Opinion: AOC is now the face of the Progressive movement. But she won’t be the one to carry them to victory.
2016 was perhaps the most pivotal year for modern Progressives.
Really, all of the elections since then have been successful for Progressives. In 2018, a number of Progressives were elected to Congress, including the 4 listed above.
2020 also saw new progressives win House seats, such as Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Mondaire Jones (D-NY).
Progressives at this stage, are far better than they were in 2014, from a political standpoint.
They are gradually growing to rival the centrist wing of the Democratic Party, and have very strong support among young people: the next generation of voters.
Medicare for All has become a mainstream idea, supported by over 60 percent of Americans, most popularized by Bernie’s 2016 campaign. Although he came up short in the primary, the number of young people inspired to enter into politics and social justice from that campaign, is going to have a multi-generational impact on grassroots efforts.
Looking at the 2014 Democratic Party, when it came to famous Democrats, Obama was about as “progressive” as it got.
Turning Tides
But now, you have a number of progressives’ whose names are becoming increasingly known throughout the country.
If you asked me in 2018 who the face of the progressive movement was, I’d probably say there weren’t any. Bernie was the biggest name at the time, but he knew progressives’ work wouldn’t be done by the time he passes. He is already 79 years old.
Nowadays, there is a clear face for the movement, with a powerful voice.
A name that is either loved or hated by many, despite only being in her 2nd Congressional term: AOC.
AOC undoubtedly gets the most buzz and media coverage of any Progressive, especially now that Bernie Sanders isn’t running for President.
To right-wing media, she is the absolute boogeyman of US politics. There are thousands of Americans right now that believe AOC wants America to be a communist country, in which white males are slaves and the kids are being brainwashed.
To traditional Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi, she is mainly a thorn in the side of the party, causing infighting in an already polarized system.
And to her supporters, she serves the role to move the Democratic Party left, in the same regard that the Republican Party has moved right in recent years.
Her numbers on social media, especially Twitter, are one of the highest for politicians. Her tweets get over 150k likes on a bad day. She’s only 31 years old, too. It naturally seems like she has a very bright future in politics.
If there ever is a progressive President, though, I’m doubtful it will be her.
AOC Is Bound For Greater Things, Just Not The Presidency
Logically, we don’t need to wait another 20 to 30 years to have a progressive President. In 2016 and 2020, the 2nd place finisher out of over a dozen candidates was a progressive. And despite Joe Biden winning the election, Bernie fared better against Trump in polling than Biden did (before Sanders conceded).
Had Sanders gotten the nomination, we likely would have had a progressive President. His consistency in his views over time and his fighting for the working class even drew in independents like commentator Joe Rogan, someone who is more libertarian-right than libertarian-left. But it was that authenticity, that differentiation from your textbook politician, that really made people listen.
AOC will technically be old enough to run for President in 2024 (she would be 35 by the time she took office), however, must vie a run for her in 2028 or 2032, if that’s what she has in mind.
Her importance in politics has continuously skyrocketed from the day she was sworn in for her first term.
If she ran, she presumably would do the same as Sanders did with his campaign, and place a donation cap that blocks large corporate donors, and encourages grassroots donations. Under this format, she wouldn’t have trouble funding her campaign. There’s a chance she’d even outraise all her opponents.
But here’s the real challenge of an AOC Presidential Run:
Approval ratings.
Approval ratings span multiple groups, and while said ratings amongst young Democrats is favorable, her national favorability is considerably low, at a little over 30 percent.
As a representative, this doesn’t matter, because all you need is your district’s approval to keep your job.
But when running for President, you need to be able to pull voters in from across the aisle.
AOC’s greatest strength is educating young people and getting them engaged in ongoing issues. Her posts are meant to strike a chord in a way that encourages activism for change.
But to strike this chord, they often rely on anger. And to her credit, there is absolutely reason to be angry about the issues she fights for. The criminally low wages of millions, the detainment crisis of children at the border, lack of police reform.
However, in the context of such a divided nation, that approach is becoming increasingly tiresome to many, reflecting a pattern of why tensions between various groups are as high as they are now.
When people think of Progressives, they may think of someone that just wants everyone to live happily with their needs met. And though I believe at the end of the day AOC wants an America free from violence and hate, portraying that message on the scale of a Presidential race, combined with low approval ratings and the inevitable disparaging by media, will likely prove too much to win an electoral vote.