Author: Eliza Collins / Source: USA TODAY
During a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, the freshman congresswoman from New York pointed out a lack of ethical standards for the President of the United States. USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive superstar who has captured an enthusiastic following, disputed charges from moderate Democrats that she is making it harder for them to win re-election in 2020.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a deep blue district, told USA TODAY that she hasn’t used her platform to call out individual Democrats for not signing onto the progressive policies she champions.
“I haven’t put pressure on them specifically,” the New York Democrat said Friday. “We have an opportunity right now to have a national conversation and to move the entire country and raise the consciousness of the entire country to a better place. I’m not speaking to that member to change, I’m speaking to their districts, and I’m trying to have a conversation with the electorate.”
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Rifts within parties are nothing new. During their eight years in the majority, Republicans dealt with the rise of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers that pulled legislation to the right. Moderate Republicans who lost their seats in November are still bitter. And there’s President Donald Trump, who – like Ocasio-Cortez – uses Twitter to speak directly to his base, often sending members of his party scrambling to keep up.
Democrats have not been immune either. Liberals and moderates battled in the early 2000s over how to shape policy – including what became the Affordable Care Act. Then Democrats, many of them moderates, were wiped out in the 2010 election. Now they’re back in power, thanks to dozens of Democrats who won in red and purple districts. Those representatives want to hold onto their seats, but they’re fighting to separate themselves from a progressive wing of the party that has become expert at using social media to draw attention to their policies.
USA TODAY talked to more than a dozen Democratic members, aides and strategists across the political spectrum and found there is broad agreement on the need to expand background checks for gun owners, protect immigrants and combat climate change. But some moderates say that the approach Ocasio-Cortez has taken on these topics has been unrealistic and it has left little room for the bipartisan compromise they promised voters during midterm campaigns.
They are also irritated at Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to use her personal platform – nearly 3.5 million followers on Twitter and a nationwide following – to go after members of her own party. Even House progressives who like her policies don’t know what to make of her approach.
Some members who went on the record declined to address Ocasio-Cortez specifically. Other aides and members asked for anonymity to speak candidly because they didn’t want to be seen as promoting stories about fractures in the party. Some were nervous about being on the receiving end of criticism from Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters.
Courage looks different
After a group of moderate Democrats broke with their party on an immigration-related gun measure last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded them behind closed doors. She urged members to be courageous and stick with their party.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a deep blue district, took it a step further. She warned lawmakers that she had alerted left-wing activists that 26 members had voted with Republicans, according to two aides who were…
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