Democrat grandee ousted by far-left political novice

BEN NORTON: So one of the most shocking and fantastic upsets we’ve seen is that in NY a 28-year-old Latina socialist named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually defeated a very powerful Democrat, Joe Crowley, who is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives.

If elected in November, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would become the youngest women elected to Congress.

A top member of the US House’s Democratic leadership has been blindsided by a fresh-faced candidate who beat him in a NY election despite raising one-tenth as much money – and who is now a standard-bearer in the ongoing struggle over the party’s identity.

And yet, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s win in New York’s 14th Congressional district primary is nothing short of incredible.

Ocasio-Cortez, daughter of a Bronx-born father and Puerto Rican mother, had worked as an organizer for the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.

Progressive journalists who have covered Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for months noted that her victory was indicative of a shift away from well-funded establishment Democratic candidates not just in her district, but nationwide.

“She answered the call”, he said, adding that people who know her are “collectively beaming with pride”.

“There is no such thing as being unassailable, in America”, she said.

Ocasio-Cortez was endorsed by the New York City Democratic Socialists.

Shapiro said the district – now represented by House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley (D-Queens) – is solidly Democrat and not indicative of the rest of America. Ocasio-Cortez, who was outspent by about $1million in the final months of the campaign, is proof that talent and genuine connection beats money every time.

In the moving two-minute clip, the educator and organizer lists the need for “Medicare-for-all, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee and criminal justice reform”, and highlights her presence in the community as much as Crowley’s clear absence. “That is what we tried to deliver”, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“Joe is a great guy, but I don’t think he paid enough attention to those constituents at home”, he said Wednesday morning.

Few saw Crowley’s defeat coming. “We even had a credible potential candidate for president in 2020 suggest we get rid of ICE, the border enforcement agency”.

Ocasio-Cortez inspired passionate support among grassroots progressives, especially younger ones and those online, and she attracted favorable media coverage from left-leaning national outlets. Asked why she thought her message resonated with voters, Ocasio-Cortez said, “I think a lot of working-class Americans and voters here have been waiting for an unapologetic champion for economic, social and racial dignity in the United States”.

Critics of the Democratic establishment say this is precisely the strain of dismissiveness that has stoked disenchantment among the party’s base. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, ran an insurgent campaign focused on the working-class people of color who compose the majority non-white district.

“You have given this country hope, you have given this country proof that when you knock on your neighbour’s door, when you come to them with love, when you let them know that no matter your stance, you are there for them – that we can make change”, she said.

In their years living on the sixteenth floor of the Warren Towers dormitory, former classmate Mina Vahedi knew Ocasio-Cortez had what it takes. But progressive commentators care less about the numbers game of the horse race and more about whether the party will move left. “That may determine whether Democrats are able to take back the House of Representatives in November”.