✅Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Biden’s Win, House Losses, and What’s Next for the Left —NYT
OR
New York representative denies Movement for Black Lives and Green New Deal cost seats
—Guardian
...Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised the Democratic party for incompetence in a no-holds-barred, post-election interview with the New York Times, warning that if the Biden administration does not put progressives in top positions, the party would lose big in the 2022 midterm elections.
Signaling that the internal moratorium in place while the Democrats worked to defeat Donald Trump was over, the leftwing New York representative sharply rejected the notion advanced by some Democrats that progressive messaging around the Movement for Black Lives and the Green New Deal led to the party’s loss of congressional seats in last week’s election.
The real problem, said Ocasio-Cortez, was that the party lacked “core competencies” to run campaigns.
“There’s a reason Barack Obama built an entire national campaign apparatus outside of the Democratic National Committee,” she told the Times’ Astead Herndon. “And there’s a reason that when he didn’t activate or continue that, we lost House majorities. Because the party – in and of itself – does not have the core competencies, and no amount of money is going to fix that.”....
“If I lost my election, and I went out and I said: ‘This is moderates’ fault. This is because you didn’t let us have a floor vote on Medicare for all.’ And they opened the hood on my campaign, and they found that I only spent $5,000 on TV ads the week before the election?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They would laugh. And that’s what they look like right now trying to blame the Movement for Black Lives for their loss.”
“It’s really hard for us to turn out nonvoters when they feel like nothing changes for them. When they feel like people don’t see them, or even acknowledge their turnout,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“If the party believes after 94% of Detroit went to Biden, after Black organisers just doubled and tripled turnout down in Georgia, after so many people organised Philadelphia, the signal from the Democratic party is the John Kasich won us this election? I mean, I can’t even describe how dangerous that is.”....
The Ocasio-Cortez interview is full of frank impressions freely shared. Asked what her “macro takeaway” was from the election, she said: “Well, I think the central one is that we aren’t in a freefall to hell anymore.”....
“So I need my colleagues to understand that we are not the enemy,” she said. “And that their base is not the enemy. That the Movement for Black Lives is not the enemy, that Medicare for all is not the enemy. This isn’t even just about winning an argument. It’s that if they keep going after the wrong thing, I mean, they’re just setting up their own obsolescence.”
Appearing on CNN later in the day, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Progressives have assets to offer the party that the party has not yet fully leaned into... Every single swing seat member that co-sponsored Medicare for All won their re-election, and so the conversation is a little bit deeper than saying anything progressive is toxic.”
—NYT
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7 comments:
Losing a "few seats" is far better than losing the White House, and, perhaps, our democracy.
It sounds like AOC doesn’t get the enormity of America’s rejection of authoritarian rule and the election of the first female, minority VP elect.
I hope this transition time can be used to begin a real co-ordination effort regarding the virus before winter sets in. It's an opportunity to save lives that shouldn't wait until January 20. National standards for testing, contact tracing, etc. Access to testing. Etc. A real team of experts.
The mixed election results have sent a clear message. The majority of those who voted wanted Trump out for all the reasons we are familiar with. Trump was a failed candidate. He lacked the temperament, education, background, moral compass, and common sense to lead this country. He may have been a successful businessman. I don't know. What I do know is that running the US government is not the same as running a corporation. Sadly, many voters believed it was.
On the other hand, Democrats did not fare that well. I believe this is also a sign that the majority of the electorate is not ready to sign up for some of the more radical elements of the Democratic party agenda. Medicare for all is a salient example. True, many of the policy positions of the Democratic party have been twisted and mislabeled by the Republican party. But this year's elections results show that the US is still more centrist and averse to extreme positions on either side. The Republican party will need to decide in the coming months/years if they still want to continue being a "Trump party," the party of their base. Democrats will also need to really listen to the 70+ million Trump voters and truly understand what their issues are if they ever hope to be the party of all people. So let's enjoy for the moment the breath of fresh air brought about by the recent election results and hope that, as a nation, we will not fall again into gridlock, partisan bickering, and legislative inaction.
VERY much in agreement with 7:25 and 8:00. Let us hope this occurs and that the Senate makes it happen----whether Democratic of Republican.
“If the party believes after 94% of Detroit went to Biden, after Black organisers just doubled and tripled turnout down in Georgia, after so many people organised Philadelphia, the signal from the Democratic party is the John Kasich won us this election? I mean, I can’t even describe how dangerous that is.” —AOC
“There’s a reason Barack Obama built an entire national campaign apparatus outside of the Democratic National Committee,” she told the Times’ Astead Herndon. “And there’s a reason that when he didn’t activate or continue that, we lost House majorities. Because the party – in and of itself – does not have the core competencies, and no amount of money is going to fix that.” —AOC
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