Former President Barack Obama's efforts to shore up Democrats in the New Jersey and Virginia elections — but not in New York — demonstrate the difficulty the party faces in trying to project a moderate image nationally while fielding more extreme candidates such as Zohran Mamdani in local races, Patrick Allocco, the founder of Zoose Political Index, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Allocco explained on Newsmax's "National Report" that "what we are looking at in New York City ... is a Democratic primary, and it is really the fight for the soul of the Democrat Party," pointing out that the progressives have made incredible inroads, especially in New York City.
Allocco said Obama has been very calculated about where he's gone to shore up support for Democratic candidates — doing so in New Jersey and Virginia, but not in New York.
The Zoose Political Index founder said this is illustrative of the Democratic Party "really having a very difficult time wanting to portray a moderate party nationally but then having very extreme candidates like Mamdani in the fray."
On the Republican side, Allocco said that President Donald Trump's last-minute plea urging voters not to support GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa in the New York mayoral race — but instead to back independent candidate Andrew Cuomo — has the potential to prevent a Mamdani victory due to the large number of voters turning out on Election Day.
Allocco said this tactic could still sway the election, even though many have already cast their ballots during early voting.
He explained that most early voting is done by voters loyal to their party base, so the roughly two million people voting on Tuesday in New York could be enough to make Cuomo the winner — despite the lateness of Trump's intervention and polls indicating a Mamdani lead.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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