A Political Warrior…Or a political calculator??

In June 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lit up the night sky like a flash of lightning from a coming thunderstorm that would drench the parched political landscape.

Only 27,658 votes were cast during her primary election. It’s a pitifully small number considering that the NY-14 congressional district represents approximately 715,000 constituents. NY-14th represents a very BLUE voting populous so the primary election IS the election.

Still, that small number of voters wielded an amazingly large amount of power in determining representation.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (or ‘AOC’ for those of us whose mouths don’t move fast or fluidly enough to say her name) received 15,897 votes at a cost of $7.29 per vote.

Her incumbent opponent, Joe Crowley, received 11,761 votes at a cost of $238.47 per vote.

Let that sink in for a moment. That means that Crowley spent over 32 times the amount that AOC did per vote. That number validates a rallying cry of the campaign: “They’ve got the money…WE’VE GOT THE PEOPLE!”

AOC may not have been the cause of the 2018 House of Representatives Democratic realignment, but she was certainly the start of it.

While AOC the NY-14 was not a swing district, her insurgent campaign challenging a status quo, giving hope and belief to so many candidates who wanted to believe that the possible lay before them. Belief in the ability to accomplish precedes the accomplishment itself. So many candidates accomplished victories because their belief in themselves sprang from AOC’s shoestring victory.

A little over a year later, on a crisp Fall day in October, so much has changed.

The power and influence that this congressional representative has gained in such a short period of time is truly phenomenal and unprecedented.

AOC’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders represents a manifestation of this newly gained power and influence. Life IS about timing and this endorsement could not have come at a better time for the Sanders campaign. Many gallons of ink and airtime have been spilled regaling the public with the flaws of Bernie Sanders’ campaign and the candidate himself. AOC saw through that. She saw the principles Bernie Sanders stands for and will fight for. She joins him in that fight because Sanders mirrors her own principles and values . The Sanders campaign knows it has a priceless treasure in her endorsement because AOC is a progressive political warrior.

The March 1st 2016 Massachusetts primary gives clear contrast as to the nature and definition of a political calculator.

Bernie Sanders lost the Massachusetts primary to Hillary Clinton by a little over 17,000 votes or about 3% of the vote. During this primary, Elizabeth Warren remained neutral, choosing not to endorse either Sanders or Clinton. This was even though her volumes of writing spoke to the struggles of the middle class, it was clear that her principles paralled those of Sanders. Still, Warren remained neutral. Warren’s endorsement could have turned the tide for Sanders in this election. It could have turned the tide in the entire nominating process. Bad things happen when good people stand by and do nothing. It was in this moment that Warren moved from being a political warrior to being a political calculator.

While the above may seem harsh and undeserved. I would respond that I don’t hate Elizabeth Warren. Before her transformation, many of her words spoke quite eloquently of the spiraling economic plight of the working class. I am just profoundly disappointed in her and the fact that she lost her grip on the courage of her convictions.

Elizabeth Warren expounds ad nauseum how she, “ …has a plan for that.” Well, a little known political commentator, who didn’t even know he was a political commentator, once said, “Everyone has a plan…until they get punched in the face.”

Whoever finally secures the Democratic nomination is going to get punched in the face ALOT.

In light of the Fall 2020 battle, the question becomes this: who do we want taking up this fight? A progressive political warrior or a political calculator.

• Douglas O. Ricketson…walhfmf