AOC: The Newcomer
By Megan Wallin
An Emerging Star
No matter what your political leanings, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one to watch. She is the youngest woman ever elected to congress. Ocasio-Cortez was born in The Bronx, NY on 11/13/89 of Puerto Rican descent.
Political Upset
“Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,” began the political rocket ship of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary campaign. Not only did she win 77.92% of the vote to defeat 10 time incumbent Joe Crowley she did it spending less than $200,000. Contrary to Ocasio-Cortez Crowley spent $3.4 million dollars. The fact that she won was a huge surprise, but the margin of victory, in combination with her minimal spending, caused what can only be described as a political earthquake. She went on to trample her Republican opponent in the 2018 mid-terms by more than 72%. Those facts alone have made her an emerging political star.
Puerto Rican Ancestry
Some media outlets didn’t even bother mentioning her name, pre-election results, as if to imply that her chances were so slim it didn’t matter that she was running. A day before the primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had tweeted that “some journalists still refuse to say [her] name,” simply referring to her as Joe Crowley’s opponent. Some people attributed her win to political trends, while others noted that she was of Puerto Rican descent, and had huge support from the Hispanic community. According to New York times reporting, “Her strongest support came from areas that were not predominantly Hispanic.”
Political Outlier
She has a BA from Boston University. Her first introduction to politics came when she worked in Ted Kennedy’s Foreign Affairs & Immigration Constituent Office. She is definitely not the typical Representative-elect. Not only is she young and female, an ethnic minority, Democratic Socialist from The Bronx, she is the image of working class America. That’s as much of a political outlier as you could find. Being an outlier can make you just as much of a target as a sensation.
Newcomer Then and Now
Historic victories are not always predictors of life success. And so the question is, how will people react to her future actions? When a young John F. Kennedy ran for president, the newcomer was met with similar enthusiasm. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is no Kennedy, and truthfully, the United States is less ready for her than they were for a charismatic Catholic man’s political ascendancy during the 1960s.
Now and Then
For all the excitement she ignites, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has from day one garnered criticism for everything from her wardrobe to her recent Instagram congressional tour. Her response to these attacks, and how effective such attacks may negatively change the way Americans view her is the critical question. Right now she is a new face of great national interest. However, her future importance is yet to be determined.
Facing Attacks Head On
Recently, Sarah Palin tried to score political points by re-posting an Ocasio-Cortez’s slip up, stating “3 chambers” rather than “3 branches” of government, during which the Representative-elect listed them incorrectly as well. However, Palin’s attempt to focus on this mistake proved an insult boomerang. One Twitter user even quipped, “I can see hypocrisy from my house,” citing Palin’s Russia blunder.
Vacation Days
Newsweek highlighted Ocasio-Cortez’s feisty, well-spoken response to David Martosko, the often controversial political editor for The Daily Mail. When Ocasio-Cortez used Twitter to thoughtfully inquire about why we have a holiday for Columbus Day but not for Election Day. Martosko wrote that she “hasn’t even started the job yet and she’s already angling for more vacation days.”
To this, Ocasio-Cortez replied: “While I would disagree with your complaint that Americans get too much vacation time (we work some of the longest days of any developed country & have no Fed required paid leave), I am willing to compromise by eliminating Columbus Day to give Election Day off. See? I can be pliant.”
Past Adversity
Her past has not shielded her from adversity thus far, so it isn’t a stretch for her supporters to rely on her continued tenacity. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has seen her father die and her mother risk losing a house to foreclosure. Call her young, but don’t call her inexperienced. These are the experiences that matter to the average American, because we share nothing if not the two oft noted certainties of life: death and taxes.
In a show of both her innate tenacity and resourcefulness, Ocasio-Cortez did not take hardship as a challenge to happiness. If anything, her life thus far seems as much an ode to the pursuit of happiness as the over-hyped, against-the-odds stories we cheer on the “reality” television shows.
Paid Her Dues: Experience Grassroots
Despite being young, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already had her hand in politics for some time. She has been the old-fashioned kind of political activist. She’s been on the campaign trail supporting Bernie Sanders. She visited the people of Flint, Michigan in the middle of their water crisis as their government failed to give a prompt and adequate response. Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Standing Rock to discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline with tribal leaders. A civil rights and environmental focus seems proper, as her background seems to have readied her to be someone of and for the people.
Public Embarrassment
Democrats should use caution, lest Ocasio-Cortez become the Palin of the left. Young and passionate, there is no doubt that this new face in politics could prove a forgettable one in an era of overblown media hype.
While she cannot be discounted or overlooked, liberals should be wary of hastily crowning her with instant status as some sort of progressive savior. She is human, fallible, and already making a few rookie mistakes. Chris Cillizza of CNN pointed out this very fact in July of 2018, publishing a piece encouraging Democrats to be cautious in their glorification of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Aside from factual blunders such as her statement on the “chambers” of government, where she failed to correctly name the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, she has made statements so bold they are practically invitations for further critique. When Ben Shapiro challenged her to a public debate with the offer of $10,000 monetary incentive, she compared the request to a catcall, stating that she wouldn’t respond to either.
As a mere spectator, my immediate thought suggests that offers unworthy of response should get just that. If she truly felt no need to respond, then even a mere reference to catcalls seems unnecessary to the point of accidentally refuting oneself in the very act of stating her conviction.
That’s the Double Standard Talking
Perhaps we should begin questioning why we have unreasonably high expectations for women in politics, while we ignore the “Boys Will Be Boys” Club. We pardon women of their blunders only when we connect them to their husbands. Hence, the great sympathy many seem to give our First Lady while our nation questions and Trump mocks his female accusers.
Potential
In the words of Charles Shultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip “There is no greater burden than great potential.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could potentially be the end of the tired and boorish “things as they always have been”. She could also prove naïve and poorly equipped to handle the demands of both supporters and critics.
Worst of all, she could simply fade into distant memory as someone who won an unlikely election, but then was unable use that initial success to bring about a difference in the lives of her electorate. Only time will tell.
