Many people in the news media who were shocked by Zohran Mamdani's win in the NYC mayoral primary are the same ones ignoring the mechanics of his victory.
The panel on the MSNBC vid above pretty much gets it right. My views on it are not terribly different.
Mamdani was able to energize younger voters at a time youth turnout had been falling.
The Mamdani campaign had a great ground game. Volunteers talked to voters in person in the neighborhoods.
Mamdani made himself easily available to journalists and community groups.
The issue most central to the Mamdani campaign was affordability – something almost all voters can relate to.
Self-serving scare tactics by the wealthy establishment were dismissed by voters who warmed to Mamdani's more positive messaging.
In short, Mamdani largely ran a notably traditional old school campaign with the help of some contemporary technology.
Interacting personally with voters is the easiest way to bypass broligarch social media and cable. People on our side who endlessly wail about pro-Trump media and social media making it impossible for us to win forget that precinct work was the very open secret for the success of 20th century political machines. A "machine" is simply an in-person network.
Finding out what is on voters' minds rather than preaching to them is how you win their votes.
Duplicating the methods of the successful Mamdani campaign and applying them to campaigns across the US should be a high national priority for Democrats.