If you think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will save the Democratic Party, think again.
Hitching their wagon to such a leftist firebrand will take Democrats even farther away from the American mainstream to which they must return. It would be the biggest mistake Democrats could make and the biggest gift they could give Republicans.
Since last November, Democrats have struggled to find a strategy, message and messenger. Trump’s executive-power blitz has only added to party frustration that they lack the legislative leverage with which to counter it.
Democrats’ fury peaked in the last fight over annual funding. House Democrats held almost completely united against the Republicans’ spending bill. They believed such unity set the stage for a successful stand in the Senate, where the filibuster gave them the means to shut down the government, blocking Republicans’ spending bill and momentum.
Initially, it looked like Democrats would indeed use the filibuster’s leverage. Then, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reversed himself. He and nine other Democrats voted to end the filibuster and support the Republicans’ spending bill.
Leftist Democrats were apoplectic at Senate Democrats’ betrayal, and Ocasio-Cortez was among the most vocal. “There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal," she said. "And this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board — the entire party."
She is also among the most vocal as a possible future party leader.
Ocasio-Cortez sets leftist hearts aflutter. She is perfectly placed, residing in Schumer’s state — he is up for re-election in 2028. She’s the perfect contrast to Schumer: her young to his old; her ultra-left to his Democratic establishment; her woman to his man. She could also raise big money and garner high-profile endorsements.
However, Ocasio-Cortez also has personal issues. Her diva-ing down in a designer dress for the $35,000-per-ticket Met gala a few years ago raised ethics questions — and even bigger ones about her level of attention-seeking and her personal judgment. Her latest foible is a notable $4,500 expended from her office budget for dance classes.
And of course, there were the accusations about her faking an accent at her 2024 Democratic National Convention appearance, a prime political opportunity that she would have slam-dunked by just being her usual left-wing self.
There is also her district, known for high crime and described as akin to a “Third World” country, yet Ocasio-Cortez has been light on her attention to its needs. Do you think political bases can’t be a liability? Ask Gov. Gavin Newsom about California, or Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about San Francisco.
And finally, there are her positions on issues. One need look no further than the Green New Deal (which would cost from $52 trillion to $93 trillion) and past membership in the Democratic Socialists of America to tag her with extremism that won’t, as they say, “play in Peoria” — or virtually anywhere between America’s two left coasts.
Deeper still, but so far unexplored, is Ocasio-Cortez’s decision-making. This may be the most damning problem of all for someone touted as a future party leader.
Recall that just a short time ago, she was demanding that the Senate get rid of the filibuster. But with the recent spending bill in the Senate, Ocasio-Cortez was all for using the filibuster. So, which is it?
Peering even more deeply into the recent funding fight, Ocasio-Cortez would have had Democrats vote against the Republican bill, thereby shutting down the government. It would have been a purely Democrat-triggered shutdown — no ambiguity at all about which party did it.
The House had already passed the funding bill. President Trump was ready to sign it. Senate Republicans were ready to send it to him, with only Ocasio-Cortez’s desired filibuster potentially standing in their way.
What would her exit plan have been — in real time — for getting out of that? Could she have explained this to America?
What would Ocasio-Cortez have done if the nine Democrats who ultimately voted for the bill had still desired to do so? Would she have thrown them under the bus? Threatened them with primaries? Would she have tried to force them to toe her ultra-left line?
Look at where those senators were from: Five come from swing states, and their seats could potentially go Republican.
Leadership is about real, hard decisions, not just red-hot rhetoric. Being a leader means making decisions, not just for yourself, but for those you lead. Is Ocasio-Cortez ready to make such decisions? More importantly, are Democrats ready for her to be making decisions for them?
Democrats need less Ocasio-Cortez, not more. Liberals are America's smallest ideological group (just 23 percent of 2024 voters, according to Gallup), yet they make up more than half (54 percent) of Democrats. The party’s problem is that its majority is a tiny ideological minority — a recipe for electoral failure.
Yet Democrats keep doubling down on their most extreme positions, even to the point of fighting against stronger immigration enforcement and promoting transgenderism.
Not only are liberals taking over the Democratic Party, but their liberals are also moving more and more to the left. Choosing their most leftist members, such as Ocasio-Cortez, to lead their party would be Democrats’ biggest mistake and Republicans’ biggest windfall.
J.T. Young is the author of the recent book, “Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America’s Socialist Left” from RealClear Publishing and has over three decades’ experience working in Congress, the Department of Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, and representing a Fortune 20 company.
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