Poll after poll shows the overwhelming majority of Americans are centrists. Some may be left of center and others right of center, but the strident views at the extremes don’t represent most Americans.

It’s sometimes difficult to appreciate this reality as we are bombarded with the shameless voices of the extreme right and left. The cacophony of scripted slogans shrilly shouted can be disconcerting. The mind-numbing repetition and absence of any nuanced discussion is so unlike the civil exchange of ideas we were brought up to appreciate. It is easy to understand how many may just elect to stay home and not participate in the circus like atmosphere.

However, apathy and passivity in the face of these extremely negative forces is not a solution; indeed it is a part of the problem.

The all too predictable result is Zohran Mamdani, a so-called Democratic Socialist (DSA), winning the recent New York City Democrat Party Mayoral primary. Many are rightly troubled by this unfortunate circumstance. After all, whether it’s Mamdani’s defense of the slogan ‘globalize the intifada’; anti-Zionism, a euphemism for antisemitism; failure to condemn Hamas for October 7th on October 8th and instead criticizing Israel; invocation of the ‘genocide’ blood libel of Israel; support of BDS; calls for defunding the NYC Police Department; or embrace of Marxist policies; his brand is toxic to the majority of Jewish and other Americans.

The Democrat Party machinery in NYC appears to have been hijacked by the DSA. This was no mean feat. The DSA has organized young volunteers, who they keep involved even when not working directly on elections. Recruitment lures include far left politics and ideology and most recently melding with anti-Israel/antisemitic radical Islamists of all stripes.

This cult-like approach to continuing engagement is unlike the methodology employed by other political parties. Indeed, candidates for office are often chosen from among active DSA members. They are viewed as being a part of a slate and are also required to coordinate. The agenda to be followed is the one developed by the DSA. Loyalty to the party is critical. For example, a candidate for the NYC Council seeking DSA endorsement must agree not to travel to Israel as a condition thereof. Candidates are also asked to support BDS.

However, as the defeat of Jamaal Bowman, in his bid for re-election to Congress, demonstrates, it is possible to win against the DSA if join together for this higher purpose. In this regard it is important to recognize according to the voter rolls kept by the New York State Board of Elections, dated February 20, 2025, there were a total of 3,343,648 registered Democrat voters in NYC. Republican registered voters in NYC totaled 558,778 and Independents, 1,101,006. Consider, less than a third of the Democrat registered voters actually voted in the recent Mayoral primary. Of them, approximately 43.5% voted for Mamdani and another 11.3% voted for his compatriot, Brad Lander. Andrew Cuomo received approximately 36.4%.

Imagine, a scenario where the Cuomo voters joined with the Independents and Republicans to vote for one fusion candidate for Mayor in November. This would not be the first time this kind of realignment occurred. Indeed the current political climate is similar to what happened in 1961. Then sitting Mayor, Democrat Robert Wagner, was not chosen by the Democrat machine to run for a third term in the Mayoral primary; instead they chose Arthur Levitt. Much like Mayor Adams, there was a break between the successors to Tammany Hall, who ran the NYC Democrat machine at the time and Mayor Wagner. Armed with the Liberal Party’s endorsement, he went on to win re-election.

It happened again in 1969, when Mayor John Lindsay was running for re-election on the Liberal Party line. Interestingly, it was the Democrat Party, at the time, which was running Mario Procaccino, styled as a law and order candidate. While John Marchi received the Republican Party nomination, many prominent Republicans like Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits and Tom Dewey backed Lindsay, who went on to win re-election.

There is no substitute for successfully winning an election. A fusion candidate is the solution. After joining together to win, the various parties can devote themselves to reformation and rebuilding of their respective parties. Education of the young is an essential part of the process.

I well remember being in Civics Class in Elementary School and being taught to vote for the candidate and not the party. Politics at the time in NYC was extremely local. There were all sorts of political clubs in the neighborhoods. It almost seemed like the ordinary neighborhood streetscape included a variety of Houses of Worship, the VFW, the local movie theater and the proverbial one or more political clubs.

The Democrat Clubs included those with the name of the neighborhood, appellations like ‘Reform’ or ‘Independent’ or the name of a political figure or ethnic group. Some neighborhoods had more than one club. There were all sorts of events sponsored by the clubs, beyond just during the election season; although prior to elections, the activity became frenetic.

In the current world of digital communications, serious attention must be given to adapting these lessons to how we live and communicate today. The challenge is real. Retail politics and getting out the vote is an age-old problem, as the statistics noted above confirm. As Ethics of Our Fathers (Avot 2:15) pithily notes: ‘the day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the workers are indolent, and the reward is great…’

It’s time to unite the center and support one Mayoral candidate who represents our values.

The alternative of splitting the vote among many candidates of the various parties and groupings vying for election is to repeat the mistakes made in the recent Democrat primary. A Fusion Candidate is the solution.