{"id":200638,"date":"2026-05-23T11:58:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/200638\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:58:30","slug":"the-mamdani-fication-of-philadelphia-the-philadelphia-citizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/200638\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mamdani-fication of Philadelphia – The Philadelphia Citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During a sleepless election night, David Hyman had had enough. He\u2019d seen clips of State Representative Chris Rabb<\/a>\u2019s primary victory party, with the crowd chanting \u201cFuck AIPAC!\u201d over and over \u2014 reminiscent of the night nearly a decade ago when Larry Krasner<\/a> first won the election for Philadelphia District Attorney and chants of \u201cFuck the police!\u201d filled the air.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Listen to the audio edition here:<\/p>\n

Hyman is a widely-respected attorney and political player in town \u2014 an advisor and close friend to Mayor John Street back in the day. This behavior, to him, was angry, grievance-ridden, purely performative politics. He tossed and turned. Finally, he posted to Facebook:<\/p>\n

Sleepless night. After more than 50 years as a registered Democrat, I have decided to reregister as an Independent. Inspired by leaders like Hubert Humphrey, Barbara Jordan and Scoop Jackson, I was excited to sign up as a teenager. I felt welcome. No longer. I doubt that the Democratic leaders of my youth could even win the Party\u2019s nomination today. I hope this is a temporary separation. Time will tell. (FB friends: I needed to get that off my chest so that hopefully I can fall back to sleep. I am NOT interested in debating the merits of my decision. Thanks for understanding.)<\/p>\n

Wow, I thought. If the Democratic Party has lost David Hyman, trouble is on the way. As in: Hello, President Rubio. Make no mistake: Our congressional primary is a signpost of a schism that may ultimately fuel Trumpism after Trump. Sure, Hyman supported one of Rabb\u2019s opponents, State Senator Sharif Street, the son of his longtime friend, in the race for the Democratic nomination for PA\u2019s 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

But when I caught up with him after seeing his post, it became clear this was no case of sour grapes. Hyman speaks for many who see moral confusion in the politics of figures like Rabb and Zohran Mamdani \u2014 so-called progressives who, in some voters\u2019view, betray traditionally progressive values.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to feel morally superior, and they\u2019re good at that,\u201d Hyman told me. \u201cLike AIPAC is the biggest enemy our country has. JFK said, \u2018Ask not what your country can do for you,\u2019 and Chris Rabb said on election night, \u2018We deserve the very best.\u2019 What do the two have in common, other than the name of their party? It\u2019s become a grievance-based expression of entitlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hyman is a Jew who doesn\u2019t donate to AIPAC and has protested Netanyahu\u2019s prosecution of the war in Gaza on the streets of Tel Aviv. But early on, he noticed the subliminal messaging in Rabb\u2019s campaign fundraising emails that heralded \u201cAIPAC is coming\u201d \u2014 mirroring many of Mamdani\u2019s dog whistles, like his recent post<\/a> commemorating \u201cNakba Day,\u201d the \u201ccatastrophe\u201d that led to the founding of Israel and the displacement of Palestinians, without mentioning that it followed a war launched by 22 Arab states who rejected a two-state UN plan.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t really about Middle East history or Israeli politics. Like Hyman, I\u2019m a critic of Netanyahu. In fact, I may go even further: The expansion of settlements in the West Bank, combined with apartheid-like checkpoints, feels fundamentally illiberal. But when words like \u201cgenocide\u201d are casually tossed around \u2014 as Rabb did during the campaign \u2014 and when he appears side by side at rallies with \u201cinfluencer\u201d Hasan Piker, who has said<\/a> the U.S. \u201cdeserved 9\/11\u201d and \u201cHamas is a thousand times better than a fascist settler colonial apartheid state,\u201d and when The Inquirer declines to highlight the sheer illiberalism of all this, you really have to wonder: Where have all the serious people gone? People like those that Hyman invokes. (You want some inspiration? Check out Barbara Jordan\u2019s speech<\/a> to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.)<\/p>\n

Not ready for prime time <\/p>\n

I like Chris Rabb \u2014 he\u2019s a fun and funny guy. But if you attended our Ultimate Job Interview<\/a> event with the candidates, you would have seen that much of his appeal rests in a kind of frustrated stand-up routine. Unlike fellow progressives like State Senator Nikal Saval, he doesn\u2019t appear especially interested in building relationships across the aisle to help the people of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Citizen\u2019s Ultimate Job Interview, with, left to right: 6abc\u2019s Matt O\u2019Donnell, State Senator Sharif Street, State Representative Chris Rabb and Dr. Ala Stanford. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes his win such a troubling signifier. His ascension \u2014 and The Inquirer\u2019s fervent backing of him \u2014 should concern anyone who actually cares about achieving the ends Rabb claims to champion. If you believe that serious people are required to confront serious problems, The Inquirer endorsement of Raab<\/a> contributed to our downward slide by essentially arguing that Congress needs more shouting and less compromise \u2014 fewer sober problem-solvers, in other words.<\/p>\n

Moreover, we\u2019re already seeing examples across the country of politicians in Rabb\u2019s ideological lane unintentionally undermining working class mobility, despite their best intentions. Take New York, where Mamdani\u2019s plan for city-owned grocery stores has run up against the interests of mom-and-pop bodega owners \u2014 the sort of hardworking folks who once formed the backbone of the Democratic coalition. And, when it comes to Rabb\u2019s shameful<\/a> invocation of \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, he is contributing to a broader blizzard of moral confusion<\/a> sweeping the land.<\/p>\n

In sum: Rabb\u2019s election is part of a movement that plays right into Trumpism\u2019s hands, because his version of progressivism struggles to govern. We\u2019re seeing it right now in New York, where Mamdani has already had to table or back away from many of his extreme campaign promises.<\/a> He recently filmed a viral video promoting his tax the rich agenda in front of the home of Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, which has now led Griffin\u2019s company to question whether it would follow through on a $6 billion development project that would mean 15,000 jobs<\/a> for Mamdani\u2019s city. Oops.<\/p>\n

Nor is New York alone. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson has outsourced City Hall to the teacher\u2019s union, made rookie mistake after rookie mistake,<\/a> and hovers at 26 percent in the polls.<\/a> In Seattle, Democratic Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson has pursued policies so hostile to employers<\/a> that companies have begun relocating elsewhere \u2014 including the transferring of 2,000 Starbucks jobs to Nashville.<\/p>\n

All progressive firebrands, all simply not ready for prime time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rabb and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) share the stage during a Rabb for Congress rally on May 15, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Matthew Hatcher\/Getty Images. <\/p>\n

It may be inconvenient for progressives, but national polling underscores just how far outside the mainstream figures like Rabb remain. Yes, voters appear poised to support Democrats in the midterms. Yet, according to Real Clear Politics polling, voters still prefer Republicans to the Democratic Party.<\/a> A CNN poll found that 58 percent<\/a> of Americans believe the Democratic Party has gone too far left \u2014 an all-time high. Yet 33 percent<\/a> of Democrats \u2014 and 42 percent of those under 35 \u2014 identify, like Rabb, as Democratic Socialists. Other polling shows that more Americans view Democrats as slightly more out of touch<\/a> than Trump. This is what years of left wing cancel culture<\/a>, extreme trans activism<\/a>, and porous border enforcement<\/a> under Biden have wrought. It\u2019s as if Rabb\u2019s party is putting on a production of The Producers: These guys must be trying to lose.<\/p>\n

Be like Barney <\/p>\n

Which brings us to the final thoughts of Barney Frank, the brilliant progressive former congressman who died this week. His final public reflections amounted to a warning to his own side: Slow down on issues like trans rights and Medicare for all for the sake of winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key to liberal democracy being able to come back is to get rid of the perception, that we have allowed to grow, that the entire Democratic Party is committed to a series of very drastic social reconstructions that go beyond the politically acceptable,\u201d he advised his party in a remarkable New York Times interview<\/a> while in hospice. \u201cThe problem with my friends on the left today is that they want these things to be litmus tests, immediately. They don\u2019t want to spend any time. So what happens is they demand that more mainstream liberals sign on to these things, and then they lose because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank was no neo-liberal or corporatist Democrat. He was the type of fighter Democrats lack today \u2014 a pugilistic wordsmith, a master of the political put-down,<\/a> but also a left-leaning pol who knew how to get shit done. Mamdani passed three bills in the NY State Assembly before becoming mayor. Check out Rabb\u2019s legislative record here<\/a> and be prepared to be mightily underwhelmed.<\/p>\n

Frank\u2019s feelings about the fragile state of liberal democracy echoed Hyman\u2019s this week. \u201cIt scared me, watching the election night videos,\u201d Hyman told me, \u201cbecause it felt tribal, not based on thought. A mob mentality, just like at Trump rallies.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that, perhaps, is the most important takeaway in the aftermath of Rabb\u2019s ascension. The danger is not simply that Democrats lose elections. It\u2019s that, in trying to defeat Trumpism on its own terms, they absorb its habits \u2014 until outrage becomes the ideology and performance replaces persuasion. In that case, reasonableness is actually the loser.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

MORE FROM LARRY PLATT<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 15: Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb takes the stage to deliver remarks during a rally with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who spoke and supported Rabb on May 15, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. State Rep. Rabb is running in the Pennsylvania primary election on Tuesday May 19, with three other democrats on the ballot as well. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a sleepless election night, David Hyman had had enough. He\u2019d seen clips of State Representative Chris Rabb\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19955,6375,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-200638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-chris-rabb","tag-democratic-party","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}