Newly-elected Congressman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is saying that she will back an effort by a new Democratic party organization, Justice Democrats, to make the party more liberal and “diverse.”
That means that some Democratic congressmen who don’t back the Justice Democrat agenda will be challenged in the primary.
“Long story short, I need you to run for office,” Ocasio-Cortez said Saturday on a video conference call hosted by Justice Democrats, as the group launched a campaign dubbed “#OurTime.” Justice Democrats supported Ocasio-Cortez’s primary campaign against powerful Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.).
“All Americans know money in politics is a huge problem, but unfortunately the way that we fix it is by demanding that our incumbents give it up or by running fierce campaigns ourselves,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “That’s really what we need to do to save this country. That’s just what it is.”
It’s an interesting concept; “saving” the country by destroying it.
The incoming congresswoman’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, a co-founder of Justice Democrats, was blunter.
“We need new leaders, period,” he said on the call. “We gotta primary folks.”
The group said they want Democratic members of Congress to be representative of their diverse communities and support liberal policies like Medicare for all, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, implementing a “Green New Deal,” and rejecting corporate PAC donations. On the campaign trail, Ocasio-Cortez talked about forming a “corporate-free caucus” as a means to push for reform. That type of group, if it forms, could turn out to be the left’s counterpart to the Freedom Caucus, which pushed Republican leadership to the right.
“I don’t think people who are taking money from oil and gas companies should be drafting climate legislation,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the call.
Ocasio-Cortez will find out the hard way what happens to freshmen members who start trying to throw their weight around. More senior Democrats are very likely to slap her down right quick. Indeed, a frosh member threatening to primary incumbents might very well find herself – and her Justice Democrats – on the outside looking in.
Any legislation she and her fellow rebels want to have considered by the new Democratic majority will somehow get lost on the way to the floor. In fact, it might not even make it to committee. There’s a way things work on the Hill and, while the occassional new member makes a splash, they almost always operate within the context of party rules. And rule #1 is don’t step out of line by threatening long time members.
Is she naive or just stupid? Given many of her past statements on the issues, I would believe the latter rather than the former.
Newly-elected Congressman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is saying that she will back an effort by a new Democratic party organization, Justice Democrats, to make the party more liberal and “diverse.”
That means that some Democratic congressmen who don’t back the Justice Democrat agenda will be challenged in the primary.
“Long story short, I need you to run for office,” Ocasio-Cortez said Saturday on a video conference call hosted by Justice Democrats, as the group launched a campaign dubbed “#OurTime.” Justice Democrats supported Ocasio-Cortez’s primary campaign against powerful Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.).
“All Americans know money in politics is a huge problem, but unfortunately the way that we fix it is by demanding that our incumbents give it up or by running fierce campaigns ourselves,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “That’s really what we need to do to save this country. That’s just what it is.”
It’s an interesting concept; “saving” the country by destroying it.
The incoming congresswoman’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, a co-founder of Justice Democrats, was blunter.
“We need new leaders, period,” he said on the call. “We gotta primary folks.”
The group said they want Democratic members of Congress to be representative of their diverse communities and support liberal policies like Medicare for all, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, implementing a “Green New Deal,” and rejecting corporate PAC donations. On the campaign trail, Ocasio-Cortez talked about forming a “corporate-free caucus” as a means to push for reform. That type of group, if it forms, could turn out to be the left’s counterpart to the Freedom Caucus, which pushed Republican leadership to the right.
“I don’t think people who are taking money from oil and gas companies should be drafting climate legislation,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the call.
Ocasio-Cortez will find out the hard way what happens to freshmen members who start trying to throw their weight around. More senior Democrats are very likely to slap her down right quick. Indeed, a frosh member threatening to primary incumbents might very well find herself – and her Justice Democrats – on the outside looking in.
Any legislation she and her fellow rebels want to have considered by the new Democratic majority will somehow get lost on the way to the floor. In fact, it might not even make it to committee. There’s a way things work on the Hill and, while the occassional new member makes a splash, they almost always operate within the context of party rules. And rule #1 is don’t step out of line by threatening long time members.
Is she naive or just stupid? Given many of her past statements on the issues, I would believe the latter rather than the former.
via American Thinker Blog
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