Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., outspoken champion of progressive causes, lamented in a new interview that her own party is too inclusive of people with different ideas.
In a lengthy profile by New York Magazine, the freshman Democrat derided her moderate colleagues as the “Tea Party of the left,” and completely distanced herself from the party’s current front-runner for the presidential nomination.
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“In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are,” Ocasio-Cortez said. When asked how she would fit in with a possible Biden administration, her initial response was, “Oh, God.”
Along with fellow newcomers Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ocasio-Cortez has often clashed with the Democratic establishment, making headlines last year for a war of words with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who spoke of them in dismissive terms.
But Ocasio-Cortez’s problem with the more experienced members of her party goes beyond respect, as she expressed an impatience with their tolerance for more moderate views.
“For so long, when I first got in, people were like, ‘Oh, are you going to basically be a Tea Party of the left?’ And what people don’t realize is that there is a Tea Party of the left, but it’s on the right edges, the most conservative parts of the Democratic Party,” she said. “So the Democratic Party has a role to play in this problem, and it’s like we’re not allowed to talk about it. We’re not allowed to talk about anything wrong the Democratic Party does.”
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She believes that in her short time in Washington, she has “created more room for dissent,” and that “we’re learning to stretch our wings a little bit on the left.”
At the same time that she endorses creating room for other viewpoints, she complains that “Democrats can be too big of a tent,” and suggests that the Congressional Progressive Caucus in particular should start closing its doors to those who don’t have the proper leftist creds.
“They let anybody who the cat dragged in call themselves a progressive,” she said. “There’s no standard.”
Notably, one role model Ocasio-Cortez pointed to is not even a Democrat. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is an example she gave of a principled lawmaker who stuck to his guns and was able to help change the political conversation, not just in his home state, but the country.
One House aide warned that Ocasio-Cortez’s idealism and resistance to negotiating with moderates could be a problem.
“This is how it works here: You negotiate a concession in exchange for a vote. But you have to have the votes and you have to be willing to negotiate,” the aide told New York Magazine. “She says she is an organizer, but you have to be willing to organize in the caucus as well as outside it.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., also explained that “no one gets all of his or her way,” and that compromise is part of the game. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Meeks found himself at odds with the leftist group Justice Democrats, which backed Ocasio-Cortez, claiming last summer that the organization was “targeting” CBC members in primary races.
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Meeks warned that lawmakers who do not learn to make concessions will end up ultimately being ineffective.
“You have to learn quickly; otherwise, you will be in the minority and you will be as relevant as that windowpane,” he said. “Do you want to be able to just talk a lot or do you want to be able to do something?”
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January 06, 2020 at 10:46PM
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