New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s allies are building the infrastructure for 2028 Democratic presidential campaign around a wild assumption: Republican voters will flock to her socialist messaging.
The 35-year-old New York congresswoman and her aides are positioning her for either the presidential run, or a Senate challenge against Chuck Schumer in 2028. The far-Left congresswoman who has been carefully expanding her footprint by barnstorming upstate New York, a three-day Georgia tour, pouring millions of donor cash into her digital operation, and quietly bringing in former senior advisers from radical Sen. Bernie Sanders’s failed presidential campaigns into her team.
They believe that with enough time and money, Ocasio-Cortez’s radical populism will appeal to the average American voter outside their New York bubble. Yes, really.
“We’re seeing an opening, definitely among swingy independents, but also among Republicans,” a source close to Ocasio-Cortez boasted to CNN. “They don’t agree with everything she says, but they believe she is honest and that she’s going to work for people. That will be put to the test in the coming months.”
Ocasio-Cortez herself has been coy. When asked directly if she planned to run for either president or Senate in 2028, AOC quickly deflected.
“My ambition is to change this country,” she said in a May interview. “Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go.”
A Schumer-Ocasio-Cortez primary matchup would pit the 74-year-old Democratic establishment leader against the face of the party’s radical left.
Conservative strategists are watching this process with a mixture of amusement and anticipation.
“AOC’s Destiny Is to Become the Most Popular Democrat, and Its Worst Nightmare,” RedState reported.
The Daily Caller pointed with glee to AOC’s disastrous February performance at the Munich Security Conference, where she was unable to answer a basic foreign policy question about whether the United States should defend Taiwan if China invaded.
“Um, you know, I think that, uh … this is … such a … you know, I think that this is a, um … this is of course a … a very longstanding, um … policy of the United States. And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point,” Ocasio-Cortez replied (Editors note: That quote is completely verbatim).
Former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod offered a sensible take when CNN asked him about Ocasio-Cortez’ realistic 2028 prospects last month.
“Regardless of whether or not you think AOC is a viable candidate,” Axelrod said, “she will get more airtime and attention than other hopefuls with longer resumes.”
Does anyone think that extra airtime given to Ocasio-Cortez will actually win over Republican voters and conservative Independents?
If so, we have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them.