1: race that's been getting the most attention is for the
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  Speaker 1: New York City mayoralty. Paul's show The Newcomers Orran Mamdani
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  Speaker 1: in the lead. He's a self declared democratic socialist whose
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  Speaker 1: candidacy has electrified grassroots supporters and alarmed some in the
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  Speaker 1: Democratic Party establishment. A correspondent Jane du Malal reports, it
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  Speaker 1: may be.
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  Speaker 2: A local election, but the world's eyes are on voters
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  Speaker 2: in New York City and on the man who could
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  Speaker 2: soon become their next mayor. A surgeon. Popularity has transformed
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  Speaker 2: Zora and Mamdani into the face of a political movement
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  Speaker 2: putting bold progressive ideas against centrist policies. That's triggered a
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  Speaker 2: debate within his party on whether Mamdani is the next
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  Speaker 2: great hope and if this is the kind of momentum
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  Speaker 2: democrats can build upon nationally. From the heart of America's
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  Speaker 2: capital of capitalism, Mamdani focused on everyday concerns for New Yorker.
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  Speaker 3: Together, New York, We're going to freeze the Together New York,
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  Speaker 3: We're gonna make buses fast and together New York, We're
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  Speaker 3: gonna deliver universal We will make our city one where
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  Speaker 3: every person who calls it home can live a dignified life.
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  Speaker 2: His mastery of social media virality means he reached millions
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  Speaker 2: of New Yorkers, with many saying his message resonated with them.
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  Speaker 3: He's for the working class, so that's enough for me.
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  Speaker 2: His plan makes the most sense for this to be
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  Speaker 2: a city we can all afford to live in again. Exactly.
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  Speaker 4: He's the one that's most in touch with what New
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  Speaker 4: Yorkers are talking about, not just what sounds good and
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  Speaker 4: not just what suits him.
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  Speaker 2: But while some see him as the party's future, others
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  Speaker 2: see a political risk, warning that his ambitious plans could
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  Speaker 2: prove costly and had Republicans easy ammunition. President Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: himself has taken aim, calling Mamdannie a communist and threatening
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  Speaker 2: to cut New York's funding.
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  Speaker 3: The funding for New York and for every place comes
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  Speaker 3: through the wet ass. I wouldn't be generous to a
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  Speaker 3: communist guy that's going to take the money and throw
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  Speaker 3: it out the window.
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  Speaker 2: Even as liberal New York he embrace on Donnie's vision.
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  Speaker 2: Not everyone is convinced his ideas can win elsewhere. Even
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  Speaker 2: within his own party, support came slowly. It took months
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  Speaker 2: to get endorsements from Governor Kathy Hochel and House Democratic
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  Speaker 2: Leader Hakim Jeffries. But whether his model is widely applicable
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  Speaker 2: or not, there's a lesson Democrats might take from Umdani.
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  Speaker 4: Whether you're a progressive or a centrist, you have to
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  Speaker 4: give people something to vote for, something that is going
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  Speaker 4: to make the common voter's life better. And that's what
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  Speaker 4: you really have to talk about, whether you're doing it
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  Speaker 4: through virality or you're doing it through a traditional political campaign.
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  Speaker 2: Come November four, that pitch to improve people's lives could
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  Speaker 2: very well get Mamdani over the finish line. Then the
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  Speaker 2: real test would come governing. Before he finds out how
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  Speaker 2: well his policies translate elsewhere, he would first need to
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  Speaker 2: learn whether they work for New Yorkers, the people to
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  Speaker 2: whom he's promised so much.
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  Speaker 1: Well that report from my correspondent Janelle de Malan, who
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  Speaker 1: joins us now from Washington, DC. Welcome, Janelle, As you
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  Speaker 1: mentioned the Democratic establishment initially slow to get behind Ma'm Dannie,
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  Speaker 1: is he showing them a new path to appeal to voters, Well.
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  Speaker 2: Phil, He's certainly showing them a path to appeal to voters.
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  Speaker 2: He consistently hammered home his affordability message in a city
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  Speaker 2: where cost of living really is the pressing issue. He
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  Speaker 2: met gen Z voters where they were on social media,
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  Speaker 2: but some would argue that his campaign looked like a
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  Speaker 2: campaign is supposed to look like. Basically, he made a
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  Speaker 2: bet on what voters wanted and found ways to talk
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  Speaker 2: to them about how he might be able to deliver that.
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  Speaker 2: But what the Democratic establishment would be watching out for
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  Speaker 2: now is what the turnout of older moderate voters will
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  Speaker 2: do to mam Danni's lead, because that really does say
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  Speaker 2: something about, you know, how a progressive candidate like Mumdani
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  Speaker 2: would be able to unite voters in a big tent
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  Speaker 2: party like the Democrats. Because if it doesn't work in
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  Speaker 2: an ultra liberal city like New York, then where would
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  Speaker 2: it work. So that is going to be the real
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  Speaker 2: test film.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, and we heard the President commenting on Mumdani's policies
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  Speaker 1: and views, even floating the idea of looking into his
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  Speaker 1: US citizenship. Apparently how unusual is it for a president
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  Speaker 1: to take such a close interest in a local election.
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  Speaker 2: You know, involvement in itself is not unheard of. History
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  Speaker 2: does have a few examples of presidents, for example, making
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  Speaker 2: endorsements in mayoral races, but there is nothing usual about
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  Speaker 2: the level of focus that President Trump has put on
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  Speaker 2: Zoran Mamdani. Presidents are usually not in the business of
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  Speaker 2: calling mayoral candidates communist lunatics. Now, as we mentioned in
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  Speaker 2: the report, he's threatened to cut off federal funding, He's
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  Speaker 2: threatened to deploy the National Guard. But on the one hand,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of that is involvement, yes, But some would
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  Speaker 2: also argue that this could also be seen as interference,
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  Speaker 2: essentially because this is a threat to New York voters. Now,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of this has to do with the figure
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  Speaker 2: of Mamdani himself. Mamdani is an economic populist, but on
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  Speaker 2: the opposite opposite side of the spectrum as Trump, and
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  Speaker 2: as such he could be seen as a natural foil
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  Speaker 2: to Trump. But a lot of the attention that Trump
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  Speaker 2: has on Mamdani also has a lot to do with
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  Speaker 2: the fact that we're talking about New York, Trump's hometown
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  Speaker 2: and the base of his business empire, as this mayoral
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  Speaker 2: race really does seem to occupy a special place in
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  Speaker 2: the president's mind.
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  Speaker 1: How's that? Janelle Jenne de Maloon in Washington,