Love her or hate her, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents the future of the Democratic Party. Don't take my word for it, Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez said as much last year as the young socialist was gaining popularity. Thus, any endorsement AOC throws around carries some serious weight. It may not always be enough to get the candidate over the finish line, but it does show that more areas are propping up young socialist candidates. In Massachusetts then, it may surprise some readers that AOC decides not to endorse Representative Joe Kennedy III, but his 2020 Senate opponent and incumbent Senator Ed Markey.
"Ed Markey, I know, is one of the strongest progressives that we have in the United States Senate," Ocasio-Cortez said in a Youtube video posted on his campaign website Friday. "And in a time right now, when we have to have conversations not just about holding this administration accountable but changing the Democratic Party for the future, Ed Markey has a very critical role in making sure that climate change, as well as a bevy of other issues -- health care and beyond -- are critical core issues in how we fight for working people and working families in the United States."
As The Boston Globe notes, "The endorsement from Ocasio-Cortez may serve to undercut one of the biggest premises of a Kennedy challenge to Markey: the call for a generational change from Markey, 73, to Kennedy, 39. At 29, Ocasio-Cortez last year became the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress."
Kennedy, of course, is the grandson of the late Robert Kennedy and great-grand nephew President John F. Kennedy.