Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
On Tuesday night, 28-year-old Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley in the primary for New York's 14th congressional district. Normally, a primary victory in an overwhelmingly blue district would be nothing out of the ordinary but there are a number of reasons why Ocasio-Cortez's upset marks an extraordinary moment in American politics.
Joe Crowley is an establishment Democrat who has enjoyed his seat atop New York's 14th congressional district for 10 terms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an avowed Democratic Socialist who, this time last year, was working as a bartender. The last time Crowley faced a challenger was in 2004. In 2004 Ocasio-Cortez wasn't even old enough to vote. Joe Crowley outspent Ocasio-Cortez by a ratio of 10-to-1 — raising money from just about every company in the Fortune 500. Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley by 12 points.
Would you like to know more about Ocasio-Cortez? Of course you do. A good place to start would be Bridget Read's profile of the congressional candidate in Vogue. While "socialist" has been a red-flag for establishment politicians who are still living in the wake of McCarthyism, Ocasio-Cortez's open embrace of the ideology, and her interpretation of it that she gives Read is possibly the best summation of her politics.
When we talk about the word socialism, I think what it really means is just democratic participation in our economic dignity, and our economic, social, and racial dignity. It is about direct representation and people actually having power and stake over their economic and social wellness, at the end of the day. To me, what socialism means is to guarantee a basic level of dignity. It's asserting the value of saying that the America we want and the America that we are proud of is one in which all children can access a dignified education. It's one in which no person is too poor to have the medicines they need to live. It's to say that no individual's civil rights are to be violated. And it's also to say that we need to really examine the historical inequities that have created much of the inequalities — both in terms of economics and social and racial justice — because they are intertwined.
[Vogue]
This sounds all fine and good, you might say, but where does Ocasio-Cortez stand on The Issues? That's a great question. I'm glad you asked. Here's Ocasio-Cortez laying out her tentpole policies in a conversation with Splinter's Clio Chang:
There's a lot, but ultimately it comes down to the bread and butter issues of providing a future for our families and ensuring that you can put meals on the table. I think that really comes down to education — tuition-free college has been a big point that we've been discussing on the campaign. Medicare-for-All, so that everyone is covered by dignified health care and doesn't have fear about their financial status when they go to a hospital or doctor. Criminal justice reform is enormously important to this campaign; Rikers Island is in the district. And also immigration. Half of our district's residents are immigrants, and these issues are enormously important, especially in the Trump era, to ensure that we are protecting our neighbors and our family members.
[Splinter]
What's more, Ocasio-Cortez is one of the few democratic candidates who is calling for the abolishment of ICE. Here she is laying out her case for getting rid of the government agency responsible for carrying out family separations with The Cut's Gabriella Paiella.
You have to look at the establishment of ICE. There were many Democrats who voted against the creation of ICE at its inception in 2003. We knew back then that, in the post-9/11 push of authoritarian legislation — the Patriot Act, the authorization of the Iraq War — that the systems that were being established in this time were extrajudicial. They do not meet the tests of our Constitutional right to due process in the United States, in my opinion. If we are going to have justice in this country, ICE is not designed to meet that standard. In terms of what the party is getting wrong, we can't be afraid of being strong. We cannot fear clarity. We shouldn't have to fear strong moral positions with real teeth and real concrete commitment for change.
[The Cut]
So what does Ocasio-Cortez's victory mean as we approach the 2018 midterm elections? According to the New York Times editorial board, it signals a sea-change within the Democratic party, a shift towards younger, leftist voters who feel the establishment isn't doing enough.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's victory is a vivid sign of the changing of the guard. In addition to more liberal immigration laws, she ran on a platform calling for Medicare for all and a federal jobs guarantee. She also talked about the housing crisis in New York City, an issue that resonates deeply with many voters here. Her district, which runs through Queens and the Bronx, is majority-minority, but its leadership has yet to reflect those changes. That's something Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was able to capitalize on fluently, casting herself as part of a new generation of young, unabashedly liberal Democrats unwilling to wait their turn any longer.
Don't believe the New York Times? Here's a constituent of New York's 14th congressional district, Tarik Najeddine, on why, after years voting for Joe Crowley, he decided to cast his vote for Ocasio-Cortez:
When the Crowley campaign began to realize they maybe didn't have this in the bag, they tried to connect, but I don't think they know how to. A lot of the ossified Democratic machine simply has no idea how to connect with those struggling to deal with the fear their family members might get black bagged on the way home. Middle class liberals who bought property before the waves of gentrification landed on the shores of Queens and the Bronx simply don't have the problems that Ocasio-Cortez was speaking to, directly and daily. They have health insurance, they aren't feeling stretched by their monthly living expenses, and the members of their families that immigrated illegally have all been naturalized for years, if not decades. This was immediately recognizable in the way that Ocasio-Cortez framed every conversation her campaign participated in.
[Medium]
After weeks of watching the Trump administration tear families apart, uphold racist gerrymandering tactics, uphold a racist travel ban, and then throw a public days-long tantrum when a private citizen politely refuses them service at a restaurant — Ocasio-Cortez's win feels like a win for sanity. A candidate who actually will stand up for their beliefs and not fold when Republicans feign outrage. Splinter's Paul Blest puts it best:
Last night, Ocasio-Cortez showed the path forward for Democrats. It won't be found through the Paneras of America and in peeling off disaffected GOP voters, but by engaging the left's natural constituencies — workers, people of color, immigrants, and anyone who has been threatened by this administration — and offering them not just a bandage to temporarily stop the bleeding of the Trump assault, but an idea of how to make this ailing country well.
[Splinter]
