Thanks to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she's now taken a far left fringe issue like Abolish ICE and bringing it to the fore and causing quite the sense of trouble in paradise for the left heading into November.
It is for this reason and others that poor Chris Cillizza is in the process of vigorously rubbing his worry beads over the effect the Democrat congressional nominee will have on the political fortunes of other Democrats. One odd thing about Cillizza's July 18 article at CNN is that not once is the S-word mentioned despite the fact that Ocasio-Cortez loudly identifies herself as a Democratic SOCIALIST.
Nervous Cillizza expresses his extreme worry about the disastrous effect that Ocasio-Cortez could have on his beloved Democrats in “Democrats should maybe slow their roll on pushing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as their next big star”:
Since her massive upset victory over New York Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley last month, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez has been touted as the fastest-rising star in the Democratic firmament. Potential 2020 presidential contenders seized on her victory as a sign that unapologetic liberalism is where the party is headed. Suddenly would-be national candidates were falling all over themselves to call to abolish ICE. Think pieces over What It All Means -- including in this space -- were launched.
The problem is that, prior to June 27, almost no one outside of New York's 14th District knew who she was. And that, in the following month, very few people who fully embraced her have really done any sort of deep dive into what all she believes.
She believes in socialism, Chris. A word you dared not write in your bill of complaint against her despite her publicly identifying as a Democratic SOCIALIST. Got that, Chris? SOCIALIST:
...Ocasio-Cortez gets herself into trouble when she starts talking about the Middle East and referring to Israelis who have settled in the West Bank as occupiers of Palestine. Hoover follows up, smartly, and Ocasio-Cortez begins to talk about an increase in settlements that makes it more difficult for Palestinians to access "their housing." Sensing that she is making things worse not better, Ocasio-Cortez admits: "I am not the expert on geopolitics on this issue."
Speaking of occupiers, Ocasio-Cortez also called for the occupation by protestors of airports, border crossings, and ICE offices around the country to protest the existence of that agency. Better not tell Chris or the worry over the effect this will have on Democrats become overwhelming for the man at CNN who's the gift that keeps on giving:
Her victory took what was a fringe issue among liberals -- abolishing ICE -- and thrust it into the mainstream. Suddenly New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren were calling for the end of ICE. California Sen. Kamala Harris was insisting the entire organization needed to be overhauled. Ditto Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Lost in that sprint to the ideological left was the fact that Democrats were taking a political winner (the Trump administration's family separation policy) and turning it into a political loser (getting rid of an agency primarily charged with law enforcement, not policy making).
Good work, Alexandria. You have made it so much easier to identify the leftist loonies.
