In a bizarre move that apparently plays with progressives for reasons I don’t fully understand, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) announced (and livestreamed) news that she is freezing her eggs in order to have more control over her life and career.
“Don’t be weird about it,” said the New York socialist. Of course, streaming any medical procedure, especially one relating to reproductive health, is strange. I have several buddies who have consulted surgeons about joining the seedless grapes club, and to the best of my knowledge, none of them ever tweeted about it, but to each their own.
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In more predictable news: Ocasio-Cortez is running for president. Why wouldn’t she? Former Vice President Kamala Harris is technically the front-runner for the 2028 Democratic nomination, but after her disastrous 2024 non-campaign and blowout loss to the man whom Democrats consider the Great Satan, voters will likely be clamoring for something new. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is in second place in some polls, but black people and Muslims, who make up a critical portion of the Democratic base, would never nominate the Indianan-turned Michigander for the obvious reason that everyone understands but nobody says out loud. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) not only oversaw the economic and societal destruction of the state of California, but he is also a rich white man, a no-go in leftist politics.
A July poll from the University of New Hampshire already has Ocasio-Cortez leading in the Granite State.
Republicans have long viewed Ocasio-Cortez as a know-nothing sideshow. The congresswoman’s critics correctly see her as an Instagram influencer and policy lightweight who fumbles her way through basic questions on macroeconomics, foreign affairs, energy policy, etc. The error is not in the assessment of her intellect or grasp of the issues, but in the belief that those shortcomings still matter. Dismissing her candidacy would be dangerously short-sighted, akin to Democrats dismissing Donald Trump as a caricature in 2016.
Ocasio-Cortez possesses a potent combination of skills tailored for modern American politics. She is great on screen and onstage, understands digital media like few other politicians, and can effortlessly appeal to disenfranchised Generation Z and millennial voters.
Ocasio-Cortez is a socialist, at best. She has taken every fringe, left-wing position imaginable since her election in New York’s 14th Congressional District in 2018. Unfortunately, we are already seeing the playbook on how she will attempt to whitewash her radicalism for a national audience.
Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance on ABC’s This Week with host Jonathan Karl was a masterclass in cynical political repositioning. She dismissed calls to defund the police as “lockdown” era rhetoric. Ocasio-Cortez and Karl laughed off a decade of insane, un-American, anti-white propaganda promulgated by both the journalist and the politician, and their comrades. “Woke 1 was crazy,” Ocasio-Cortez admitted.
Yes, it was, as were the subsequent race riots that killed over two dozen Americans and the Salem Witch Trial-esque persecution of anyone with a job who dared to speak out against the Left. Surely, Ocasio-Cortez has not changed any of her socialist positions, but, if past is prologue, the mainstream press will avoid asking tough questions of anyone they think can beat the 2028 Republican nominee.
This brings us to the Republican Party’s Vance problem. Vice President JD Vance is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, although a lot can happen in the next year and a half. Vance sits at around 41% approval nationally and struggles with suburban women and young voters. Vance has political talent, but is not as charismatic or relatable as the young socialist. The vice president has also positioned himself as the least likely Republican to beat a candidate such as Ocasio-Cortez. The Democrats will likely be running on a bad economy, promising that *this time* socialism will be different. Of course, this message is juvenile and ridiculous, but Vance essentially shares this view.
WHY ARE SOCIALISTS UNFAZED BY THEIR ABYSMAL HISTORICAL RECORD?
Vance has declared an all-out war on sane economics, embracing a postliberal, socialist-lite position, but with an emphasis on culturally conservative family policy. “Socialism but Catholic” may be the worst possible pitch to combat a pretty socialist woman who will undoubtedly be running circles around the GOP on social media.
Ocasio-Cortez is learning on the job and is far more disciplined than she was moving from the bar to the People’s House in 2018. She’s a capable political operator with the full backing of the Bernie Sanders wing of the party and understands how to weaponize charisma. If Republicans continue to laugh her off, they do so at their own peril.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a writer, musician, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.