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Zohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. But Zohran's not alone, today's elect

by dluan 11mo ago

Zohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. But Zohran's not alone, today's election was a massive swing back in almost every single race. School boards, city councils, state houses and senates, all swung radically left. It should be ringing alarm bells that the SF / YC / startup community that used to champion utilitarian, meritocratic QoL improvements as a mission, is now so deeply forked from the base that sprung today's results. Politicians like Zohran won't be bought off by Palantir money. So, what's Peter Thiel and Gary to do? Where is Marc Benioff going to park his money? Reid Hoffman, Dustin Moskovitz, Michael Moritz, Reed Hastings, Eric Schmidt, Laurene Jobs, Ben Horowitz - all of these people aren't doing the normal pay for play donations, they are interested in shaping the party in their image. Well, Zohran doesn't look like you.

kelnos 11mo ago
> Zohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. GrowSF is a conservative group with a right-wing policy platform trying to pretend it's progressive, so I'm not sure why that would be surprising. The SF tech millionaires/billionaires are not progressive. They may have claimed to be in the past, but that was either opportunism, or they lost it as they made more money and saw people like Trump and Musk gain power.
- dluan 11mo ago
  The 2010's was the moment of SV emerging as a political donor cornerstone combined with Obama's peak, when up until that point, tech had been relatively hands off (80s through to 2010's). It was then that QE and low interest rates become part of VC strategy, and so SV got comfy with its image as supporting mainstream liberal candidates and policies. They all threw money behind the Dem machine (Obama, Hillary, Biden) until they realized they weren't actually getting any decision making power for their purchases, so the ones who felt some amount of urgency switched to Trump by showing up to speak at rallies or inaugurations. Grow SF really only exists to go after city council members or school board members who get into twitter fights with a certain someone.
crypto420 11mo ago
Peter Thiel and Mamdani are more alike than you may think. https://x.com/aphysicist/status/1937879912221667792 https://x.com/aphysicist/status/1937879912221667792 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-peter-thiel-warns-looming-170746602.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-peter-thiel-warns... Nobody wants to hear this because it departs from the 'billionaire bad' trope. But Thiel has been remarkably consistent in his criticism of housing being the center of all of the Millenial economic woes.
- tsimionescu 11mo ago
  Sure, Thiel is identifying some of the same problems, but the solutions he's proposing are basically the opposite of the ones Mamdani is. Unsurprisingly, he's proposing solutions that benefit billionaires rather than everyone else (e.g. just les us build whatever wherever we want, of course we'll build cheap housing that brings property houses down! Who could ever imagine we'll build luxury mansions that keep property prices high?).
  - anon291 11mo ago
    I mean thiels policies are in effect in Austin Texas which is one of the few jurisdictions seeing decreasing rents.
    - ceejayoz 11mo ago
      I'm sorry, the city run exclusively by Democrats and that went 68.7% blue in 2024 is using "Thiel's policies"? Since when? Which policies?
      - anon291 11mo ago
        Yeah, that's correct. Democrats aren't made the same. Austin has built the most housing. YIMBY-ism is just free market conservatism economic policy dressed up in liberal language. Most people vote based off of vibes, not actual policy. If you restate the case for YIMBY-ism in conservative terms, you get conservatives to vote for you and liberals shy away. If you restate it in social justice terms, then you get liberals, and conservatives shy away. Policy is the same. The people are stupid.
FuckButtons 11mo ago
That may be so, but how far do you think viral radical left wing populism is going to get you towards regaining people who voted for trump?
- defrost 11mo ago
  It's already established that they swing for viral radical populism ... so, perhaps less of a challenge than you imply.
- dluan 11mo ago
  well Prop 50 to redraw California's district lines passed by a nearly 30% margin and counting right now. That's an absolute spanking leading up to 26 midterms. The story tonight isn't about Trump at all though, it's about millennial DSA types beating the establishment Democratic institution - in NYC, Detroit, Mississippi. In 24 everyone was astonished at the lack of response - "what is DNC going to do about losing to Trump, twice?". This is the beginning of what will be the eventual answer. Also it doesn't need to be said, but the mobilization of 1M+ votes for Zohran's campaign today renders the fringes meaningless. He's now automatically in the conversation for the Presidential primary for 2028.
  - ecshafer 11mo ago
    Zohran is literally never eligible to be President without a constitutional amendment.
    - r00fus 11mo ago
      Zohran will be the kingmaker is what I infer @dluan is trying to say.
  - dluan 11mo ago
    Err sorry not President, unfortunately.
  - mpalmer 11mo ago
    > He's now automatically in the conversation for the Presidential primary for 2028. I'm really happy he won, but this will not happen
dyauspitr 11mo ago
You got to have a Zohran that is also going to be tough on crime and homelessness but our political separations don’t allow for that right now.
- CjHuber 11mo ago
  From a non-american perspective it seems to me that in the US the problem of homelessness often gets mistaken for a problem with the homeless, maybe changing that narrative is a starting point?
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
  - dyauspitr 11mo ago
    With drugs in the mix things get complicated. Many cities tried giving these people free homes/rooms but because drug laws were strictly enforced there the homeless chose to stay on the streets. You’re not going to get rid of the fentanyl and meth addicted homeless unless you do it by force.

by dluan 11mo ago

kelnos 11mo ago

> Zohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. GrowSF is a conservative group with a right-wing policy platform trying to pretend it's progressive, so I'm not sure why that would be surprising. The SF tech millionaires/billionaires are not progressive. They may have claimed to be in the past, but that was either opportunism, or they lost it as they made more money and saw people like Trump and Musk gain power.

dluan 11mo ago
The 2010's was the moment of SV emerging as a political donor cornerstone combined with Obama's peak, when up until that point, tech had been relatively hands off (80s through to 2010's). It was then that QE and low interest rates become part of VC strategy, and so SV got comfy with its image as supporting mainstream liberal candidates and policies. They all threw money behind the Dem machine (Obama, Hillary, Biden) until they realized they weren't actually getting any decision making power for their purchases, so the ones who felt some amount of urgency switched to Trump by showing up to speak at rallies or inaugurations. Grow SF really only exists to go after city council members or school board members who get into twitter fights with a certain someone.

crypto420 11mo ago

Peter Thiel and Mamdani are more alike than you may think. https://x.com/aphysicist/status/1937879912221667792 https://x.com/aphysicist/status/1937879912221667792 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-peter-thiel-warns-looming-170746602.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-peter-thiel-warns... Nobody wants to hear this because it departs from the 'billionaire bad' trope. But Thiel has been remarkably consistent in his criticism of housing being the center of all of the Millenial economic woes.

tsimionescu 11mo ago
Sure, Thiel is identifying some of the same problems, but the solutions he's proposing are basically the opposite of the ones Mamdani is. Unsurprisingly, he's proposing solutions that benefit billionaires rather than everyone else (e.g. just les us build whatever wherever we want, of course we'll build cheap housing that brings property houses down! Who could ever imagine we'll build luxury mansions that keep property prices high?).
- anon291 11mo ago
  I mean thiels policies are in effect in Austin Texas which is one of the few jurisdictions seeing decreasing rents.
  - ceejayoz 11mo ago
    I'm sorry, the city run exclusively by Democrats and that went 68.7% blue in 2024 is using "Thiel's policies"? Since when? Which policies?
    - anon291 11mo ago
      Yeah, that's correct. Democrats aren't made the same. Austin has built the most housing. YIMBY-ism is just free market conservatism economic policy dressed up in liberal language. Most people vote based off of vibes, not actual policy. If you restate the case for YIMBY-ism in conservative terms, you get conservatives to vote for you and liberals shy away. If you restate it in social justice terms, then you get liberals, and conservatives shy away. Policy is the same. The people are stupid.

FuckButtons 11mo ago

That may be so, but how far do you think viral radical left wing populism is going to get you towards regaining people who voted for trump?

defrost 11mo ago
It's already established that they swing for viral radical populism ... so, perhaps less of a challenge than you imply.
dluan 11mo ago
well Prop 50 to redraw California's district lines passed by a nearly 30% margin and counting right now. That's an absolute spanking leading up to 26 midterms. The story tonight isn't about Trump at all though, it's about millennial DSA types beating the establishment Democratic institution - in NYC, Detroit, Mississippi. In 24 everyone was astonished at the lack of response - "what is DNC going to do about losing to Trump, twice?". This is the beginning of what will be the eventual answer. Also it doesn't need to be said, but the mobilization of 1M+ votes for Zohran's campaign today renders the fringes meaningless. He's now automatically in the conversation for the Presidential primary for 2028.
- ecshafer 11mo ago
  Zohran is literally never eligible to be President without a constitutional amendment.
  - r00fus 11mo ago
    Zohran will be the kingmaker is what I infer @dluan is trying to say.
- dluan 11mo ago
  Err sorry not President, unfortunately.
- mpalmer 11mo ago
  > He's now automatically in the conversation for the Presidential primary for 2028. I'm really happy he won, but this will not happen

dyauspitr 11mo ago

You got to have a Zohran that is also going to be tough on crime and homelessness but our political separations don’t allow for that right now.

CjHuber 11mo ago
From a non-american perspective it seems to me that in the US the problem of homelessness often gets mistaken for a problem with the homeless, maybe changing that narrative is a starting point?
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- dyauspitr 11mo ago
  With drugs in the mix things get complicated. Many cities tried giving these people free homes/rooms but because drug laws were strictly enforced there the homeless chose to stay on the streets. You’re not going to get rid of the fentanyl and meth addicted homeless unless you do it by force.