| | | | The AOC backlash begins |  | | There's no politician -- not one -- who has risen further faster than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Two years ago at this time, she was bartending and waitressing in New York. Now the New York congresswoman is the face of the liberal left in the Democratic Party nationally.
When a politician -- or, really, anyone -- becomes a star overnight, there's an inevitable backlash that grows in opposition to the rise. And less than three months into her first term in Congress, the AOC backlash has begun in earnest.
The spark came last week when, in a closed-door meeting of House Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez warned colleagues that if they continued to vote with Republicans on procedural motions in the chamber they could wind up "on a list" of incumbents ripe for a liberal primary challenge. (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has found herself on the other side of AOC a few times during the early months of this Congress, was making the same case to members.)
Members -- especially those holding swing districts that look nothing like AOC's solidly Democratic Bronx/Queens seat -- took umbrage.
"There is, without a doubt, a myth that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez somehow represents the narrative of Democratic primary voters in the country," Alabama-based Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who polled for Barack Obama's 2012 re-election race, told The Washington Post over the weekend. "Almost half of them identify themselves as moderates or conservative."
Is Anzalone right about the makeup of Democrats? He is, according to Gallup polling of Democrats in 2018. That data showed that 51% of Democrats identified themselves as liberal last year, while 47% call themselves either moderate (34%) or conservative (13%).
Here's the problem for the likes of Anzalone and 2020ers like former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is running as a pragmatic problem-solver: The energy, activism and, yes, money is all coming from the mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it-anymore liberal base at the moment. That reality incentivizes candidates -- particularly in the presidential race -- to run as far left as possible, because it's way over there on the left where they will get what they want in terms of political outcomes.
The real question then is not which part of the party is on the rise -- it's the AOC/Bernie Sanders wing for sure -- but rather how those moderates and conservatives are treated by the liberals in the party. Will they be driven out as insufficiently loyal to the cause -- as tea party (and Trump) Republicans have done to their own centrist wing over the last decade? Or will liberals find a way to incorporate the views of their more moderate party members as they try to find a candidate who can oust President Donald Trump in 2020?
Again, Anzalone hits the nail on the head. "My main gripe about AOC is that while I respect her voice in the party, I don't think she respects mine or anyone else's who differs with her on policy or comes from a different political electoral reality," he tweeted.
The Point: This ideological fight within the Democratic Party reflects the broader debate about what a post-Obama Democrat could and should look like. Is it Ocasio-Cortez? Is it Joe Biden? Is it somewhere in between?
-- Chris
| | "We could've had chefs, we could've, but we had fast food -- 'cause I know you people."
-- President Donald Trump to the North Dakota State Bison football team, who were served McDonald's and Chick-fil-A at the White House today. The spread was laid out on silver and fine china and included extra dipping sauces. | | | Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown shared a special connection with actor Luke Perry, who died today of a stroke.
Brown's father, a doctor, delivered Perry. And Perry (obviously later in life) hit the campaign trail in support of Brown's Senate run.
"Brown's father, a Mansfield doctor, delivered the actor nearly 40 years ago -- a fact the campaign never fails to mention while speaking to voters who most likely remember Perry as the tortured, ruggedly handsome Dylan McKay on '90210,'" writes Alex M. Parker in a 2006 profile of Brown.
"Luke Perry was not only a talented actor — but a warm, kind person who made his home state proud," Brown tweeted today. | |
🗳GETTING OUT THE VOTE (AGAIN) IN NORTH CAROLINA | | There's an entirely new election about to take place in North Carolina's 9th District, and we finally have dates for when that's going to happen.
The primary will take place on May 14 and the general election will be on September 10. Candidates have from March 11 to March 15 to file the paperwork to run.
This redo will be a reprise of the House race tainted by an irregular absentee ballot scheme that benefited Republican candidate Mark Harris.
Harris does not plan to run again, but his Democratic opponent Dan McCready is running -- and has already begun fundraising. | | | Steve Earle's new song about his dad -- "Randall Knife" -- is, well, incredible. Getting a little dusty in here. | | SHE'S RUNNING ... AND BIKING ... AND SWIMMING | | Sen. Kyrsten Sinema not only just completed an Ironman in New Zealand, she did it in 13 hours -- a new personal best for the Arizona Democrat.
Sinema finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2 mile run in 12 hours 59 minutes and 57 seconds. It's the 42-year-old's third Ironman. | | John Hickenlooper: The former Colorado governor is running for president, he announced this morning. The campaign will focus on his Western roots and executive experience.
Bernie Sanders: Made his campaign launch official this weekend with a kickoff rally in Brooklyn (home to his New York accent).
Eric Holder: Is NOT running for president, the former attorney general announced this morning. | |
AND HICKENLOOPER MAKES 14! | | The former Colorado governor is the FOURTEENTH Democrat to jump into the presidential primary -- and with still more candidates expected to announce bids, likely not the last.
Hickenlooper also appears to have borrowed phrasing from another presidential candidate.
In his launch video, Hickenlooper describes himself as a "skinny kid with Coke bottle glasses and a funny last name" -- which is very similar to Barack Obama's 2004 DNC speech wherein he called himself "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too."
We've got the full list of the 13 other announced candidates here. | | | | | | |
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