Economist Daniel Di Martino warned young conservatives at YAF’s 47th annual National Conservative Student Conference that charismatic politicians have the power to blind voters to the realities of disastrous, illiberal policies.
Zohran Mamdani, the openly socialist mayoral candidate in New York City, has a high approval rating both locally and nationally. A recent survey found 24% of U.S. adults support Mamdani in the mayoral race, compared to the measly 9% who said they prefer former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
That gap reflects the candidates’ online presences. Mamdani has nearly four million Instagram followers, while Cuomo has fewer than 200,000.
Di Martino said Mamdani’s popularity shows how modern campaigns often rely on flash and style, a slick social media presence, rather than substantive policy.
“I think we underrate the amount that elections are decided by charisma rather than policies,” he said during an appearance at the 47th National Conservative Student Conference in Washington, D.C., adding that social media has turned into a “social popularity content” rather than a contest of ideas.
“Mamdani is a very charismatic politician,” Di Martino added, calling his campaign ads “some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
He warned that charisma can blind voters to policies that would restrict freedoms, citing Venezuela as an example, where socialist leadership has resulted in censorship and punishment for dissent.
“People go to prison in Venezuela today for sharing memes,” he said. “X is banned and many other social platforms require a VPN, but half of the population isn’t skilled enough to use a VPN.”
Di Martino believes that human nature’s attraction to charisma can weaken rationality and objectivity, making voters more susceptible to style over substance.
“It’s just about human nature. We tend to trust people that we like,” he said. “The problem is that people take advantage of those facts.”
Having seen firsthand how socialism dismantles freedom, Di Martino urged voters to “turn the blind eye” to charisma and support “the person who supports the best policies, not the person who is the best speaker.”
His warning was clear and final: “We need to do whatever it takes to stop a socialist politician from taking over America.”
Alannah Peters is a journalism student at the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
