A 28-year-old Democratic Socialist just ousted a powerful, 10-term congressman in New York

originally posted by: Xtrozero

originally posted by: starviego
Her platform is so extreme I am wondering if her primary campaign was covertly supported by local conservatives. In the same way McGovern's 1972 presidential primary campaign was being supported by pro-Nixon forces.

In a 100% Democrat area with zero chance for a Republican to be successful, one wonders if all the republicans in that area registered as a democrat to do just as you say.

Possible the vote was:

Candidate Vote % Votes
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 57.48% 15,897
Joseph Crowley Incumbent 42.52% 11,761
Total Votes (440 of 449 precincts reporting) 27,658

Anthony Pappas ran unopposed in the Republican primary

I'm good with it. I'm independent but lean left on a lot of issues and right on a few.

I feel like there's no difference between democrats and republicans except for a few key words like Climate change and abortion but they really never do anything about either. All the old stereotypes don't apply..meaning republicans used to stand for lower taxes and smaller government but they don't any longer.

We need more parties. Far left leaning progressives and far right leaning conservatives help. Anytime you can get a multi term congressperson out it's a good thing. We need term limits for Congress more than anything!

Fine and dandy. How is this not similar to David Duke or some Extremist supporting Trump?

His postings are on his twitter, He did say some pretty nasty things while running for City Council.

It shouldn't reflect on her, but she should issue some sort of distancing from him.

originally posted by: Kharron

originally posted by: pavil

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign, ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York's 14th congressional district on Tuesday, CNN projects, in the most shocking upset of a rollicking political season. An activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez won over voters in the minority-majority district with a ruthlessly efficient grassroots bid, even as Crowley -- the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House -- outraised her by a 10-to-1 margin.

Link


Well now look at that. How do the Democratic Party leaning members here feel about this?

Should be as big of a shock as Eric Cantor losing his primary to a Tea Party Candidate.

Do you think this is good or bad for the Democrats?

At least they didn't put the fix on this time.

I'm really interested in what the Left leaning people here think.

The 28 year old is far far left, more liberal than the moderate democrat she ousted. I don't know whether that is good or not, extremes are never good.

At the same time, change is good.

The demographics of the USA are changing. Some areas, Hispanics are the new majority in the under-25's. So they are going to want free stuff like tuition fees, affordable housing, more jobs and so on.

lol... bud... I'm not defending the twitter guy... I don't know anything about him. I was talking about the direct accusation that Ocasio-Cortez's campaign manager was anti-Semite racist.... but she is not... and she is not a he...

Let's not confuse things any more than they already are...

Even as Ocasio-Cortez ran defiantly to his left -- with universal health care, a federal jobs guarantee and the abolition of ICE headlining her demands

Oh yeah shes a real winner.

Lets ban the BATFE and pass out free MACHINE guns to everyone.

It's New York . Land of Cuomo and Di Blasio.
Expect anything different ?
N.Y. is now (and has been) in the forefront of the Cali Movement.

originally posted by: stormcell

originally posted by: Kharron

originally posted by: pavil

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign, ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York's 14th congressional district on Tuesday, CNN projects, in the most shocking upset of a rollicking political season. An activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez won over voters in the minority-majority district with a ruthlessly efficient grassroots bid, even as Crowley -- the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House -- outraised her by a 10-to-1 margin.

Link


Well now look at that. How do the Democratic Party leaning members here feel about this?

Should be as big of a shock as Eric Cantor losing his primary to a Tea Party Candidate.

Do you think this is good or bad for the Democrats?

At least they didn't put the fix on this time.

I'm really interested in what the Left leaning people here think.

The 28 year old is far far left, more liberal than the moderate democrat she ousted. I don't know whether that is good or not, extremes are never good.

At the same time, change is good.

The demographics of the USA are changing. Some areas, Hispanics are the new majority in the under-25's. So they are going to want free stuff like tuition fees, affordable housing, more jobs and so on.

You're correct. I've pointed out the demographic change several times, but no one seems to care, or possibly they don't believe it. I live in a majority Hispanic area so I know what I'm talking about when I say its about a lot more than just free stuff.

Its hard to describe their view point. On the one hand they dislike the Anglo population; see them as greedy, grasping, racist and uncaring. They are far more oriented toward small "s" socialism, far higher taxes, BIG Government with emphasis on much higher spending on the broken school systems, free government run health care. That sort of stuff.

Government, as far as they are concerned, is viewed as a lucrative employer. Most all either try to get jobs with our local county government, or to get contracts to do work for the government. Our local elections are almost entirely closed loop affairs; the candidates, whether Republican or Democrat wage a signage war, but never publish any thing about what they believe in or what their agenda is. They do a "network" type campaign, word of mouth through relatives and friends and of course, its all in Spanish. Frankly, most of the local Anglos don't even bother to vote anymore in the local elections because of the total curtain over anything resembling information about the candidates positions. My guess is that the only campaigning they do is public service spots on the local Tejano stations.

Twenty years from now, or possibly less, they'll doubtless turn Texas Blue like California. Eventually....the US will be "Californication Nation".

originally posted by: starviego
Her platform is so extreme I am wondering if her primary campaign was covertly supported by local conservatives. In the same way McGovern's 1972 presidential primary campaign was being supported by pro-Nixon forces.

Which part of her platform is extreme?

Off-topic note

I had to cut out a few nested quotes on page 2 of this thread. Something went a bit off with the bbcode and it was causing the page to display incorrectly.

No one's content was removed, just the large nested quotes above their own posts.

Please try to use the "reply" feature instead of the "quote" feature if you see that the quotes are starting to stack.

Thanks all and please resume the topic.

Although I do not align with 87.5% of her issues I say kick ass! She did what a lot of people would not do.

Now, add in working on a Kennedy and a Sanders campaign and you have someone who knew when to tap the base they needed.

This new democrat may be far left but just like the new far right somehow they may be the ones to find the true middle ground. The next 3 election cycles could and will shape the next 3 generations. Crazy but true.

More like her are going to grab seats but in some places they will cancel each other out causing a Red Wave. Too many spread among the same supporters. Bad planning on local districts. I have seen it where I live and there are going to be some interesting races to say the least.

a reply to: pavil

Here is my take from across the pond. Locally to me, when a candidate for office who is ACTUALLY ideologically a Labour candidate, outstrips a Red Tory (that is, a person in the Labour Party who happens to be a conservative in terms of their world view), it makes me believe just a little bit, that the system can be cranked over one way or another, in order that people actually get the representation they ought to be able to expect.

I would imagine that for those who have true belief in the values of Democracy, as opposed to the true values of the Democrat Party, those for example, who were deeply betrayed by the Party when they selected Hillary over Bernie, despite the fact that it was he who had the greatest grass roots support, this feels like a win, a small one, but a win nonetheless.

Any time you get a young, visionary person coming along to replace someone who has been steeped for too long in the toxic echelons of politics, there is a greater hope for what is to come, than could ever have been the case with yet another exchange of one cardboard cut out politician for another. The young ones have not been destroyed by time yet, not corrupted to the same degree as their elder counterparts. There is significant reason to hope for a good outcome to their presence in the role to which they have been elected.

I don't expect much change if she's elected. Like everyone else I like the shake up. But she's a basically a "New Democrat", which was popular in the U.S During FDR's presidency.

Despite agreeing with her on issues like health care and education, it's easier said than done. The system is not broken, it's working against you, and both capitalist and the government are the ones responsible for the state our country is in.

a reply to: FamCore

The problem is that all you hear are goals being stated. There is never a path laid out that gets you there and that also would be met with approval from anyone.

How do you pay for tuition? Healthcare? Providing jobs for everyone? How does it work and how do we get there?

Its rare to see a true believer in socialism among those above 40. Sanity and logic tend to take hold eventually....until some genius creates a path to those goals that wont collapse itself.