A split in the Democratic Party has developed. New Socialist U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has taken no time in rocking the left-wing boat led by establishment politicians Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Since day one, she stated that the policies were not progressive enough. This week she made fun of former vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman’s age. As she tries to pull the party further to the left, the Democrats will not be the only ones suffering.
Lieberman who has not been in the news much lately made an appearance on Fox News Business and interviewed on Neil Cavuto Coast to Coast. Lieberman offered a sharp rebuke of AOC as she also is known. He said that she was not the future of the liberal caucus and if she was the party was over.
This did not sit well with Ocasio-Cortez. She replied to him via Twitter saying, ”New party, who dis?” With 2.2 million Twitter followers it is easy to see how she will create a divide in the party. If she continues down this road, she will not become an effective leader. AOC will alienate herself and become ineffective.
It appears that Ocasio-Cortez believes that she is the new Democratic Party. At least she is honest about who she is and her intentions. Her openness also exposes her ignorance. 76 percent of respondents in a Hill.TV/HarrisX poll would not vote for a socialist political candidate. If this polling is accurate, then she will be alienated by the majority of her side of the aisle. Not to mention her attitude towards older left-wing lawmakers is pushing her into a room by herself.
As President Trump has changed the dynamic of the Republican Party, it seems that AOC is trying to change the Democratic Party. Is she trying to emulate Trump by responding to criticism on Twitter? By being very vocal? Or pushing back on the norms? I do not know, but it certainly seems that way.
She is a danger to America’s values of individualism, self-reliance, a strong military presence, liberty, the Constitution, freedom, and a limited federal government. All of these qualities built this nation into what it is. If we go in the opposite direction, America as we know it will no longer exist.
AOC told Anderson Cooper in an interview that those making over $10 million a year should be taxed at 70-percent to support her “New Green Deal” aimed at lowering carbon emissions. But she did not explain how it is moral for the government to take 7 million dollars from someone making $10 million and leaving them with only $3 million. Taxes are a classic slippery slope. First, high taxes are marginal until liberals move the outrageous rates onto the middle class.
The Democratic Party has been creeping to the left over time. They have made slow, methodical moves that cover up the reality of their intentions. To describe this, I like this analogy: When you place a frog in a pot of cold water, he is likely to stay because it is comfortable for him. If the water was boiling, he would not stay in but quickly jump out. But if you slowly heat the water over time, the frog will eventually cook to death and not realize it.
The Democratic Party has slowly been burning up our rights, freedom, and liberty for a while and most Americans have not noticed because of the slow heating. AOC entered the House of Representatives and immediately cranked up the heat to a boil. Now, the Democrat establishment is playing damage control.
The more she pushes against their wishes - because they are not radical enough - the better off we are as a country due to internal fighting. A civil war between the radicals and establishment is sure to irritate the moderate Democratic electorate, either discouraging them or giving them a sense of apathy towards the party.
The media has made Ocasio-Cortez the face of the Democrats since her swear-in. She is propped up daily, and this seems to fuel her fire. However, go ahead and keep doing it. America needs to believe she is the left-wing party. Her ridiculous statements about morals being more important than facts, inability to explain simple economics – despite her being an economics major- and failure to disclose how to realistically come up with trillions and trillions of dollars for socialized healthcare is a plus for Republicans.
Ocasio-Cortez has created a splinter in the Democratic Party within a week. Now the leaders must play damage control and figure out how to deal with a media propped socialist. The scramble is going to be entertaining to watch. The fallout, however, will be more interesting to see.