Ben Rhodes, a key former Obama administrationofficial, believes the Democratic Party is "afraid of its own future" and needs to embrace the strategy of New York Citymayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who identifies as a Democratic socialist.Rhodes, who was deputy national security adviser toPresident Barack Obama, is perhaps best known for his advocacy of the 2015Iran nuclear deal. He has since emerged as a prominent figure in liberal media as a contributor to MSNBC and co-host of the "Pod Save The World" podcast.His latest work is a New York Times guest essay headlined "How Short-Term Thinking is Destroying America," which suggested Democrats are reluctant to "stand behind controversial positions or abandon language that polls well but sounds hopelessly inauthentic" because they dont want to alienate donors."Even when presented with Zohran Mamdanis campaign in New York an innovative example of fresh political tactics and policies many party leaders recoiled. The party seems quite literally afraid of its own future," Rhodes wrote.ZOHRAN MAMDANI LAUNCHES ANTI-TRUMP TOUR ACROSS FIVE BOROUGHS IN NEW YORK CITY"It is past time for Democrats to do what Mr. Mamdani did in his campaign: get out in communities. Dont live in fear of bad-faith attacks. Mine cities and state legislatures for new ideas. Enlist civil society, faith groups, beleaguered universities and industry in envisioning an alternative future," Rhodes continued."Abandon campaign financing that makes you beholden to donors who make you hypocrites. Make a concerted effort to facilitate generational change, so that the faces of the party are younger, different and more diverse," he added.Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim who won the Democratic Partys primary for New York City mayor in June. He launched a "Five Boroughs Against Trump" tour in the Big Apple on Monday.Rhodes concluded his guest essay by writing, "Trump is a 79-year-old strongman nostalgic for the past. His domination of the present is not permanent, but it is leading many Americans to live in the status quo he commands while ignoring where we are going. To overcome thatreality, Democrats must mobilize people to believe in the future."TRUMP CAUTIONS THAT NY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME IF COMMUNIST MAMDANI IS ELECTEDRhodes became a nationally recognized name in 2016 afterboasting in an interviewwith The New York Times Magazine that he and Obama's foreign policy team built an "echo chamber" of experts to help sell the controversial Iran nuclear deal. Trump laterpulled the U.S. out of the Iran dealin 2018, calling it "defective at its core."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPFox News Brandon Gillespie and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.