Zohran Mamdani vs. Larry Elder: Which Candidate Is Too Extreme for the Media?

Does the "Black Face of White Supremacy" ring a bell?

There once were two men who sought high political office, one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast.

The East Coaster grew up in one of the ritziest locations in the nation, the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The West Coaster grew up in one of the most infamous locations in the nation, South Central Los Angeles.

The East Coaster’s father is an Ivy League professor, his mother a successful movie director.

The West Coaster’s father was a janitor-turned-cafe owner. His mother was a clerical worker.

The East Coaster pretended to be black when applying to college. The West Coaster actually is black.

The East Coaster is Zohran Mamdani, and he aspires to be Mayor of New York City. The West Coaster is Larry Elder, and in 2021 he aspired to be governor of California.

But my story isn’t about Mamdani or Elder.

My story is about members of America’s most progressive tribe — I call them Eight Percenters. More specifically, my story is about how the Eight Percents reacted to Mamdani and Elder. Eight Percenters treated one candidate much differently than the other.

Although they represent only eight percent of the nation, Eight Percenters’ dominate cultural institutions such as the media, academia, and entertainment. And that means these political minorities would play an outsized role in the success or failure of the two men's campaigns.

So which candidate would the Eight Percenters prefer?

Well, Eight Percenters’ believe deeply in social justice. They champion those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and they maintain a special devotion to black Americans, whose history in America is marred by slavery, Jim Crow, and other forms of racism.

The answer seems obvious, but before we go any further, lets examine where the candidates stand on some important issues.