In August, Joseph Burns ran an article in City Journal, accusing the Working Families Party of being “the New Boss of New York Politics,” a “modern equivalent of Boss Tweed.” I have read this article multiple times since August: Would it be so bad if the WFP were New York’s contemporary Boss Tweed, absent the corruption?

Burns’ basic message is that machine politics is back, and it is bad. He begins:

“Zohran Mamdani’s surprising victory in this year’s Democratic mayoral primary was more than just a win for a young socialist assemblyman from Queens. It was the clearest sign yet that a new kind of political boss now dominates Democratic politics in New York—one that uses the same tools as the old bosses but for more rigidly ideological ends.” 

What is most intriguing is that the catalog of alleged party fouls is, ironically, just what advocates of stronger political parties want: Party leaders exercising more control over their brand, including who ends up on the ballot line. The WFP, by all accounts, is doing exactly what a functioning party should do: It polices its ranks. It influences candidate selection. It makes sure candidates stay on message and elected officials do what they promised. And it uses its political influence, including its financial resources, to effect those party ends. In actual fact, it also does a lot of other party work, not made visible in this article, as forthcoming work will show.

We can certainly debate whether there is an issue with the WFP playing such a significant role in the Democratic Party’s primary. But the fact is that a functioning party should run like a machine. Its candidates should hire “longtime [party] apparatichik” to run their campaigns. They should look to experienced party staff for advice about how to win and then how to govern.

If there is a problem with politics in New York, it is that the Democratic Party doesn’t understand that party “machines aren’t built on message discipline alone.” Party organization and loyal personnel are key to discipline and also to effective governance down the line.