Would you like to take over Greenland? Would you open a government-run grocery store? Politics in 2026 is not for the faint of heart.
Zoran Mamdani to take office with bold policies for New York City
Ahead of Inauguration Day, Zoran Mamdani’s plans for New York City signal changes with national implications, USA TODAY’s Dan Morrison reports.
Consider yourself warned that politics in 2026 is not for the faint of heart.
As Americans grow increasingly dissatisfied with their government and the direction of the country, policy prescriptions once considered on the fringes are becoming part of the mainstream discussion.
Would you like to take over Greenland? Open a government-run grocery store?
This year’s midterm elections will test the efforts of courageous forces to corner both parties.
Consider President Donald Trump’s determination to abolish birthright citizenship, a doctrine dating back to 1790, and this month’s military invasion to take control of Venezuela and its oil reserves. He has never strayed far from his belief in tough tariffs as an economic panacea, which was at odds with Republican orthodoxy during his rise to political office.
As for the Democratic Party’s newest stars, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani has vowed to tax the wealthy, freeze $1 million in rent, provide universal child care and arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes if he moves into Gotham.
“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani declared in his first speech as mayor, delivered in the winter cold after his inauguration on New Year’s Day. “I’m not going to abandon my principles for fear of being seen as radical.”
The midterm elections will help shape the debate that follows the 2028 presidential election.
The first cracks within the party over what the party should stand for, especially in the post-Trump era, are beginning to emerge over issues such as tolerance of white supremacist rhetoric and the definition of “America First.” The debate within the Democratic coalition is already large and noisy, dividing moderates in battleground states and progressives elated by Mr. Mamdani’s rocket-propelled victory in the nation’s largest city.
It seems natural to ask, “Will centrists be supported by either party?”
The rising tide of depression
Americans are feeling increasingly pessimistic about the current situation, and disagreements about what to do about it are deepening.
By December, a Gallup poll found that Americans were dissatisfied with the direction of the country by a 3-to-1 margin.
Confidence in the economy is also declining, despite strong growth and a record stock market. The Gallup Economic Confidence Index, which measures people’s views on the economy and its future, was at a whopping -33 by the end of the year, down nearly 20 points from the spring.
This is a recipe for political chaos that ignores the classic lines between Republicans and Democrats and between conservatives and liberals, especially among younger voters who have less history of support or loyalty to either party.
A Heartland/Rasmussen national poll released in November found that 52% of potential voters between the ages of 18 and 39 had a favorable impression of Mamdani. Among those who voted for Trump in 2024, 41% also liked Mamdani.
A majority of voters under 40, including both conservatives and moderates, supported the idea of expanding Mr. Mamdani’s proposal to install government-run grocery stores in towns across America to curb rising food prices.
Adding to the sense of turmoil ahead is the fact that traditional centers of political influence, such as Congressional leaders, the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, have little say in where the nation’s politics are headed. Increasingly, the driving force is individual Paul, often succeeding in attracting voters’ attention through social media.
That will likely include Mr. Trump and Mr. Mamdani, who although politically diametrically opposed, have some things in common.
Both men are confident and charismatic, and are comfortable supporting controversial ideas, even within their own party. That may be one reason why the two struck such an unexpected chord when they gathered at the White House in November.
“It was a productive meeting,” Mamdani said afterward. “I look forward to helping him, not hurting him. It’s going to be a big help,” Trump promised.
Even though Mamdani called Trump a fascist and a tyrant, and Trump labeled him a “Jew-hater” and “100% communist lunatic.” At one point, Trump threatened to arrest Mamdani on unspecified charges.
It was the voters’ desire for change that allowed them to defeat the heirs of established political dynasties and launch unexpected political careers. In 2016, Trump ran as the Republican presidential candidate against former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and nearly a decade later, Mamdani ran as the Democratic mayoral candidate against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
This year’s midterm elections are poised to be a watershed for American politics and political parties.
In the decade since Trump announced his White House campaign, he has reshaped the Republican Party’s image and reversed long-held views on trade, deficits and military alliances. His political followers, led by Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are seen as his likely successors.
But Republicans are beginning to envision a future after the 79-year-old Trump, perhaps one in which his grip will loosen.
As Democrats look ahead to the post-Trump era, the divisions have become quite public.
On the same day Mamdani won on a progressive platform, Democrats won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia with centrist candidates.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a liberal Democrat with pragmatic tendencies, was quick to dismiss the idea that Mamdani represented the new face of the Democratic Party. “I don’t think anyone is like that,” she said in an interview with USA TODAY. In the 2028 presidential election, she predicted there would be a large number of candidates, saying, “The face of the party… has to come out of the party.”
Pelosi: “Democrats will definitely win the House of Representatives in 2026”
Representative Nancy Pelosi said Zoran Mamdani is not the face of the new Democratic Party. No one yet
And when Mamdani was sworn in publicly, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who had just reluctantly endorsed the former Queens congressman and fellow New Yorker, was absent.
Will the stamp of democratic socialism, already under radical attack by Republicans, undermine Democrats’ hopes of regaining control of the House (low bar) and even the Senate (high) in the midterm elections in 10 months?
Or will voters decry President Trump’s assertion of naked power over everything from curbing immigration to deploying the military to American cities? Are Democrats accusing this measure of dangerous authoritarianism?
Please keep an eye out for November as well.
