Episode Overview

Podcast: Bulwark Takes
Host: Tim Miller (The Bulwark)
Episode Title: Is This The Smartest Mamdani Ad Yet?
Date: October 28, 2025

Main Theme:
Tim Miller analyzes recent messaging trends among progressive leaders, focusing on Zoran Mamdani’s standout campaign advertisement, and examines how different approaches to “left populism” might work for connecting with traditional Democratic constituencies and swing voters. He also takes on the ongoing conflict around American democracy, with particular attention to Donald Trump’s latest efforts to use the Department of Justice for his own ends, and the Democratic messaging in response.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump, DOJ, & “Democracy-Speak”

• [00:00]–[01:32]
  Tim Miller describes the current GOP effort to weaponize the Department of Justice against Trump’s political opponents, calling it “fabricated nonsense.” He points out the MAGA right’s savvy in co-opting the language of democracy, making it frustratingly effective:

  “Donald Trump and the MAGA right is co-opting these terms of democracy and doing it with some political effect, annoyingly.” — Tim Miller, [00:16]

• Miller highlights the farcical yet dangerous aspects of these tactics, and sets up a pivot to progressive messaging—specifically, how it intersects with issues of democracy.

2. The “DSA Generations” at the Zoran Rally

• [01:32]–[03:16]
  Miller plays a highlight reel from the Zoran Mamdani rally, featuring soundbites from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), and Zoran Mamdani himself. Each represents a different “version” of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) messaging, as described by Liz Smith (“Bernie AOC and Zoran, DSA 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0”):

  • Bernie: Focused on systemic threats, authoritarianism, and class oppression.
  • AOC: Emphasizes identity, social justice, Trump critiques, and connects to historical injustices.
  • Zoran: Focused on affordability and cost of living, presenting a cheerful, optimistic tone.

  “Bernie is still on message. Dude cannot be shaken off his message...and it’s very Bernie. It’s unique to Bernie.” — Tim Miller, [02:08]
  “Then you get to Zoran, and he really has kind of dialed in on the affordability, dialed in on the cost of living, dialed in on making New York a better place to live for everybody. And he does so...in a much cheerier way… happy warrior manner.” — Tim Miller, [03:03]

3. What Works—and Why: Zoran’s Messaging Compared to AOC & Bernie

• [03:16]–[07:52]
  • Miller compares the impact of different messaging strategies, especially as Democrats attempt to recapture working-class and nonwhite voters, constituencies where they’ve lost ground.
    • Economic focus is key:

      “If left populism is going to work, they gotta appeal to those voters. And I think that a lot of those voters were turned off about some of the cultural moves that the Democrats made.” — Tim Miller, [04:46]

    • Cultural issues, especially “woke social justice” politics, risk alienating broad swathes of the electorate.
    • Zoran’s style is inclusive and avoids scare tactics, making him more palatable for swing voters and former Republicans.

4. Case Study: The “Smartest Mamdani Ad Yet”

• [07:52]–[09:44]
  Miller plays and analyzes Zoran Mamdani’s Fox News ad, emphasizing its unique blend of left-populist and traditional tropes:

  • Attacks on billionaire-backed politics (in the Bernie tradition).

  • Policy specifics rooted in affordability, government efficiency, and tangible deliverables like universal child care, affordable rent, and fair property taxes.

  • Use of “government waste” rhetoric—a cross-ideological talking point.

  • Messaging is “not scary”—deliberately avoids polarizing language or framing:

    “He’s on Fox, he’s using some traditional conservative tropes about the government and he’s saying directly that like I’m not scary, I’m just not doing the billionaire dirty work like Andrew Cuomo is.” — Tim Miller, [08:19] “It is optimistic, it’s forward looking, it’s responsive to people’s concerns. It’s marking the real foes as the billionaire class, not as MAGA Americans or anything like that. He does it with a smile.” — Tim Miller, [09:37]

  • Concludes that this ad is a “broadly appealing” synthesis of DSA values and effective campaign strategy, likely to attract both disaffected working-class voters and moderate swing voters.

5. Takeaways on Effective Left Populist Messaging

• [09:44]–[12:36]
  • Emphasizing everyday economic concerns (affordable housing, childcare, property tax reform) is more effective than focusing on polarizing identity or ideological fights.
  • Zoran’s “happy warrior” tone and refusal to demonize non-billionaire opponents makes his approach stand out.
    • “How do you win people like Tim over? … Zoran has found a messaging substance and style that is preferable to some of what we saw coming before him.” — Tim Miller, [11:32]

6. The Perils (and Limits) of “Democracy” as a Standalone Message

• [12:36]–[13:08]
  Transition to a discussion of how both Republicans and Democrats now frame themselves as defenders of democracy. Miller is skeptical about relying on “democracy” as a standalone campaign issue:

  “Democracy is a standalone issue, is a weak political issue for the Democrats to focus on...it’s kind of esoteric.” — Tim Miller, [13:18]

  • Both parties’ voters claim to support democracy, but only one side (MAGA/Trump) operates on a false narrative about the loss of democracy.
  • The only way to win the argument, Miller suggests, is with plain, concrete, non-highfalutin language and a focus on real abuses of power.

7. Notable Quote: Hakeem Jeffries at NAACP Rally

• [15:06]–[15:36]
  • Hakeem Jeffries:

    “Wickedness in High Places. Folks who would rather shut down the government than provide health care to everyday Americans. People who have weaponized the Department of Justice. I’ve come to the conclusion that while Jim Crow may be dead, he still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well running around Washington, D.C. and the rest of the nation.”

8. Democrats’ Rhetoric: Plain Talk or Moralizing?

• [15:36]–[16:38]

  • Miller prefers direct, blunt criticism of Trump’s actions over generalized historical references or lofty talk about “fate of democracy”:

    “I wish the Democrats would just say it more bluntly...Donald Trump is going after his political folks. Donald Trump, they have...propped up fake reasons to go after people that he doesn't like, using the power of the government. The American people are not for this.” — Tim Miller, [15:56]

  • The real danger, Miller argues, lies in normalizing political vengeance through government institutions, threatening the very norms of American freedom and justice.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:16]

  “Donald Trump and the MAGA right is co-opting these terms of democracy and doing it with some political effect, annoyingly.”
  — Tim Miller

• [03:03]

  “Then you get to Zoran, and he really has kind of dialed in on the affordability, dialed in on...making New York a better place to live for everybody. And he does so...in a much cheerier way… happy warrior manner.”
  — Tim Miller

• [08:19]

  “He’s on Fox, he’s using some traditional conservative tropes about the government and he’s saying directly that like I’m not scary, I’m just not doing the billionaire dirty work like Andrew Cuomo is.”
  — Tim Miller

• [09:37]

  “It is optimistic, it’s forward looking, it’s responsive to people’s concerns. It’s marking the real foes as the billionaire class, not as MAGA Americans or anything like that. He does it with a smile.”
  — Tim Miller

• [13:18]

  “Democracy is a standalone issue, is a weak political issue for the Democrats to focus on...it’s kind of esoteric.”
  — Tim Miller

• [15:20]

  “I’ve come to the conclusion that while Jim Crow may be dead, he still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well running around Washington, D.C. and the rest of the nation.”
  — Hakeem Jeffries

• [15:56]

  “I wish the Democrats would just say it more bluntly...Donald Trump is going after his political folks...using the power of the government. The American people are not for this.”
  — Tim Miller

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00]–[01:32] — Trump’s DOJ weaponization & the roots of “democracy-speak” battle
• [01:32]–[03:16] — Bernie, AOC, Zoran: Different DSA styles highlighted
• [03:16]–[07:52] — Deep dive into how left populist messaging can (and can’t) win
• [07:52]–[09:44] — Full breakdown of Zoran Mamdani’s Fox News ad
• [12:36]–[13:08] — Challenges with “protecting democracy” as a campaign issue
• [15:06]–[15:36] — Hakeem Jeffries’ NAACP comments
• [15:36]–[16:38] — Tim’s critique of how Democrats should talk about Trump’s actual abuses of power

Overall Tone

Conversational, analytical, and sometimes self-deprecating—Tim Miller offers rapid-fire, candid takes aimed at both political junkies and the broader Bulwark audience. He blends humor with frustration but grounds his arguments with detailed, example-based comparisons. The episode balances critique and admiration, particularly regarding the evolution of progressive messaging.

Summary for Non-Listeners

In this tightly-packed solo episode, Tim Miller breaks down the latest currents in political messaging on the left, using Zoran Mamdani’s “cheerful left-populist” campaign as the model for how Democrats might regain lost ground with both working-class voters and wary suburban moderates. Through comparisons with Bernie Sanders and AOC, he illustrates how a focus on affordability, tangible reforms, and optimistic tone can succeed where culture-war and lofty appeals to “democracy” fall flat. The episode also touches on the dangers of Trump’s new moves against political opponents and critiques both MAGA and “establishment Democrat” approaches to defending democratic norms, urging more straightforward, non-moralizing language instead.