Commentary: On the crest of a historic blue wave, Raman roused supporters — and danced – Los Angeles Times

Commentary: On the crest of a historic blue wave, Raman roused supporters — and danced  Los Angeles Times

Just after 11 on election night, Nithya Raman took the stage in a plum-colored dress outshined only by her smile. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had a narrow lead in early returns. But to Raman and her supporters who packed the plaza in front of the Greek Theatre, they had already won. A blue deluge had swept across the U.S. to clear out the MAGA status quo that has gaslit Americans for too long. The clueless Republican ruling class' only defense was that the liberal alternative was worse than the crap President Trump fed Americans while calling it apple pie. Los Angeles is as blue as the Pacific, yet the same anti-establishment wave, fueled by voters frustrated with the high cost of living and a mayor who face-planted during crisis after crisis, had crashed hard here.

Raman, a City Council member, was standing on its crest. A campaign that started on the last possible day, dismissed by rivals as amateurish and given little chance to succeed against an incumbent with decades of experience and the support of nearly the entire L.A. Democratic establishment, was poised to win. Raman, 45, was expected to pull ahead as more ballots from younger, left-leaning Angelenos were counted. Standing before Raman was the coalition that made her unlikely rise happen — one that, despite the