Summary
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denied claims that she is secretly wealthy, stating she is worth less than $500,000 and doesn’t trade stocks or take corporate money.
Her financial disclosures show modest savings and student debt.
Some conservatives on X, despite opposing her politics, praised her perceived integrity.
Accusations of political corruption have surged online, partly fueled by Elon Musk.
I love AOC. I’d vote for her in a heartbeat in primary and general elections. Now, whether she makes it to the general depends on the DNC, and I have no faith that the political consultant/establishment class will let anything remotely progressive through. No money to be made.
I guess the only way forward would be to vote for her in the primaries to such a degree that the Dems have not choice but to confirm her through.
She needs to win a senate seat first. I think schumer should retire, and she should run for the seat. If she can win, we can see how many red districts went for her.
That was the Bernie plan in 2016 & 2020 during the primaries. Clinton had the support of the established Democratic party and with superdelegates Clinton took a commanding lead. Similar situation with Biden, most dropped out before Super Tuesday and endorsed him.
Now both of these instances could be considered “smart politics”. If you’ve got the political maneuvering to win the primary, then maybe you’ve got the same maneuvering to win the general.
It didn’t work out for Clinton. It did work out for Biden.
When we look at our most recent election, it’s clear there was a little bit more of a rift, but Harris was chosen and there was no primary.
Now, some of this is simplified and there is plenty to argue. But suffice to say we can’t just vote for AOC “so much” that she’ll win. I don’t see the Democratic party supporting her.
Now it’s too early to talk about 2028 realistically and a lot can change between now and then, but if she were running today she’d have my vote.
Or, get so much grassroots activism going that you can start a new party for her.
You might go a round of everyone flaming, “nooo! You have to support Dems or Repbs will win!!1!” But if enough people try a vote for your new party, next time it might have a chance.
She doesn’t have to start a new party. The left side of the dems should just use The Tea Party and MAGA playbook. They co-opted the GOP by pushing out Republican incumbents in local elections first. A shitton of money from the far-right went to these smaller elections. Then they moved on up and replaced Republican state senators. They created enough momentum that Trump became a viable candidate.
Push enough incumbents out and the Democrats have to take the left seriously. Plus it will normalize left wing rhetoric and policies among the populace. Screaming “cOmmUniSm” won’t work anymore when the people have seen these policies being implemented in their own communities.
Maybe my experience is biased but I don’t think shouting communism works as well as it used to anyways. Plenty of young people will hear “Communist? Then I’ll vote for her!” And the old people are getting exhausted with political hyperbole - “Communist? Yeah like every liberal what else is new.”
So, how many decades will this take, and where are we gonna get this shitton of money?
The tea party did it in two Obama terms. And the money has to come from the public. Starting a viable third party isn’t going to be easier or cheaper.
Taking over an existing party would probably be easier.
The green party is currently a shell designed to launder foreign influence in US elections. But there ain’t a lot of green party members, and fewer still vote in their party’s primaries. Compared to getting the Democratic party to move in a direction other than right or starting an entire new party from scratch, stealing the green party might be doable. Time it right and you can even make russia waste time, money, and effort trying to keep it.
And it’s not like Democrats are ever going to hold honest primaries again.