Bernie Sanders might be one of the oldest presidential candidates in the 2020 race, but his policies will live for a long time yet. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made sure of that.
Ocasio-Cortez, along with Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, will endorse Sanders’ presidential campaign, giving it a much-needed boost in support from people under 80.
The endorsement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: Ocasio-Cortez has been Sanders’ ideological successor since she broke into politics in 2018. The two have co-written bills, held rallies, and stepped in tandem for the past year. Still, Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement is important because it provides two things: security and energy.
Sanders is more than just a candidate, he’s a movement. The policies he’s pushed for years have shaped the Democratic Party’s platform, pushing it further and further to the left. And for the most part, Sanders has done this on his own. He’s been a one-man band, shunned again and again for his willingness to go where no other Democrat will. Because of that, it’s understandably difficult for voters to differentiate between Sanders the man and Sanders the movement.
And now Sanders’ supporters have his health to worry about. He recently suffered a heart attack, and although his recovery has been impressive, his supporters need to know the movement he represents will continue even after he’s not around to fight its battles.
That’s where Ocasio-Cortez comes in. She’s young, capable, and perhaps more extreme than Sanders, at least in some ways. She’s proven she’s willing to take on the Democratic establishment in Congress, and she brings to the movement a social media army and a new liberal caucus led by “the Squad.”
At this point, Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement can only help Sanders. His supporters won’t accuse him of joining hands with someone too radical because, well, it’s that kind of radical change they were attracted to in the first place.
Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, now faces an additional challenge. As the Democratic front-runner, Warren needs to build a coalition of establishment types and leftist outliers. But Ocasio-Cortez is leading the liberal caucus away from her and toward Sanders, deepening the liberal divide.
It’s likely Warren’s campaign expected not to get Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement. She will need to look elsewhere for far-left support. This might not be difficult because liberals are attracted to Warren’s plan-oriented platform that seems more concise and organized than Sanders’. But Sanders-ism is not dead, and it will not die with Bernie’s campaign.
