progressive ideologues build much of their identity on moral virtue. so they always feel like theyre doing the 'right' thing even if its against the greater *tangible* production/progress for a group of people.

but if youre just an average citizen and you see 25k jobs leaving your district/state...along with all of the direct revenue and supplemental business/community revitalization revenue leaving along with it...thats not gonna play out well with you.

amazon is the most trusted brand in the country. more trusted than the government or press. most americans dont view them as the oppressive oligarchic empire that sanders/aoc see them as. they see them as an integral part of their everyday life that under-promises/over-delivers real value.

good luck running on a populist jobs platform in a district with 10% unemployment while chasing away a highly-regarded corporation (even tho details about how much hiring would be done from the actual community can be debated).

its a nuanced argument to have about the effect of tech jobs on economically depressed communities...and the type of kowtowing state govts do to woo corporations/employers...but nuance never holds the upper hand in the increasing bumperstickering/clickbaiting of our political discourse.

so aoc has placed herself firmly against this project. and also firmly against 'the establishment' in her state...aka popular/powerful dem politicians like cuomo and diblasio both (who rarely agree on anything but are in unison here). that may look good to white progressives raging against the machine. but to the black and latino voters who overwhelmingly support 'establishment' dem politicians and jobs/revitalization initiatives like the amazon project...its a key vulnerability.

aoc won her primary because of low turnout (something she and her team specifically tried to replicate in de) with a winning vote total of 17k in a district of around 400k voters. so its not like she set the district on fire and magnetized the underlying landscape of its political character.

people already historically tend to grow tired of far left 'progressives' once the reality of their idealism runs up against the realistic pragmatism necessary to actually get things cemented into policy ('making promises you cant keep'). its even worse when it looks like youre actually doing the *opposite* of what you said you were gonna do.

its generally hard for an incumbent to lose a primary in a safe district so early in their career. but aoc is damn sure trying her hardest to be an exception lol. she hasnt even been on the job for a full quarter and she is already leaving plenty of openings to be challenged.