Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the last few months has been leading an insurgency in district 14 of New York City which I am a resident of. District 14 encompasses a significant section of Queens and part of the lower Bronx. The district in total is 70% minority as Queens is the most diverse place on the planet. I’m proud of that fact. More languages are spoken in Queens than anywhere else in the world.
Ocasio- Cortez is exactly the type of candidate that Dailykos should be supporting wholeheartedly.
millennialpolitics.co/...
Even as a child, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was no stranger to financial hardship. Born to a family of working-class Puerto Rican Americans in the South Bronx, she was first forced to confront her family’s less-than-ideal socioeconomic status when she started school. While her parents instilled in her the importance of education, her options were limited. “From a very young age, it became apparent to me that the zip code a child was born in had undue influence on that child’s future and achievements,” she told Millennial Politics.
Alexandria went on to attend Boston University, where she took an interest in empowering West African women both through financial means as well as by providing better quality maternal care.
She eventually caught the eye of Senator Ted Kennedy and began to work for him in Massachusetts. Though she appreciated her time with the infamous “Lion of the Senate,” it coincided with the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, amplifying her disillusionment with corporate influence in politics.
She decided to move back to the Bronx immediately after graduation. It is here that her family’s situation took a turn for the worst. Mr. Ocasio, unable to afford health insurance, lost his battle with lung cancer, leaving his family without a financial safety net. With the looming threat of losing the family home, Alexandria helped support the family as a waitress, working eighteen-hour shifts just to ensure her family had a roof over their heads. “It’s one thing to talk about these things in news articles and another thing to live this life.” Alexandria was eventually faced with the reality of being unable to keep her family financially afloat on a minimum-wage salary. She felt as if she was watching her and her family’s dreams slip away.
She has remained involved in the local politics of her district and was inspired by Bernie Sander’s run in 2015 challenging the political establishment of the time. Alexandria has argued valiantly against the rent crisis facing NYC residents, the gentrification of our spaces for corporations over people, closing Rikers Prison, and has become a progressive torch bearer for issues that progressives care about.
What does she support?
This is a robust progressive agenda that deserves the attention of Congress. Alexandria has claimed the mantle of being a working class hero and argues that Congress needs more women, people of color, and those from working class backgrounds that have a deep command of the issues.
Alexandria last year visited Netroots nation in an attempt to garner the attention of Dailykos and the Netroots. She was interviewed by our own Egberto Willies as a Brand New Congress candidate.
Alexandria’s race has not attracted much attention on this site. There are a few fundamental reasons why. Namely, who she is challenging for a seat at the table. This past week Alexandria faced off against Rep. Joe Crowley on NY1. Crowley is the #3 Democrat in the House and stands to take over the caucus should Nancy Pelosi retire and not seek the Speakership should the Democratic wave overtake the House. He has been in the House for 30 years. He has not faced a real primary challenge in about twenty years and it showed in a dramatic manner when he came to the debate offering boiler plate platitude, fear, and a distinctive disconnect from the voice of the average person.
I have news for Dailykos.
If Joe Crowley is our face of opposition against Trump, then we are in for a world of pain and hurt.
theintercept.com/…
The differences between Crowley and Ocasio-Cortez aren’t actually that significant, he argued, but his superior ability to effectively challenge Trump on the national stage makes him the better candidate. Unspoken, but well understood, is the fact that Crowley, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, is anticipated to be the next House Democratic leader or speaker should Nancy Pelosi step aside or be ousted by her colleagues, meaning that his efficacy on the national stage would, in fact, come into play.
“We’re here to fight against Donald Trump,” Crowley affirmed, calling him the “No. 1 threat against us all.” But despite Crowley’s national focus, he also explained that he understood the “meat and butter” — a jumbled phrase that betrayed some of the nervousness underneath his outward expression of confidence — of what his constituency wants: “good paying jobs … affordable health care, they’re hoping that they can send their children to college and get a higher education … retirement security.”
In very broad strokes, Crowley might be right: The candidate’s positions don’t, as he put it, have much “daylight” between them. But Ocasio-Cortez’s stridency and urgent framing highlighted the difference between lip service and substantive change, between a movement powered by small donors and a politician funded by Wall Street and luxury real estate developers. Whereas Crowley framed issues in terms of what he thinks his constituents want, Ocasio articulated them as goals she could deliver.
Crowley’s nod to “affordable health care” and the “hope” of higher education sounded anemic next to Ocasio-Cortez’s demand for guaranteed jobs and free public college. And where Crowley emphasized his support of Barack Obama while underscoring how many thousands in the district are helped by the Affordable Care Act, Ocasio-Cortez’s focus was on getting more for her constituents in the form of “Medicare for All.”
The best thing that could have happened for Crowley is if no one watched the debate. The presentation between the candidates could not have been starker.
The primary election is on the 26th. In full disclosure I am a campaign volunteer and will be knocking on doors the rest of this week on my free days.
What can you do to help?
justicedialer.com/…
You can make phone calls for her campaign through the JusticeDialer. The service will open at 10 am this morning.
You can make donations to her act blue campaign to help in the final week to pay canvassers and GOTV operations.
secure.actblue.com/…
If you have the time and live in the 14th — you can canvass by signing up with the campaign.
This is a long shot race. Crowley has been forced to defend his seat for the first time in a very long time. This race has the potential to make huge waves in our Blue Wave. Joe Crowley is not the voice we need to have against Trump as the debate makes painfully clear he was never ready for prime time. I’m supporting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because she is the person who is not only going to fight against Trump, but fight against the very policies and practices that gave rise to him.
A point I was waiting to hear at the debate and I was disappointed when it was not brought up.
We know that ICE was created in 2001 by the PATRIOT ACT. At the time most progressives of any measure were against the legislation. It was warned that it would lead to the militarization of our police, oppression of organic dissent at home, and enable the worst aspects of law enforcement. All of those things came to pass.
You know who voted YES in 2001 for the Patriot Act?
Joe Crowley.
If he did not have the sense then to see what progressives could see clearly, how is this man fit to be our next Speaker of the House?
Support the future. Support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress and help change the future for the better.