After a whirlwind month that saw her crisscross the United States in support of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being called a ‘national voice’ by supporters who would like to see her become president one day.
“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a leader in the progressive movement,” Sanders campaign adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. “She is broadly popular, frankly, among Democratic voters. She is particularly strong with young voters, voters of color. She’s an important national voice, and adding her weight to the political revolution is a real coup for us.”
Calls for Ocasio-Cortez to be Sanders’s vice president pick have ramped up after Sanders said the New York Democrat would play a “very, very important role” in his potential White House.
To hold the office of vice president, a candidate must be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen. Though she isn’t old enough to hold the position, when asked, Ocasio-Cortez, 30, said, “It’d be an honor to be vice president.”
Waleed Shahid, a former aide who has worked with both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, suggested the New York freshman has an untapped and far-reaching base.
“AOC is popular among many diverse constituencies in the Democratic base, and particularly among unlikely voters,” Shahid said.
Ocasio-Cortez has criticized the donor base of Sanders’s competitors and took particular aim at South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at a Sanders rally this month. “For anyone who accuses us for instituting purity tests, it’s called having values,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s called giving a damn. It’s called having standards for your conduct to not be funded by billionaires.”
[Related: Pete Buttigieg pummeled by 2020 Democratic rivals over ‘wine cave’ fundraiser]
This week, OpenSecrets.com uncovered filings that showed Ocasio-Cortez accepted a $2,700 donation from billionaire Tom Steyer.
Still, many younger Democratic voters believe they are witnessing the beginning of a new progressive coalition that will fundamentally change the policy makeup of the Democratic Party.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, president of the California Young Democrats, said Democrats don’t need “to worry about” who will lead the party after 2020.
“The future of the Democratic Party is not Pete Buttigieg,” said Rodriguez-Kennedy. “It’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
