AOC Plots Her Rise – After having secured her position as the loudest proponent of Far-Left causes in the United States of House of Representatives (while not achieving much of that which she champions), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), or AOC, is working toward a larger objective: self-promotion.
Rumors have swirled that AOC is unsatisfied remaining in her current role representing a decidedly Progressive enclave of New York City. Instead, she fancies herself representing the entire state of New York in the United States Senate. Like Hillary. And, like Hillary Clinton, AOC has achieved little in her short time in government.
It has been interesting to see AOC begin as a raucous, Progressive upstart, standing on tables in then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office and demanding that Pelosi and the Democrats pass a radical “Green New Deal” on the eve of AOC’s swearing in, only to quickly redirect her ire away from the Democrats and toward the Republicans.
Someone must have sat her down early in her term and laid out the ground rules for how Democrats—even radical Progressives, such as herself—are to behave. Fire everything one has at the Right, yes. Never attack your own team. Especially the leadership, where your bread is ultimately buttered.
So, AOC became a controlled opposition by the Democratic Party elite early in her government career. She did this because she never intended to remain in her place. AOC has a massive following in the media; she is a celebrity in her own right. Having come from humble beginnings, working previously as a New York City bartender making minimum wage, AOC will not be held back by petty allegiance to those who helped get her into office. The Millennial congresswoman is living her best life (at taxpayer’s expense) and wants more.
Just what does AOC stand for? Does it even matter?
Well, we know that she supports the Green New Deal. We know that the New York representative wants to raise taxes and blow up the already bloated national debt with profligate spending on the most asinine programs imaginable. She routinely calls anyone—and I mean anyone—who so much as disagrees with her a “fascist.” Will this behavior propel her forward?
Possibly. Radicalism in the Democratic Party (or, now, the Republican Party, for that matter) is no longer seen as a liability. Just look at Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA).
AOC as the Female Barack Obama?
Look at Barack Obama since that is the most likely example that AOC is following, whether consciously or not.
As a young politician in Chicago, Il., Obama was a nobody. But, by 2003, his political career and fortunes reversed as he leveraged his status as a former community organizer with deep ties to the African-American community in the Windy City to gain a national audience for his opposition to the then-ongoing Iraq War. A young, dynamic, and erudite speaker with the right background, Mr. Obama became a source of great hope for the ailing Democratic Party at the time—not only in Illinois but the country. Obama could speak out against the unpopular Iraq War and call it unjust because he never had to vote on the conflict, unlike other prominent Democrats on the national stage (such as Hillary Clinton). He was a mere state senator.
In fact, Obama’s entire legislative career, whether it be in the Illinois State Senate, or the United States Senate was one of garnering national press attention without ever having made a decisive stance on much of anything. This was a hallmark of Barack Obama’s career which was dynamite to his critics but ultimately beneficial to his longer-term ambitions. Because, not having many actual votes on legislation insulated Obama from being labeled as an extremist of some kind (at least believably, because the Republicans still labeled him as such).
Obama’s continuous media appearances catapulted him into the US Senate—especially because he went up against a morally compromised Republican opponent that year. Once in the Senate, Obama did not distinguish too much in terms of creating a record. He was always in the right place, at the right time, though. And Obama continued catapulting himself in the public’s eye. Eventually he made a real splash at the 2004 Democratic Party National Convention as keynote speaker, where his speech was likened to something that JFK would have made.
From that moment on, Obama’s destiny was sealed.
Four years thereafter, he ran for president and won. This does seem to be the same model that AOC is following. She is likely to challenge New York’s junior Senator Kristin Gillibrand, a woman who has failed to distinguish herself as being anything other than a lackey of Democratic Party Senate Majority Leader (and fellow New Yorker) Chuck Schumer.
AOC already has a proven record of taking on establishment Democrats in New York (think of Rep. Joe Crowley, AOC’s predecessor in the House). Gillibrand is the kind of Democrat that most Democratic Party voters would be happy to boot out in favor of a more dynamic candidate—even if AOC has never proven herself in a real policy fight, the way that Gillibrand has. What’s more, Gillibrand has a war chest of $4 million but AOC has a whopping $5.4 million in the bank (and many Democratic Party insiders thinks she’d trounce the technocratic Gillibrand).
As one senior Democratic operative from New York told the New York Post, “The average person in South Bronx doesn’t care” about the policy wonks in the Democratic Party, like Gillibrand. They want firebrands with a national brand. Just like Illinois Democrats wanted with Obama in 2004.
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AOC is going to run for senate soon. She will get it—and from there, she will likely seek the presidency. Her rise in the Democratic Party is assured. I’ll leave the determination as to whether that’s good or bad to you.
Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who serves as a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
