(Editor’s Note: Hey, how about a bold progressive like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announcing a run against 3rd Congressional District Ron “Wall Street” Kind in 2020? The landscape for corporate democrats is changing. — Mark L. Taylor)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams (6/27/18)
Overcoming a flood of corporate money and New York’s powerful establishment machine with tireless grassroots organizing and an ambitious progressive agenda of Medicare for All, housing as a human right, and abolishing ICE, 28-year-old democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toppled Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district on Tuesday in what is being hailed as the biggest political upset of 2018.
“This is a grassroots victory, this is a testament to the power of organizing, this is a testament to the power of knocking on your neighbor’s door, of picking up a phone, of believing and taking on power even though they say that it cannot be beaten,” Ocasio-Cortez said following her 15-point landslide win. “Anything can be accomplished when we knock on our neighbor’s door and choose to believe and stand up for our values.”
With nearly every vote counted, Ocasio-Cortez defeated Crowley handily, with a margin of 57 percent to 42 percent.
“A young, diverse, and boldly progressive resistance movement isn’t waiting to be anointed by the powers that be.”
“The message that we sent the world tonight is that it is not okay to put donors before your community,” Ocasio-Cortez added in her victory speech late Tuesday. “The message that we sent tonight is that improved and expanded Medicare for All, healthcare for every single person in America is what we deserve as a nation.”
Having never run a political campaign before deciding to take on Crowley—a Wall Street favorite viewed by many as the likely successor of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—Ocasio-Cortez was virtually unknown on the national stage until a viral campaign video and progressive journalists committed to covering her effortsbrought widespread attention to her working-class background and inspiring message.
Even though Crowley outraised her by a 10-1 margin and secured the endorsements of New York Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign demonstrated that the barriers thrown up by the corporate-political establishment can be overcome with a “strong grassroots movement of organizers” and a bold platform.
He had everything he needed but one thing: The people
“He had the machine. He had the money. He had the power,” wrote the advocacy group People for Bernie, highlighting the political figures and well-known organizations that dutifully lined up behind Crowley. “We had the people. Now we have the power. And we’re here to stay… Welcome to the political revolution.”
As prominent political pundits scrambled to learn about Cortez after ignoring her campaign and message for months, MoveOn.org’s elections mobilization director Matt Blizek said the democratic socialist’s victory should be a wake-up call to all complacent Democrats who believe that young progressives will stand by and let the status quo go unchallenged.
“A young, diverse, and boldly progressive resistance movement isn’t waiting to be anointed by the powers that be,” Blizek declared in a statement Tuesday night. “Americans from all walks of life who demand change are taking reins of power and showing the Democratic Party what its future looks like.”
Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, argued in a statement that Ocasio-Cortez’s victory should be attributed to her energetic and “bold campaign built on substance.”
“She ran in the interest of the people, not corporate developers—Medicare for All, the abolition of ICE, affordable housing, a federal jobs guarantee, wages working families can live and thrive on—these are the needs of the working people of New York’s 14th, and Alexandria presented a bold set of proposals to serve those needs.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s upset win in Tuesday’s primary all but guarantees that she will become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress—an achievement that she said is just the beginning.
“This is the start of a movement,” Ocasio-Cortez declared on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “Thank you all.”
(This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.)
*****
Time To Get Creative! How A Ragtag Group Of Socialist Filmmakers Produced One Of The Most Viral Campaign Ads Of 2018
By Zaid Jilani
The Intercept (6/5/18)
BRONX ACTIVIST AND community organizer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is challenging longtime New York Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in his primary on June 26. By all measures, the former Bernie Sanders organizeris an underdog, going up against the powerful chair of the House Democratic Caucus who has more than $1.6 million in cash on hand (Ocasio-Cortez has raised around $200,000).
But in a social media-focused campaign video released on May 30, Ocasio-Cortez sought to turn this money gap into a liability for Crowley — telling a story about her life and the lives of thousands of other working-class New Yorkers who continue to be squeezed by the high cost of health care, education, and housing.
“This race is about people versus money,” Ocasio-Cortez says in the ad. “We’ve got people. They’ve got money.”
Within a day, the video had over 300,000 views. …
Link to Story and 2-Minute Campaign Video
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Time For Someone To Move On, Nancy! Negative Pelosi Tries To Rain On Ocasio-Cortez’s Parade
“So incredibly weak.”
(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2017. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link toe www.thecommonercall.org )