By Scott Lucas

In his victory speech early Wednesday, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani told a rapturous crowd, "In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light."

This was a beacon of a new politics, an alternative to the Trump-dominated rhetoric and division across much of US political culture and the national media. This was a real call for unity, not a throwaway line, as Mamdani listed all groups in New York City's diverse 8.5-million community: "We believe in standing up for those we love."

These were concrete measures to deal with the cost of living, housing, food, child care, and transport, rather than invective and insults. Far from retreating from the "radical/socialist/communist" smears thrown at him by Donald Trump's camp, Mamdani dared to quote the iconic US socialist Eugene Debs: “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.”

But the glow was not just in New York.........

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