Tipsheet

Will AOC Run for President in 2028?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 29, 2024 6:30 PM

While polls of Democratic primary voters have been showing that they supposedly want Vice President Kamala Harris to run again, there's a new name out there, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a member of the far-left Squad. 

On Friday morning, The Hill put out an analysis of potential 2028 Democratic candidates, with Harris topping that list of seven candidates, and AOC closing it out. As their blurb on the congresswoman read:

When Democrats talk about the future of the party, the 35-year-old New York congresswoman’s name always bubbles to the top.

Democrats have long been impressed with Ocasio-Cortez’s ability to “cut through the BS and tell it like it is,” the second Democratic strategist said.

“She’s somebody who can cut through the noise and doesn’t talk like Washington.”

Democrats say Ocasio-Cortez would be a magnet for young voters and would have little trouble using social media, podcasts and other online tools, as she has been doing since she was elected to Congress in 2018.

While Ocasio-Cortez was once aligned with progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), she has since backed more centrist candidates.

Still, some Democrats say she still represents a more leftist wing of the party to some voters, something that could hurt her if she pursues higher office.

“She and the ‘squad’ started pushing too hard, too fast,” the first strategist said. “D.C. doesn’t work that way. And our party doesn’t work that way. We need to get back to the basics.”

The congresswoman is indeed young, which might explain why she's considered "the future of the party," but she, and the Squad as a whole, also represent the far-left, radical wing of the Democratic Party. With such a "future," Democrats can very well expect to lose and keep losing. 

While the article relies on unnamed Democratic strategists, it's also worth reminding that Democratic strategist James Carville has been at odds with AOC and other progressives when it comes to Democrats losing. This includes the 2021 gubernatorial race in Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin beat former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe. 

The Democratic Party also has to reckon with their antisemitism. Harris ultimately picked Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, despite how it seemed all but certain she would pick Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), the popular and moderate (enough) sitting governor of Pennsylvania. Harris lost the commonwealth, though, in addition to the six other swing states. Shapiro is also Jewish. While there's reports that he had a bad interview with Harris and didn't want to leave to be someone's number two, it can't be ignored that progressives were calling for Harris to pick someone else, including Walz, over Shapiro. 

Recommended

Trump Social Media Advisor Alex Bruesewitz Takes Down Democrat 'Influencer' David Hogg Over Walz Pick Rebecca Downs
Did Rashida Tlaib Have the Worst Thanksgiving Day Post? Rebecca Downs

AOC herself plays a role in the antisemitism, as she was called out early last week for blaming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for Democrats losing. Such a post of hers further highlighted Democrats in disarray, as Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who primaried President Joe Biden for the 2024 cycle before he was forced out by his fellow Democrats, chimed in to call out the congresswoman. 

It's also worth looking to where AOC actually stands in those polls showing a plurality want Harris as their nominee. An Emerson College poll released this week showed that 37 percent of Democratic primary voters picked Harris, while 35 percent were undecided, and AOC, just like six other candidates, had only 1 percent support. 

The week before, an Echelon Insights poll showed Harris with 41 percent support, while 16 percent were unsure. AOC did slightly better than the Emerson College poll, though she still only enjoyed 4 percent support, with five candidates plus the "undecided" option polling better than her. 

Such speculation over AOC possibly running has been a trending topic over X on Friday, with conservative users actually expressing hope that AOC will indeed run, especially with how easy to beat she's perceived to be. 

Joe Concha shared his predictions for the Electoral Map if AOC is the Democratic nominee, with Vice President-elect JD Vance as the the Republican nominee winning by 359-179.

Of course, this is merely speculation. It's also worth reminding that there has been fawning over AOC since before she had even completed her first term, and when she wasn't even yet old enough to be eligible to run. "AOC for president? The buzz has begun," read the headline for a POLITICO post in December 2019. She's also had to make clear she wasn't running for the U.S. Senate this cycle, after there was speculation she'd primary Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. 

Chatter over AOC, or any candidate that isn't Harris, is likely out there because Democrats know they can't nominate this year's failed nominee once more. Harris has yet to ever win a single primary vote, given that she dropped out in December 2019, before any 2020 primary contests were held, and was installed as the nominee in July, after Biden dropped out and quickly endorsed her. 

On Monday, POLITICO put out a piece highlighting how Harris hadn't closed the door to running again in 2028, or running for governor of California On Tuesday night, the DNC released a video message of Harris appearing intoxicated, which led to speculation that they were putting such a video out there when they did to end her political career.