https://twitter.com/Ocasio2018/status/1011398016899715076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2018%2F06%2F27%2Fpolitics%2Fwho-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez%2Findex.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/who-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/index.html

Run genuinely progressive candidates who understand their constituents in solid blue districts.

Like on the one hand, it's crazy that someone who is a 28-year old and working as a bartender a year ago is going to be in Congress. But on the other, it was nuts that a district made up of the Bronx and Queens is represented by a center-left white dude who has had his job for the past 20 years.

it starts at home

I live in a genuinely purple district that has gone for every D presidential candidate since 2000 but is always repped by a GOP in the house. The guy running to unseat our dickbag Republican incumbent is the type of mushmouth I normally can't stand. But it's too old and white for someone like Ocasio-Cortez to ever have a shot, so we have to take what we can get.

No reason that urban districts in major cities should be represented by people like that, though. Those SHOULD belong to people like her.

the paint

it's crazy that someone who is a 28-year
>old and working as a bartender a year ago is going to be in
>Congress.



Any and everyone should feel like if they see some shit they don't like they run for office and change it no matter what they did for a living.

We need more teachers, restaurant workers, middle to lower economic class people in general running for office.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Ds gonna elect Bernie Democrats one at a time

Apparently Ben Jealous won his primary also

I really don't understand the Democratic Party

They blocked Bern, forced the HRC candidacy

and they need a calamity like Trumpster to believe the platform can win

SMH

Congrats to ole girl and all

...but is defeating an elderly yt male incumbent who doesn't even live in BX/Queens really progress...

?

And Ocasio-Cortez won by a fluke of ridiculously low turnout.

damn b

Not saying she didn't win fair and square. She did. But small number statistics go all over the place.

The press is pretending this means something because they want a story of the Democratic party in crisis. Progressives shouldn't be feeding that false narrative.

dude was going unchallenged for years right?

12.4% of Democrats voted. Tghis year was 11.8%

Source
http://www.gothamgazette.com/state/7774-a-closer-look-at-voter-turnout-in-2018-new-york-congressional-primaries

20 years ago he was a staffer for some other guy. That guy stepped down after the primary filing deadline. By the rules of the time he got to pick his successor, picked Crowley. Crowley ran unopposed in primaries and general elections for the next 20 years.

I'm not sure if that's the whole story, but that's the impression I got.

I don't claim that Crowley had any right to his seat whatsoever. And I certainly don't think the party is gonna lose the seat now. The only shame is that we're replacing a member who knew how to raise money with a member who seems to think raising money is some kind of moral failing. Other than that, it's just a cute story, and yes, an electoral fluke.

>The only shame is that we're replacing a
>member who knew how to raise money with a member who seems to
>think raising money is some kind of moral failing. Other than
>that, it's just a cute story, and yes, an electoral fluke.

even tho they get criticized by progressives...people like pelosi and crowley help raise a lot of money that is responsible for getting a lot of other candidates elected. they help pull a lot of people across the finish line.

running a strong campaign and being a dynamic candidate is great for you. but there are others who need support in order for the team to win.

Cavs fans aren't asking "Yeah but how is LeBron James helping us beat Golden State? Maybe we'd be better off without him."

If he’s that good, and a progressive hero, can he
not stay raising money for the cause, stumping
for candidates, etc?


Like it or not, the Dems gotta change man. A lot
of people- especially young people- don’t
see a difference between the two parties.

1. Cuz the Dems are god awful at branding, messaging,
and fighting fire with fire.

2. They have a thin ass bench, and (right or wrong)
its always the same folks. Joe America hates
Pelosi. Doesn’t matter how ignorant Murricans
are. Dems all over have to distance themselves from
her. Hilary, Pelosi, etc- the party needs new faces.

This dude ran unapposed for 20 years in a district
he didn’t even live in.

The woman who beat him is inspiring, and has a
very clear platform.


Yet, we got Dems sobbing that they lost a fund raiser.

So...let him fund raise.

It’s always the same story. “We need the Clintons,
they raise money. We need Pelosi, she raises
money”

Well, let them. From behind the scenes. And support
progressive candidates with a message.

Let homeboy run the DNC for all I care.

But get behind these candidates, especially
when their future looks so bright.

Or, continue to ignore the base, the youth, and folks
who just don’t vote....continue to support the same
old money makers....run on “look how bad the other
side is”....celebrate meaningless shit like the
popular vote and Obama’s Netflix deal.

Maybe that will suddenly work.

which suppresses turnout. plus some other restrictive registration rules that dont help either.

9/11?

What a weird ass state.

seems weird but you know how sensitive ny is about 9/11.

>and they need a calamity like Trumpster to believe the
>platform can win



^^^^ DING DING DING


and thats "ALL" they needed.. A complete fucking monster elected as president.. hopefully they now realize shoving horrible corporate democrats like Hilary and company down our throats is the reason we're in the mess we are today..


The DNC is FULLY RESPONSIBLE for this current president being in office.. time for them to wake the fuck up.

don't get me started

>...but is defeating an elderly yt male incumbent who doesn't
>even live in BX/Queens really progress...

Yesterday you said this type of thing was impossible, now it's not a big enough deal to register? Cmon.

I said...real change IMO is having more than 2 political parties

2 primary victories...is that some sort of windfall

At this rate I'd have to live another 100 years to see overall change

Why it isn't...putting an end to family separation and child detention isn't progress...it never should have happened in the first place...

That's why

Ds got us here too.

Yeah, maybe one of those Bronx Republicans will win it.

And no, a single election doesn't completely dismantle a monstrous immigration policy.

These goalposts are all over the damn place.

I'm saying he shouldn't have been elected from that district to begin with...as he doesn't represent the residents in that district

Undoing something that shouldn't have been done... is not progress IMO.

Districts/states can change a lot in 20 years.

And yes, correcting mistakes is progress. If we ever get single payer healthcare, should we go "well the UK's had this for decades, FDR should've passed it, let's not celebrate?"

We went from "change is impossible within the Democratic party" to "yeah, but it's not impeaching Trump" in a DAY. Like that wasn't instant enough, but spending the next few decades building up the Green Party is?

Correcting the fuckery that let dude slide for 20 years uncontested...would be progress

Dude was on a short list to replace Pelosi as chair

I'm saying...the machinations...enacted by the Ds...that enabled this need to be addressed for progress.

was fighting for a $15 minimum wage, bail reform, shutting down rikers, etc. he introduced the kalief browder re-entry act in congress. he supported cuomos plan for free public college in ny.

a lot of the 'corporate/establishment' dems that progressives like to demonize seem to be pretty progressive.

how do you think he didnt fit the district?

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/nyregion/nyc-council-progressive-democrats-corey-johnson-speaker.html

Are more to content continuing to collect donor money while being the Washington generals

This is outside/grass Roots effort causing this.

got swept in the south and pretty much got melted in every delegate rich primary state.

he was reduced to begging the superdelegates he supposedly despised to flip sides and overturn the will of the voters (nobody talks about this lol).
https://www.npr.org/2016/05/19/478705022/sanders-campaign-now-says-superdelegates-are-key-to-winning-nomination

nobody blocked bernie but democratic primary voters.

Sanders lost South Carolina and bounced out of that region

This is being presented as a milestone/shift in the party

Why wasn't that support from the Democratic party there 2 years ago?

not so much

He was more problematic/unattractive than...Lock Her Up...?

folk tick
like marketing

good bad or ugly ....Hillary was familiar
who's Bernie?

I mean, since we're taking politics out of it.

I think it was illegitimacy.

As in, the positions Hillary pushed to imbue Trump seemed illegitimate (to the general electorate I mean), mostly because of her proximity to her.

He couldn't be a monster when he supported he previous run for President, and even chipped in some dirty work on Obama on her behalf.

the 47% of people not showing up to vote at all doesn't seem like fear. I think more people were afraid of Romney in comparison. This was more about apathy to the candidates/platform, and also the arrogance that she already had it locked up.

Apathetic electorate + Hillary has 97% chance of winning + Trump proximity = edge in the election, imho

in a low turnout election where the incumbent had never been challenged.

along with a variety of factors...that agenda combined with a good candidate won that specific district. just like conor lamb won his.

im not sure this signifies a shift in the entire party until progressives start winning important swing districts or state-wide offices (which moderates still dominate).

i know that's a broad question but i keep seeing 'low turnout' as if that's an anomaly

there have been some recent primaries that approached (or maybe even exceeded) primary turnout in presidential years. off the top of my head i know several primary turnout records were broken this year in iowa.

primaries are almost always lower than generals. but this primary having turnout in the teens is measurably low compared to some congressional primary turnouts in the 30s and 40s.

...as people like to think.

Reeq will have numbers, I imagine, but this was pretty low (partially for state-specific reasons he's already listed).

>in a low turnout election where the incumbent had never been
>challenged.
>
>along with a variety of factors...that agenda combined with a
>good candidate won that specific district. just like conor
>lamb won his.
>
>im not sure this signifies a shift in the entire party until
>progressives start winning important swing districts or
>state-wide offices (which moderates still dominate).
>
>


-->

but $100000000 in my savings, am I broke?

This "4 million" which keeps being referenced is such a misrepresentation.

1. The total vote count was almost 17 million for Clinton vs over 13 million for Sanders. Sanders, who started off as a 90+ point underdog and virtual unknown faced the least among of coverage and smallest number of debates to try to totally surpress his message. "4 million" votes is not a landslide 17 - 13. It is damn near a TIE. A virtual tie to a person with the Clinton brand and ALL the political associations in a primary you effectively control and you win in a defensive match up with no running game by a field goal? If you barely won your party how can you win the nation/electoral college?

2. The South overwhelming supported Clinton because she had ties to the South and her husbands presidency, had name recognition, AND was more conservative than her counterpart. HOWEVER, armed only with identity politics, the people who voted for her would also have voted for Bernie Sanders. The level of turn out that Bernie got would have electrified the general election AND pulled some Independents over to his ticket.

3. Independents were largely not allowed to participate in the Democratic Primary. Back to my back account analogy, if you are only going to count my checking and won't allow me to include my savings, then yeah, I guess I'm broke. But the MILLIONS of people who were not allowed to vote for an independent candidate (the majority of the country) didn't get to express that support or lack there of until the general.

Democrats cherry bombed their own electorate - where they were protested at their own convention - and then want to sit back and say they didn't bring this on themselves.

2 years later and their entire platform is diet-progressivism, PR spins on them losing seats to actual grassroots campaigns, and hoping that Trump's negatives are enough to yield them a positive. These mid-terms are going to ugly, but hopefully some seats get shaken up for the better.

We are truly progressive now...?

Make up your mind already

You know who else lost...HRC

We can't even have an exchange as Bernie supporters without devolving into a 16' election argument

and it's the same as then for me

If they want to incorporate a progressive agenda into the platform

and bring Bern's base into the party...this isn't how you do it

2 years later...who is the face of the D party

Schumer and Pelosi...so progressive

Who are they grooming for the 20' campaign...HRC?

The way they are playing this, they have not cut ties to her at all.

I think they are going to lightweight test the waters to see about her in 2020, cause they have done NOTHING of substance the past 2 years

getting about 45% of an electorate, controlled by an opponent who was a 90 point favorite, in a Primary her party and campaign manager controlled - is a virtual tie

All things being equal + open primary, and he would have won *shrugs*

that's just math

pretty cool.

definitely signals a shift in NY Dem politics.

Alexandria just has a force about her. If you saw any of the debates - you saw a new kind of body politic emerging: bold, representative of (real) people, and unafraid to speak truth to power. She is a fighter and has the courage to tackle establishment status quo entrenchments.

Crowley outspent her 18-1 (with corporate PAC money) and ran unopposed for over a decade in a district that is +70% people of color - yet had never been represented by somebody who shared their background and interests.

And yes - Alex was an organizer/advocate for Sanders (as was Jealous who won big in MD). When people say "elections have consequences" they don't usually say it with regards to primary battles within the Democratic party - but we're seeing it now - and it's making the Democratic party stronger.

Crowley had his time - as did Schumer and Pelosi. Time to relinquish power (gracefully) and usher in a new era.

-->

even if against their own will lol

The more seats as honest-to-God liberals relatively unbeholden to special interests can get at the table, the better.

Sean Hannity just presented this agenda as a negative

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgvfMreXcAAIvkn.jpg

https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1012148000674729984

People think if they just give it the right nickname suddenly single-payer will be an electoral positive.

Slidarity with PR is cited as a negative? Just out and blatant like that? Hopefully they just copy/pasted her platform, because if they were trying to highlight her negatives, that's an incredible middle finger to our fellow Americans.

The coverage and "pundit class" talk about the win has been frustrating to me.

It's a cliche, but I have always perceived the Democrats as a party with members who are varying shades of conservative, centrist, liberal and whatever else. So. Welcome, Ocasio-Cortez.

What frustrates me is the idea that the party needs to move further left, or that slow movement in that direction is evidence of a failing party. First: not everyone wants to move left. It's worth it to figure out how to work *together,* whatever the persuasion of Democrat.

I think the party is likely to get further from the center. That way, everybody can come to an understanding that everyone can't get what they want and so we'll all have to be pissed in order to consolidate power--staying together (voting, messaging etc)--is the end goal. Then, when Democrats have political capital, have a damn fight about what to do with it.

Democrats should worry less about inter-squabbles and ideology and freaking focus on getting a strategy together to take on the Republican party. Put that to the side. It matters not one iota what Democrats want or what people want Democrats to do, if there is no effective answer and plan about Republican challenges to the Democrat Christmas wish list.

This is a two-party system. Two. Maybe later it won't be. But right now, it's two. And the Republicans are playing a long game for what looks like an America with one party and another that's just there for decoration.

Democrats have a lot of self-inflicted wounds. I don't think that's because of ideology, as much as it's because of lack of strategy. For instance, Bernie Sanders, to me, isn't about an ideology battle for the soul of the party. No. The Sanders phenomena is a repeated lesson about the party's inability to foresee or respond to strategies launched from within and without, challenges to power in the party.

This is a shame because the party has a winning platform and the willingness to serve and improve the lives of all Americans in a way that the Republican party, demonstrably, has not.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-driving-energy-120130503.html

At a Democratic gubernatorial candidate forum in Detroit on Monday, progressive underdog Abdul El-Sayed knew just the thing to get the crowd going.

“Who here has heard of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?” he asked.

Had they ever. More than 600 miles away from Ocasio-Cortez’s district, the crowd of several hundred Michiganders roared with excitement.

“She showed us that when we are honest about our message, when we are truthful about where our money comes from, when we are willing to speak clearly about the policies we believe in, and we are willing to stand up to the establishment, we win elections,” El-Sayed continued.

El-Sayed, a 33-year-old former Detroit health commissioner and first-time candidate, is one of a lucky handful of left-wing contenders basking in the power of Ocasio-Cortez’s sudden stardom. Earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez had used her massive Twitter platform to endorse El-Sayed. He has since picked up an additional 2,500 Twitter followers and is awash in national press inquiries.

Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old former Bernie Sanders organizer who just a few short weeks ago was scolding establishment Democrats on Twitter for ignoring her campaign, now has 600,000 followers hanging on every 280-character missive ― far more than the typical rank-and-file member of Congress.

And those same establishment Democrats are now knocking on her door. A little over a week since her upset of Joe Crowley, the Democratic Party boss of Queens County, Ocasio-Cortez finds herself as an unlikely kingmaker.

She’s used her newfound power to boost the political fortunes of a slew of candidates ― most but not all of whom are backed by the Justice Democrats, a group that played an integral role in Ocasio-Cortez’s bid and is dedicated to unseating corporate Democrats.


But there are also signs establishment Democrats are hoping her newfound fame can boost the party’s general election fortunes as well ― EMILY’s List and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have both reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign. (Gillibrand congratulated her on the phone the day after the big win.)

Democratic strategists believe an email signed by Ocasio-Cortez would be an instant moneymaker, and that her endorsements and campaign stops could help drive progressives to the polls in November.

“She represents the future of our party,” Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez said Wednesday morning on “The Bill Press Show.”

In addition to El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez has given the nod to nine congressional candidates: Delaware Senate challenger Kerri Harris; Kaniela Ing in Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District; Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts’ 7th; Brent Welder in Kansas’ 3rd; Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st; Chardo Richardson in Florida’s 7th; Sarah Smith in Washington state’s 9th; and Linsey Fagan in Texas’ 26th.

She’s also sent a fundraising email for incumbent Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the only member of Congress to endorse her bid, and used her list to plug a trio of insurgent New York candidates ― gubernatorial challenger Cynthia Nixon; state attorney general hopeful Zephyr Teachout; and state Senate contender Julia Salazar.

The Ocasio-Cortez bump, these campaigns say, is noticeable almost immediately.

From the second she tweeted my name, everything changed. Cori Bush, Democratic candidate, Missouri's 1st Congressional District
Brent Welder, a labor attorney and former Sanders campaign organizer, touted Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement in an email fundraiser and tripled his weekly fundraising haul from about $17,000 to well over $56,000.

From a simple Ocasio-Cortez tweet blessing his bid, Kaniela Ing, a 29-year-old state lawmaker and fellow member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has seen his Twitter following double. His campaign quickly raised nearly $10,000 in small contributions online. Cori Bush, who is challenging 10-term Rep. William Lacy Clay in Missouri, said she had raised between $17,000 and $18,000 in the past week. She spent last Tuesday texting with Ocasio-Cortez, and was jubilant when she won.

“I cried for hours. I mean, literally, for hours,” Bush said. And the subsequent endorsement has helped her campaign: “From the second she tweeted my name, everything changed.”

Closer to Ocasio-Cortez’s base in Queens and the Bronx, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nixon raised $25,000 in the 24 hours after Ocasio-Cortez’s election for her primary challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and got 1,200 more email signups; in the week since, she’s picked up 30,000 more Instagram followers. For her part, Salazar scooped up more than $20,000 last week ― triple the amount she raised in the previous week.

And the boost is going beyond money. Ayanna Pressley, a Boston city councilwoman whose challenge to Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) bears at least a superficial resemblance to Ocasio-Cortez’s bid against Crowley ― though Capuano allies have been quick to point out the differences ― saw volunteers flood in last week from Providence, Worcester and Martha’s Vineyard, her campaign said. And the day after Ocasio-Cortez’s win last Tuesday, El-Sayed did his first national TV hit ― a primetime interview with Chris Cuomo on CNN.

For her part, Kerri Harris, a military veteran and nonprofit leader taking on three-term incumbent Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), raised $15,000 last week ― nearly as much as she had raised in over four months of campaigning up to that point. Her Twitter following grew five-fold and volunteers have come out of the woodwork.

“While people were excited , they were also like, ‘I don’t know. We don’t want to waste our vote.’ And now they’re raring to go!” said Harris, who drove up to New York City on election eve to volunteer for Ocasio-Cortez.

https://www.blubrry.com/jacobin/35415005/the-dig-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-on-winning-power/

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year old Latina working-class champion committed to social transformation who beat one of the most powerful men in Congress: the King of Queens. Dan had an extended conversation with her about how organized people won her election, how she’ll stay accountable to those movements now that she’s a rock star, establishment myopia and denial, The Congressional Progressive Caucus' shortcomings, and where the insurgency goes from here. Then Intercept D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim on left media and left electoral politics, why mainstream media missed Ocasio-Cortez, and why Emily's List fails to support left women challengers.

Written version here:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/08/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-interview-democratic-primary

He's running for the same seat on another party's ticket, because they asked him to, and after he lost the primary they asked him to drop out, but he won't and they can't make him? Do I have this right?

Why are you guys so fucking weird with politics? I live in a state that is (until 2020) a state that holds caucuses in presidential election years, holds it's state office primaries AFTER the conventions, has to acknowledge a leftist party from the 1930's every time the state Democratic party is mentioned and elected Jesse Ventura governor. But you have some weird ass election stuff, to say nothing of the fact that you need to be registered like 10 months in advance to vote in a primary.

I wouldn't necessarily call it "running". I mean, yeah, he's on the ballot, but according to Crowley, he'd either have to run for a different seat or have to move, and he's not willing to do either. I'm just annoyed that they're hashing this out publicly over Twitter.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/12/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-crowley-twitter-feud-714983

Essentially it's a very public he said, she said situation that's doing nobody any favors.

they gave a ton of media coverage to someone who won a low turnout primary election in a diverse/young blue district uniquely suited to her like she pulled off a major general election upset in a red district or state. and it seems to be going to her head.

she publicly accused crowley of mounting a 3rd party bid against her when there is zero evidence of that. its just that his name is still on the november ballot due to some arcane election laws and an incompetent 'independent' state party. shit is childish how she handled it.

https://www.vox.com/2018/7/12/17564576/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-crowley-twitter-ballot-new-york

basically the working families party fucked up and joe crowley has to jump through hoops to get his name off the ballot. ny election law is a clusterfuck at times and the wfp in that state make it even more of a clusterfuck.

Dem loyalty and all that. Jump through the hoops,
help her and others fundraise, then run for something
else down the road.

Annoying or not, if she has young people
excited to vote then the Dems need to
work with her.

The two of them need to talk face to face, tho

Is that less than progressive?

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I'm not saying ANYTHING.