While we were all watching the Andrew Cuomo comeback tour over there in New York City, a 33-year-old kid from Queens just pulled off the political upset of the decade.

Zohran Mamdani — and yes, I had to look up how to pronounce it too — just beat the disgraced former governor in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor.

And here’s the kicker: He did it by doing exactly what MAGA does, just from the other side of the aisle.

Think about it. You could call yourself a Democratic Socialist or you could slap on a red hat and call yourself MAGA. Doesn’t matter. The playbook is the same: Tell people you are going to make their lives better. Period. Full stop. End of story.

In NYC, that meant Mamdani talked about things that actually matter to regular folks: a rent freeze on apartments, free buses, free childcare, affordable housing. You know, stuff that saves people money instead of giving them lectures about pronouns and microaggressions.

And how’s he gonna pay for it? Simple. Raise the corporate tax rate to 11.5 percent — the exact same rate we have right here in New Jersey. Plus a flat 2% tax on people making over a million bucks a year.

I mean, seriously, who’s gonna cry about millionaires paying an extra two cents on the dollar? Most people — and probably most millionaires — are tired of pretending that’s some kind of Soviet-level oppression.

Here’s what else Mamdani got right: He buried the culture war stuff. LGBTQ issues don’t show up on his platform until the 16th item. Climate change is ahead of it. You know what that tells voters? That this guy gets it. That he knows most people — including most LGBTQ folks — are tired of the pronoun nonsense and want someone who’ll focus on making rent affordable and keeping the lights on instead of making sure to not offend she/her/they/then/him.

This is a guy who went from long-shot to giant-killer because he offered people something real: lower costs, better services, and a government that actually works for them instead of against them.

Compare that to the Democratic Party’s greatest hits of the last decade: Hillary (it’s my turn), Biden (I’m not Trump), Kamala (I’m not Trump either). All of them basically got the baton handed to them because it was their “time” or because they weren’t the other guy. How’s that working out for you, Dems?

Meanwhile, Mamdani’s got Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders backing him, and he’s pulling in new voters, young voters, Muslims, South Asians, working-class folks who haven’t been energized in years. He’s building an actual coalition instead of just expecting people to show up because the alternative is worse.

You want to win, Democrats? Start nominating people who actually energize voters. Start getting behind candidates who have actual good ideas that make people’s lives better. Stop just handing the baton to the next person in line because they’ve “earned” it or because it would be “historic.” This is the blueprint, Democrats. Not complicated. Not revolutionary. Just common sense.

Do this — nominate energizing candidates with real plans to make life better — and you have a chance in 2026 and 2028.

Don’t do this? Well, how does President Donald Trump Jr. sound to you?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The choice is yours, Dems. Learn from Mamdani, or keep wondering why nobody shows up to vote for your hand-picked successors who offer nothing but more of the same.

Mamdani figured out the open secret: Politics isn’t about ideology. It’s about promising to make people’s lives better. Trump figured it out, and it’s worked. Twice. The sooner Democrats figure that out, the sooner they can start winning again.

Jeff Edelstein’s email is jedelstein@trentonian.com