Graham Platner was an unforced error – the left has lessons to learn | Osita Nwanevu

Many imagined his buff, gruff and tattooed traits would help him connect with working-class men. But this logic was flawed The left would do well to revisit New York’s Democratic primaries two weeks ago – it was a sunnier news cycle, yes, but those races were also an object lesson in progressive realpolitik. Zohran Mamdani, busy as he already was, devoted a remarkable amount of time, resources and political capital to selecting and backing the eventual victors in three different races – in one case reversing a promise to support an incumbent, Adriano Espaillat, in favor of activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, and in another case supporting Claire Valdez, a relatively unknown assemblywoman, even as the Working Families party, major unions and other progressives backed the Brooklyn borough president, Antonio Reynoso. He also did what he could to push other candidates out of the running entirely, including the city councilwoman Alexa Avilés, who might have run against the mayor’s pick, Brad Lander, and Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th congressional district, and the city councilman Chi Ossé, whose planned run against the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, was torpedoed.