Le Monde: Rise of a New "American Left" Gains Momentum from Sanders and Mamdani

A French report revealed that the United States, fueled by momentum derived from figures such as Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani, is witnessing the rise of a "new left" that attracts large numbers of young people.

The candidates of this current - who are in their thirties and forties - hope to achieve decisive victories in the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, according to a report by the French newspaper "Le Monde".

The report stated that young volunteers go door-to-door with flyers to persuade residents to vote in the November 3 elections for two Democratic Party candidates supported by the "Democratic Socialists of America" (DSA); one seeking membership in the House of Representatives in Washington, and the other for the position of Mayor of Los Angeles.

Americans are engaged in intensive field campaigns; they conduct successive house visits involving an army of activists and volunteers, utilizing applications that precisely locate addresses and gather necessary information to build voter databases.

The newspaper states that on Saturday, 300 supporters responded to the call by the "Democratic Socialists of America" (DSA) organization to cover multiple neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

In the "Koreatown" neighborhood, the newspaper says, the average age of these volunteers did not exceed 30 years, and nearly half of them were participating in such operations for the first time on behalf of this democratic socialist movement.

It is worth noting that the organization has seen increasing popularity over the past two years; it claims to have 120,000 members today, compared to only a few thousand a decade ago, although it is considered an informal movement rather than a traditional political party.

The report indicates that the matter is not limited to the "Democratic Socialists of America" (DSA) organization alone, but rather the entire left wing within the Democratic Party is experiencing strong momentum thanks to a series of electoral victories.

It notes that last summer, just before the midterm elections, many democratic socialist candidates won in primaries against moderate Democrats in states such as Colorado, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

In addition to these new candidates, there are incumbents seeking to retain their seats, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (known as "AOC"), the representative from New York, Rashida Tlaib, the Palestinian-origin representative from Michigan, and Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota born in Somalia.

The report views local elections, held concurrently with the midterm elections, as potentially contributing to the rise of figures belonging to this "new left".

This is evident in Los Angeles, where Nithya Raman - an urban planning expert in her forties, born in India and a Harvard graduate - enjoys strong chances of ousting the current mayor Karen Bass, who belongs to the veteran generation of the Democratic Party.

Similarly in Washington, it is likely that socialist Janice Lewis George (38 years old) will win the mayoralty.

The French report concludes, "We are witnessing the emergence of a new generation of candidates characterized by diversity, mirroring the American society itself."