Copyright bostonherald
It is as though the two political parties, if not the country, are at a crossroads. At this juncture, the parties must decide which road to take, as in Robert Frost’s famous poem about two roads diverging into the woods. One road was led by Republican conservative Charlie Kirk, 31, before he was assassinated. The other road is led by Democrat Socialist Zohran Mamdani, 34, who is favored to become mayor of New York. They are young contemporary Americans who changed U.S. party politics, and perhaps the country itself. Kirk, who had a bright political future, helped strengthen the Republican Party. Mamdani, who also has a bright political future, is tearing the Democrat Party apart, splitting leftist radicals from moderate or even liberal Democrats. Kirk, who traveled to college campuses across the country spreading conservative values of faith, freedom, family and Republicanism, was viewed as the future of the Republican Party. President Donald Trump supported him. Kirk was a GOP unifying figure who sought to bring people together under the blanket of conservatism. Mamdani, who spread his values of free stuff socialism through the five boroughs of New York City, is viewed as the new leader of a new and radical Democrat Party. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren support him. He is a charismatic Democrat Party mayoral nominee who is dividing Democrats under the blanket of radical socialism. Mamdani is a charismatic figure who is dominating the New York Democrat Party by imposing his socialist left wing radical views upon it. So far, he has succeeded. Kirk was a more unifying figure. He founded the highly successful conservative movement Turning Point USA. He believed that “In America you are usually a conservative if you produce more than you complain. You’re a left winger if you complain more than you produce.” Outside of putting together an energetic campaign for mayor of New York, Mamdani, outside of words, has not produced much of anything. Yet, his words, like the words of Charlie Kirk, have resonated, particularly among young people, even though the young people they have appealed to are as different as Mamdani is from Kirk. Kirk believed that people should work for what they get. Mamdani believes that people should get what other people work for. Which reminds me of a young man in Albania under the Communists who explained the country’s heavy-handed socialism to me. He said, “Under socialism everyone in Albania who works, eats. Everyone who doesn’t work, eats—and drinks.” Mamdani would make bus rides free. Kirk would have made people pay the fare. Mamdani would help poor people with cheap food at city-run grocery stores. Kirk would have gotten them jobs bagging groceries at Market Basket. Mamdani would send social workers to deal with crime. Kirk would have sent cops. Kirk was pro-Israel, anti-Hamas. Mamdani is anti-Israel, pro Hamas. Both appealed to young voters, Mamdani by offering them more government control of their lives and Kirk by proposing less government and more freedom. Mamdani, a three-term member of the New York Assembly, is a Muslim who was born in Kampala, Uganda, He lived in Cape Town, South Africa, and migrated to the U.S. with his parents when he was seven years old. He holds dual citizenship with Uganda. Kirk, a Christian, was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He never held elective office, but at an early age created Turning Point USA and turned it into the largest campus organization of conservative and patriotic young people in the country. Kirk would not have dreamed of holding dual citizenship with any country. Two roads diverged into the woods. Take your pick. Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com
