Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno was blunt in a conversation with Alex Marlow: Zohran Mamdani’s shock rise to power didn’t happen in a vacuum — it happened because the American Dream has been gutted and young Americans feel like the system has failed them. Moreno warned that when people can’t afford a home, a car, or a family, they become susceptible to promises from self-described socialists who say they will make everything “free.”
Make no mistake, Mamdani’s victory in New York City is a seismic political event that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, and it reflects deep anger in our cities at status-quo governance. Voters in America’s largest city handed power to a democratic socialist whose platform rejects traditional fiscal responsibility and embraces huge new government programs.
Mamdani is not a moderate reformer — he proudly wears the label of democratic socialism and campaigned on radical affordability promises like rent freezes, a $30 minimum wage by 2030, free transit, and city-owned grocery stores that would be paid for by higher taxes on working businesses. Those policies sound comforting to people squeezed by rising costs, but the math and the consequences for small businesses and job creators are frightening.
Senator Moreno is right to point at the policy environment that created this moment: record-breaking inflation and runaway housing costs crushed wage gains and made basic milestones feel out of reach for a generation. Under the Biden years the Consumer Price Index surged, erasing real income gains for families, while reports show housing affordability and rent burdens hit historic levels for millions of Americans. Those facts explain why desperate voters turn to sweeping promises rather than prudent, conservative solutions.
If conservatives want to win back the cities and protect the American Dream, rhetoric isn’t enough — we must deliver results that matter in people’s wallets. That means reining in inflation with responsible fiscal policy, cutting taxes and regulations that choke housing supply, unlocking energy production to lower costs, and empowering families with opportunity instead of dependency. These are the real solutions that will actually restore hope, not expensive political theater.
This moment should galvanize the Republican Party and every patriot who believes in opportunity over entitlement. It will take time and steady conservative governance to reverse the damage, but we have the know-how and the courage to rebuild an America where hard work still pays and the dream is alive for the next generation.
