As a rank amateur political organizer when I had the privilege of working with some of the best, most experienced, and in some cases most eccentric, political organizers in our campaign to close and decommission Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor, I learned one vital lesson. I bring this to all my work- for a campaign to succeed in a world where there are bright and shiny objects to capture people’s attention, doing something new and different is always the way to go. Find at least one new element to generate genuine interest in your activity.
Zohran Mamdani seems to have an instinct for original actions that garner respect and eyeballs. One attention grabbing act was his decision, just before the primary to walk the length of Manhattan. No gimmick. No expense. He just walked, talked, shook hands, made himself the ultimate accessible candidate: you don’t even need to go to an event, I am coming to you.
On Sunday, August 24, Zohran held a Scavenger hunt, or as some call it, a Zcavenger hunt. His video announcement of the hunt was a work of a political genius. Zohran brilliantly alluded to the second to latest corruption scandal linked to the current, very unpopular mayor Eric Adams, (the most current involves his ‘best friend’ Ingrid Lewis Martin’s outsize salary, influence, and general criminality.) In the actions Zohran is satirizing, a ‘volunteer’ (Adams’ claim) was routinely handing out potato chip bags containing wads of cash in red envelopes, to the Chinese press, blaming it on Chinese tradition. This was a story the New York Times, the local paper for this campaign, kept cold for over a month until a small and scrappy paper, THE CITY, was offered a red envelope around August 20, reported it to election officials, and the NYT had to come clean that they had witnessed the practice at least 3 times in July!
In a video he titled GAME ON, Zohran opens up holding a potato chip bag, which now has meaning well beyond the fried food within, and he says he has something to hide, “a lot of things, in fact.” He is calmly eating from a bag of potato chips containing an eerie resemblance to that pictured in the illustration of Eric Adams’ campaign worker handing over red envelopes containing wads of cash to journalists working in the Chinese press. He then announced that anyone who wants to play this game will be given series of clues- as scavenger hunts do- related to New York City history. Once you figure out the first location, with the video clue, you get an official game card, and a staff person will be at each location you find to mark your card and share the next clue. The first clue referred to Tammany Hall, a mayoral scandal from NY history- another subtle reference to Adams’ corruption, certainly. Each clue was accessible by NYC transit, including the Staten Island Ferry. In another dig at the scandal ridden Adams, he ends the video telling people there is a potential prize at the end: but not a wad of cash. The prize for completion was a cup of chai at one of Mamdani’s favorite cafes in Astoria, Queens, the Little Flower, named for Fiorello LaGuardia.
Apparently this activity was so popular that they ran out of game cards!
A public activity as playful, positive, and exciting is impossible to imagine emerging from almost any other candidate’s bag of tricks- although this sort of original and eye catching campaign play is something some of the other new, young progressive challengers will hopefully keep in mind. The biggest stories about Adams and Cuomo in the recent past are Adams’ corruption scandals, and Cuomo’s fundraising in the Hamptons where he tells his big money donors that help is on the way from Donald Trump, a man truly hated by the majority of New Yorkers.
Not only is Zohran Mamdani politically savvy, but he really gets what is missing from the standard, dull Democratic candidates. I live in Vermont and have watched Bernie Sanders move from a beloved state-wide figure to a national hero for the resistance to Trump. While Bernie never organized a scavenger hunt, when he was our congress member he held town discussions about vital topics- his staff would provide a simple meal, and members of our towns would put their heads together to talk about Medicare for All, or how to fight Bush’s Iraq War. He also organizes casual basketball games at local high schools.
The palpable energy coming from the hoards of Zohran supporters is clear- as are the attempts of the New York Times to elevate an opponent who is friendlier to the real estate industry is relentless: today’s New York Times has zero coverage of the very newsworthy and positive story of the Zchavenger Hunt- while even the New York Post, and a number of other outlets, covered this story. The crankiness of the opponents was in full display, but only makes them look ridiculous and cranky, complaining that the left is unserious.
Zohran:
“You can’t serve a city, you can’t fight for a city, if you don’t love that city.”
The games begin...good start for Mamdani.