Is a President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez inevitable?
Whether or not the controversial New York congresswoman ever makes it to the Oval Office, there’s no doubt she will continue to play an increasingly important and public role within the Democrat Party — and the Right would do well to not underestimate her potential to eventually enact the far-left policies she zealously espouses.
Ocasio-Cortez has a number of things in her favor on her path to power. One of the chief among them is time. Elected to Congress at age 29 and now just 32 as she wraps up her second term, the founding member of the progressive “Squad” has decades of life ahead of her — more than enough time to climb the seniority ladder in Congress if she wants to pursue a route that could lead her to the speakership or pursue a similar path to majority/minority leader in the Senate if she decides to run for the seat that will eventually be vacated by the 71-year-old Chuck Schumer.
Either of those paths could culminate in a White House bid. Notably, left-wing political consultant Michael Starr Hopkins recently authored an op-ed at The Hill in which he touted AOC as “Democrats’ best shot against Trump in 2024.”
Calling Ocasio-Cortez “unafraid, unapologetic” and a “force to be reckoned with,” Hopkins argues that the congresswoman has what it takes to go up against Donald Trump in a potential 2024 contest.
Writes Hopkins:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is less of a personality and more of a movement. Yes, the smart, photogenic congresswoman is the face of the rising progressive movement, but she is also the future of the Democratic Party. AOC has cultivated a following beyond politics. She’s an influencer in its purest form. Her ability to relate to her supporters and allow them a glimpse into her private life is a blueprint for Democrats trying to act less like mannequins and more like humans.
… If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the Godfather, Ocasio-Cartez is Michael Corleone. As the architect of Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage and numerous other programs that are now mainstream, Bernie’s place in history has already been solidified. While Sanders may disagree with some of the progressives in his caucus, his worth carries major weight. Bernie passing the torch to AOC and recruiting her to run for president would be bold and would strengthen and solidify her base of supporters before she even gets out of the gate.
He even claims AOC would “embarrass a bully like Donald Trump or Florida governor Ron DeSantis and return some chutzpah to the Democratic Party.”
In reality, 2024 would unlikely be Ocasio-Cortez’s year. With Biden leading the country into inflation and recession, 2024 presents a prime opportunity for the GOP to pick the White House back up, whether it’s Trump or someone else at the top of the ballot.
But that doesn’t mean Hopkins’ points about AOC’s prospects don’t ring true for a future run. Ocasio-Cortez is already one of the most well-known Democrats in the country, and unlike other high-profile members of her party — Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Elizabeth Warren — she isn’t a septuagenarian, or, in Pelosi’s case, an octogenarian.
But what makes AOC dangerous to our constitutional republic if she should ever wield the speakership or the presidency, is that — again, unlike someone such as Pelosi or Schumer — she appears to be a true believer in the faith of progressivism.
With Ocasio-Cortez in the White House or directing Congress, there would be no consideration for moderates, for middle ground, for public opinion, or for midterm elections. She would be completely unafraid to fully exercise all power available to her — and even go beyond the constitutional limits on her power — in order to make her vision of a socialist “utopia” a reality.
This includes going after the Right, which AOC has openly declared to be a threat to our “democracy.” The New York Democrat would show no hesitation to send federal agents to apprehend all of the right-wing “seditionists” and shut down conservative publications for spreading “hate speech” and “disinformation.”
It’s no surprise that AOC from the very beginning has been given glowing media interviews and made the subject of headlines. Clearly, she’s being groomed and cultivated for a future role at the forefront of the progressive movement.
One thing is certain: While the prospect of an AOC presidency is often the butt of jokes, the reality would be no laughing matter and constitutionalists should take all legitimate measures to prevent it from happening.
