A few days ago, I had lunch with a leading progressive campaign manager for congressional candidates, and let us just say he was not a happy camper.
His main gripe: Joe Biden is no progressive.
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“We compromised to win in 2020, and it cost us progress on so many key issues,” my friend explained, who agreed only to speak if it was on background.
“Bernie Sanders had a great shot at winning the nomination in 2020, and I think he could have smoked Donald Trump. But Democrats were afraid Bernie was not electable. And now we seem stuck with a President Biden who I would say does not have a progressive bone in his body.”
When I asked him if he thought a progressive challenger could emerge to Biden in 2024, presuming he would run, my colleague, started laughing pretty hard.
“Yeah, I would love to see that. And I know who that candidate should be: AOC.”
I nearly spit out my lunch. But I was intrigued.
AOC for President?
The topic of AOC running for president is something we have covered many times on this website, as the idea is just fascinating.
One of the best treatments on the subject was by W. James Antle from the Washington Examiner, who is also a 19FortyFive Contributing Editor.
While you can read the full piece right here, check out a sample of his thesis.
“AOC is also a prodigious fundraiser and organizer. She could mobilize people Biden can’t. And while Biden or another establishment Democrat would likely have a convincing financial edge, she could raise enough money to stay competitive.
All this amounts to the case for AOC in 2024. The downsides of her running would be equally huge. She’s never run outside of a deep, blue district before. A national campaign is a very different animal.
While Ocasio-Cortez is adept at creating viral moments, it’s not clear how she would do under serious media scrutiny. Up until now, she has mostly gotten flattering press outside of conservative publications. That would change if she took on Biden.
Then there is the matter of what would happen if she won the nomination. At a fundamental level, her candidacy would be a rejection of the voters’ main reasons for turning on Biden — that he is too liberal — and leaning heavily into the position that he has failed because he hasn’t been left-wing enough.
AOC represents all the trends — wokeness, defunding the police, abolishing immigration enforcement, cultural radicalism — that have driven working-class voters, including a nontrivial number of Hispanics, away from the Democratic Party. But as an overt socialist, she has none of the guardrails that have made it safe for suburbanites to vote blue.”
While I am no fan of AOC’s policies or her socialist ideas, she is one hell of a politician and can leverage social media like no one I have ever seen. I have immense respect for her, and the GOP can learn a lot from her tactics. And that’s why I do think she will very well run for president someday. And I think she would do far better than you can imagine.
About the author: Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and in a similar task force in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.
