From Monica's Dress to Mamdani's Win: How Far Have We Really Come?

Christine Merser, June 25, 2025

When Mamdani came through on the first count for the Democratic primary in New York City, my text messages lit up like a Christmas tree. “You must be ecstatic!” “Your guy is in!” “Looks like the women came through!” And so it went.

My column is about national politics, and my response to the time we’re living in, from the point of view of just one liberal woman who has grown up loving her country as much as her family, her friends, books, movies, and herself.

This will be the third column I’ve written about New York City politics in as many weeks. And while New York City may not matter to some of my readers, it’s such a good example of the issues we’re all facing right now.

First, I have no idea whether Mr. Mamdani will be a good mayor. I have no idea if he’ll be able to bring to fruition the things he’s promising. And even after digging deeply into whether free buses and his plan for public housing that won’t break the bank make sense, I still don’t know if they do or if they can be done at all. All that remains to be seen.

Here’s what I do know, as a strategist who has worked on many political campaigns. He’s a great campaigner. He’s a great orator. He’s a great thinker. He’s a great campaign manager. I think the campaign he put together is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a city that is not easily managed. He won big in every single area of New York City. Never seen it before. Ever.

As for the women, which is always of most interest to me, the women I was shocked to see actually voting for Cuomo, who were posting that he was the one who could go up against the bully in Washington because he was a bully himself - the women I thought had grown beyond centuries of being overrun by men like Cuomo, I have no idea what they did. I need the voting breakdown by women in ZIP codes like 10023 and other high-net-worth areas, and then I’ll tell you how happy I am in the bigger sense.

But it’s more than that. Cuomo has said he’s weighing whether to run as an independent. Which means he’s talking to Bloomberg and Clinton today to see if they will continue to bankroll and support him.

So let’s take stock.

We’ve got Mamdani, who won the Democratic nomination and will be on the ballot. So far, he seems like an honorable human being.

Adams the sitting mayor, also a Democrat, is running as an independent. He actually should be in jail, on the city’s dime, but he cut a deal with Donald Trump, yet another corrupt backroom deal, and so not only is he not in jail, he’s running for mayor.

So we’ve got three Democrats in the race. Two of them should be behind bars. Both are walking free thanks to corruption. Three Democrats. One Republican. You run the numbers.

Even though New York City is a Democratic stronghold, splitting the Democratic vote three ways against one Republican, well, to quote The Hunger Games, the odds will not be ever in our favor.

Would you buy a used car from any of these men?

But it’s worse than that. I checked the platforms this morning. So many Republicans who turned Democrat because of the corruption in the Republican Party are now asking why Democrats are tolerating corrupt figures like Cuomo and Adams. Why are they getting such support?

Actually, not just tolerating, endorsing. Look who endorsed Cuomo. Oh wait, the same Bill Clinton who tried to take down Monica Lewinsky? Until the remains of his sins were splattered on a dress, his lies might have held.

And, all the Dems that are willing to support Trump running a war. It’s a shocking number. Only 40 Democrats have said they will vote to stop from giving him the power to declare war on Iran.

So these disillusioned Republicans are asking, who do I give money to? Who can I support? Because the Democrats are looking bad. And, they are not getting the job done, and if one more asks me to give them $15 more dollars to get the job done… And in some ways, they’re right.

The Democratic Party is in shambles. And Democrats keep telling me not to say that, because admitting it gives ammunition to Republicans. But I’m not giving them ammunition. I’m trying to build something better.

It is time to stop voting party lines. It is time to start supporting individuals. It is time to start demanding character, vision, and integrity, not party loyalty.

This is the time to rip politics apart and build it back, one good human at a time.

So do I celebrate today’s Democratic primary win? Yes. I breathe a sigh of relief that Cuomo didn’t win. Mostly, I breathe because there are twelve women I don’t have to write letters of apology to.

Twelve women who were probably sitting last night wondering if outing themselves, enduring public humiliation, years of court abuse, and the financial ruin of standing up to him, was all in vain. Wondering if women across New York City would reward him with a vote for mayor.

But it’s only the beginning. Now comes the hard part. Now we need to help the women of New York City, and across the country, understand how foolish their vote for him was. How MAGA their blind vote to him looks. How much of a dealbreaker it should have been, just as they expect it to be for others who vote for Trump.

They have such disdain for those who support Trump. They say they could never vote for a man like him. But they just did it.

So do we celebrate? Yes. Are we over the hump? Absolutely not.

This race, this primary, has unveiled yet another layer of the mold festering beneath the surface of American politics and how we evaluate men.

But here’s the thing. We are uncovering it. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Slowly at first. Step by step. Day by day. Inch by inch.

We have until November.

Let it be decisive.

Let every woman in New York City vote in her own best interest, and in the best interest of every other woman in the city and in the country.