The squad’s youngest radical, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., recently did what few Democrats have been brave enough to do, when she reached out to her 8.1 million followers to speak with voters in her New York 14th congressional district—who surprisingly voted for Donald Trump as well as for her and down ballot Dems. For a working-class former bartender progressive who just watched her own party get slayed, AOC showed us all what an honest postmortem looks like.
In 2020, Trump grabbed 22% of the vote in AOC’s district compared to Joe Biden’s 77%. In the new MAGA era, Harris underperformed—support for Trump surged 33% while support for Harris dropped to 65%. AOC went on social media and said, “Let’s do this right now. If you voted for Donald Trump and me, or if you voted for Donald Trump and voted Democratic down ballot, I would really love to hear from you.” Using an Instagram questionnaire, she told her followers, “I actually want to learn from you, I want to hear what you were thinking.” Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should take notes.
Voters told AOC: “You both are outsiders compared to the rest of DC… I wanted change so I went with Trump… Both of you push boundaries… Trump and you care for the working class… Trump and you are both real… You focused on real issues people are about—similar to Trump populism in some ways… You signaled change—Trump signaled change… Trump sounds more like you.” She fielded incoming messages from her own followers that likened her to Trump for reasons most might not pay attention to, but that surely would’ve left AOC’s head spinning.
Economic stagnation, the war in Gaza, and a deepening wrong track sentiment reflected in an NPR/PBS/Maris poll which found 56% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats were dissatisfied with their current leaders were also among the themes conveyed to AOC. Van Jones recently said the mainstream media got “outflanked,” while AOC’s constituents highlighted striking similarities between her and a candidate whose policy mandates could not be more opposed. It reveals a disaffected electorate searching for scarce common ground shared by two of our most polarizing political personalities, which should teach all of us something about our nation’s psyche writ large.
What it reveals is that no matter how extreme a candidate’s position, folks are so disgusted with the fake status quo of both parties that following a strong and authentic leader means more than agreeing with what that leader stands for. They’d rather root for authenticity than agree. It speaks to a deeper hunger for something more basic—they just want to believe the person. That’s how bad things are. You are witnessing the consequences of a mainstream media that has lost its authority in the eyes of the population, parties that have under-delivered for too long, and a sea of voters who have walked out of the allegory cave and are now left to rely upon their senses sans shadows—what they see and hear means more than what talking heads tell them is important. It’s that simple.
Patronizing media has lost its role, and so, the strong man/strong woman effect is taking form. Don’t call it Hitleresque, but do call it a populist revolt—it definitely is that. Demonizing Trump as a fascist didn’t work any more than calling AOC a lunatic did. Trump figured out a long time ago that calling out his enemies as fakes was the best way to shore up his own authenticity. It would seem AOC is just now making that discovery herself, but at least she dared to seek out those answers from those who supported her nemesis.
I am reminded by something my guy Mitchell Jackson wrote after Trump won in 2016, wherein he articulated a seething sense of anger for the raw number of Americans who cast a vote for Trump. It made me adjust my lens and search for my own blind spots, as I have always framed my presidential priorities around national defense and the economy, rooted in a philosophical holding that without those things, nothing else is really possible. We had four years of Trump’s policies to reflect upon. We were safer and more prosperous without a doubt. He passed the First Step Act when his Democrat predecessors refused to. He set up continuous funding for the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and when his Democrat predecessor refused to. Trump’s economy was booming for all segments of the national fabric, right?
Now I look ahead to what will be and think about what a conversation with Mitch, my mentor Randall Horton, and other justice-impacted academics might sound like as inflation drops, troops come home, less war machine weapons become used abroad, Middle East peace expands, and prosperity for all escapes the chokehold of leftist policy prescriptions. I don’t think indemnification of the police means what most fear it does—it’s about immigration enforcement, folks. If I needed a President to pass my litmus test for equality, I’d not have wanted JFK or his southern fried replacement any more than you, as neither seemed too concerned with fairness under the law while riots raged.
60’s era Democrats only very reluctantly supported civil rights, and only did so after using secret state power to persecute each of the nation’s civil rights leaders, who eventually wound up shot to death while being under FBI surveillance. Does anybody remember Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X., and George Jackson—and both of the Kennedy brothers? Trump came very close to joining them. I think in four years we are going to have a different view of things. I sure hope so.
Give me a safer street and cheaper gas—let’s start there.
“Give me a safer street and cheaper gas – let’s start there.”
That’s a good place to start. But there’s so much more coming. Trump has the popular vote behind him so this time it will be the will of a majority of the people as well as majorities in the Senate, House and a conservative leaning SCOTUS which will stop any Democrat attempts at impeachment or lawfare that they used in the past.