Saikat Chakrabarti at the rally. Photo by Abraham Woodliff
San Francisco finds itself in a precarious, and politically existential moment. The rhetoric of legacy SF is increasingly at odds with San Francisco’s new identity as AI Manhattan with a more responsible bedtime. And naturally, like almost everything in San Francisco, it’s turning into a big fight.
Saikat Chakrabarti giving a speech. Photo by Abraham Woodliff
Saikat Chakrabarti’s rally at the City Nights nightclub in SoMa, a place I haven’t been since I was 19, was an awkward marriage of old San Francisco mythos and a member of the city’s new money elite.
Which isn’t entirely surprising. The progressive bourgeoisie is a fast-forming faction in California, with people like Chakrabarti and leading California Governor candidate Tom Steyer in the vanguard.
Chakrabarti is running for Nancy Pelosi’s seat, a controversial, but effective leader, and kingmaker in the Democratic Party. And whoever replaces Pelosi will likely remain in that seat for a long time.
But Chakrabarti isn’t the only cook in the kitchen, Scott Wiener, who is either loved or hated by people on both ends of the political spectrum is the favorite to win, but several controversies, including his hesitation to call Israel’s siege on Gaza a genocide, has put him in hot water with the more progressive wing of the party.
Then there’s Connie Chan, who has more local credibility, but is often dismissed because she doesn’t have the personal wealth of Chakrabarti or the extensive donor network of Scott Wiener.
Hassan Piker on stage. Photo by Abraham Woodliff
I wasn’t there to endorse anyone, but to see what the campaign looked like up close, and, not gonna lie, to meet Hasan Piker, who was nice but seemed overwhelmed by the event.
Cities by Diana and Bay Area Memes Photo by @tsundrea
The rally largely went how I expected considering it was hosted at a nightclub. It was packed, sweaty, and fun in bursts between moments of awkwardly standing around hoping to find someone worth talking to. Luckily I invited Cities By Diana, who is cool, and she brought a friend who was also pretty cool. I found out upon meeting Diana’s friend that I had flamed her on Instagram.
Despite Chakrabarti’s wealth, and how controversial that is, especially in leftist circles, people showed up. Not necessarily because they love rich people. In fact, several attendees openly admitted they found Chakrabarti’s wealth uncomfortable. One supporter bluntly said, “I don’t think someone with a hundred million dollars is a functioning human being on the same level as me.” Which is maybe the first truly bipartisan political statement of the decade.
But discomfort no longer matters much in Democratic politics. What matters is whether a candidate feels emotionally aligned with people’s frustrations. Chakrabarti’s pitch is essentially that the Democratic Party is too cautious, too institutional, too obsessed with preserving power instead of confronting it.
Saikat Rally Photo by Abraham Woodliff
Saikat is selling rebellion, but in a very Silicon Valley way: polished, highly educated rebellion with good branding and VC-adjacent networking skills.
He also brought progressives from around the country like form NYC congressman, Jamaal Bowman, who honestly, is lit as fuck. Dude came out screaming Wu Tang lyrics. I felt like I was listening to a hype man for M.O.P if the group was slightly less old school Brownsville and more new school Bushwick.
Jamaal was the best thing about the show despite Hasan Piker being the star.
And Hasan did exactly what Chakrabarti probably wanted him to do. Lend him progressive credibility while annoying the Democratic establishment in San Francisco. .
Democrats claim that the left needs a Joe Rogan, yet San Francisco party insiders denounced Hasan Piker’s presence in the city. Because Hasan Piker is Joe Rogan for the left, but not the limousine liberal left.
He's the Joe Rogan for the left that isn’t actively putting their bodies on the line in some sort of revolutionary struggle, but smiles when they see cops cars on fire while doom-scrolling on BART on their way to whatever job they hate almost as much as they need it to survive.
And Chakrabarti, while competing against Wiener and Chan for a congressional seat, are trying to appeal to very different types of Democrats.
Wiener appeals to the Lurie Crowd. He’s a Democrat that corporations feel comfortable with. He’s socially progressive while pursuing a more sterile, business friendly version of the city.
Connie Chan is a progressive with local roots and a familiar story that many in the immigrant community can relate to.
And Chakrabarti is a bridge. He’s the buffer candidate between techies who find themselves sympathetic to the plight of the poor, and rhetorical revolutionaries who might fantasize about burning it all down, but are too tired after work to throw their Molotov cocktails.
Whoever wins will represent San Francisco to federal legislators, and will likely define San Francisco and Silicon Valley for a long time to come.
And that is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.
