Unless a meteor crashes into Manhattan and shuts down next month’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani (D) will win — and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party will throw a victory party big enough to drown out common sense. But before they break out the vegan champagne, they might want to consider that their celebration could be just a little premature.

Eric Adams is out. The current mayor — who once tried to straddle the line between pragmatism and progressive posturing — dropped his re-election bid. Why? Well, there are plenty of reasons he fell out of favor, but let’s start with the obvious: He rolled out the red carpet for tens of thousands of illegal immigrants while the city was already drowning in its own homeless crisis. Brilliant, right?

So now we’re left with a wide-open path for Mamdani, a democratic socialist, to walk right into city hall. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa are technically still in the game, but calling them “longshots” would be generous. Mamdani is lapping the field.

Jason Riley at The Wall Street Journal nailed it: Mamdani talks a good game about affordability. Who wouldn’t want a more livable city for working-class folks? Sounds great — until you look at the blueprint. Free public transit, government-run grocery stores, jacked-up minimum wages, higher taxes. In other words, the same old socialist fantasy that has never worked anywhere it’s been tried.

Think Riley’s wrong? Book a one-way flight to Havana, Caracas, Pyongyang — assuming they’ll let you in.

Now, back to the cheering on the left. Progressives in New York are giddy. They have found their man — young, bold, eager to rip up the playbook and color outside the lines. For them, Mamdani represents something fresh. For everyone else? He’s a warning sign with a bullhorn.

Out in flyover country — you know, the places where Democrats used to win before they decided working-class voters were expendable — a Mamdani victory is going to be seen as yet another reason to run, not walk, away from the Democratic Party. Because if socialism becomes the face of the party, a lot of middle-of-the-road Americans are going to start hoping New York’s politics stay in New York.

Riley makes another crucial point: “Smarter Democrats understand that making a 30-something socialist the face of the party could undermine its national ambitions, starting with next year’s midterm elections.” Translation: if Mamdani becomes the poster child for progressivism, the GOP won’t need to say much — they’ll just point.

Sure, Democrats agree on one thing — they hate President Trump. Fine. But here’s a question they still haven’t answered: What do they actually stand for? Because simply despising Trump isn’t a governing philosophy. It’s not even a campaign strategy. We’ve seen how well that’s worked out for them in the 2024 presidential election.

If the progressive base winds up calling the shots, we could very well see Mamdani become the new, energetic face of the Democratic Party — bright-eyed, idealistic and blissfully unaware of economic reality. If that happens, yes, the far-left will cheer. But, make no mistake, so will Republicans, who also hope Mamdani becomes the face of the Democratic Party. And maybe — just maybe — the rest of the country will finally get a good look at where this left-wing, progressive, democratic-socialist train is heading.

And then decide to get off at the next stop.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.