For many Democrats , deciding which of these characters embodied the greater evil was a tough ask - the ones that did eventually endorse Mamdani for the most part had to be practically dragged kicking into doing so by their base not to mention that quite a few refused to do so altogether. Similarly Trump , a man known to trust the weight of his endorsements (even to a fault) appeared to have a moment of clarity and chose not to endorse Curtis Sliwa opting to support the crooked Democratic candidate (Cuomo) instead. Even the media , which has never been reticent to jump onto a salacious story no matter how strong / weak the evidence may be was far more interested in talking about Mamdani’s refusal to pledge a trip to a foreign country over the fact that a potential granny - killing sex pest was potentially about to hold office again. It was this bi - partisan firewall that was erected around Mamdani that added credibility to his message ; not necessarily even in the sense that his politics were right but rather the idea that his iconoclastic brand of populism genuinely posed a threat to the establishment - everyone had seen these games play out with Bernie before in 2016 when the progressive candidate had his race sabotaged by the DNC in order to secure the nomination for the heavily flawed , run - of - the mill “corporate Democrat” candidate Known as Hilary Clinton who would then embarrassingly go on to blow a double digit polling lead and lose to Trump in the general election with his populist appeal no doubt playing a major part in the affair. What both Trump and Mamdani have in common is that they are proof that you don’t have to settle for the “electable” candidate. The fear and controversy that surrounded their names served as a symbol of verification that they were genuine threats to the system.

In many ways , the rise of James Fishback is no different - when Trump took office for the second time in 2024 , he came almost as a messianic figure ; as often times happens in the Country , the social tides had turned against the incumbent president ( Biden in this case ) and “woke” was on its way out. The nation was hungry for a leader who would deliver the nation past the many failures of Biden. Somebody who would launch “ the largest deportation operation in history” , somebody who would “bring the troops home” , somebody who would “bring inflation back to pre - Biden levels”. It was the hope of may people that Trump would finally deliver them the change they so desperately wanted but alas not even two years into his term he had completely sold them out. Israel got their war with Iran , The billionaires go their tax cuts , Donors got their pardons , Tech bosses got to keep their H1B’s and yet the common voter who had put him in office in the first place got nothing of any substance. Although he is unlikely to win this evening , James Fishback has proven himself to be a master at capitalizing on the disappointment that many Republicans , especially young ones feel at the direction that Trump has taken in his second term so far : they don’t want to be fighting pointless foreign wars , they don’t want to live in a world where all of the greenery gets turned into a data center and yes , they don’t want to live in a world where Medicaid is being cut in order to subsidize a corporate tax cut for the rich. Although he has had to be very careful to tow a middle path between his own , true dissident views and Trump ( always being careful never to criticize him too much ) , I do truly believe that his impending loss will free him from the shackles of deference to Trump and ultimately allow him to start becoming a lot more critical of him in the weeks , ultimately gearing up for a political run for office in 2028. Whether said run is for State Rep , House Rep or the Presidency , what is certain is that nobody has their pulse on the feelings of the disaffected Trump voter like Fishback does , and we are bound to be seeing a lot more of him as the months go by.