When a group of Democratic voters appeared on CNN recently to discuss the direction of their party, one figure who received plenty of praise was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was called the “future” of politics.
“She is the candidate of the future. She has got this down pat. And she has also nailed it as a woman in a male-dominated field,” said Christian Tamte. Tamte joined five other Democrats on CNN’s “New Day” hosted by Alisyn Camerota earlier this week.
“This is how women in the male-dominated fields — we have to work like this all the time,” she added.
“She is the candidate of the future. Get ready for her because she’s coming,” she added.
Democrats Love ‘AOC’
"She is the candidate of the future.": A group of Democratic voters praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a CNN panel discussion of the New York Democrat, citing her boldness and regarding her as the future of their party. https://t.co/TEeJhd3ry8 pic.twitter.com/FxKeOxo19M
— CNN (@CNN) March 6, 2019
The group of voters included Democrats from Ohio, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all of whom voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Tamte wasn’t the only one to praise Ocasio-Cortez. Michael Milisits said ‘AOC,’ “represents the new guard, the new generation (of Democrats).”
“I think she really kind of personifies, you know, where we expected things to go down the line,” Milisits said. He also believes Ocasio-Cortez makes her party “pretty nervous.”
Democrat Mary Reaman said Ocasio-Cortez is “asking the right questions. I don’t feel like she’s playing games. I’m so excited about her.”
“She’s smart. She’s intelligent and I cannot wait to see what else she does,” Reaman added.
Democrats Want New Blood
Alisyn Camerota asked a panel of six Democrats, "How many of you would like to see Joe Biden get in? Show of hands."
No one raised their hands.
"His time is done," said one panelist. https://t.co/WlCE8xj0mJ pic.twitter.com/e55IFCYF8b
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) March 5, 2019
The same group was adamant about not wanting any Democrat retreads.
When host Camerota asked the six members if any would want Joe Biden to run in 2020, no one raised their hand.
“His time is done,” Evans said.
Democrat Russel Banks said, “I will be honest. He was riding the Obama wave and I thought he was a person that would unite the party, but to be honest, Sen. Biden really comes from kind of the good old boy politics of the past,”
“I don’t think Joe Biden represents that new thing that we need. We need a new economy, we need new politics and we need someone different,” Evans added.
They felt the same way about Hillary Clinton.
“I love you, Hillary, I love you, I love you, but stay away,” one group member said. “We are so divided right now that anything that has Hillary on it is automatically going to separate us again.”
“I just think her time is done. I think it’s been — it’s done. We do need something new,” another member said.
Does Something ‘New’ Have to Be Socialist?
This small focus group of Democrat voters makes it clear that they want something new, and not just yesterday’s Democrat names.
But does it have to be a socialist? Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal is straight out of the communist manifesto. There are many problems with more moderate Democrats like Biden and Clinton – but would replacing them with a female Karl Marx be any better?
It’s hard to see how.
A CNN Panel of Democrats called @AOC the "candidate of the future."
Lol, awesome. They might actually stick with this #GreenNewDeal crazy through 2020.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 6, 2019
We will have to wait to see how well a far left candidate might do in both primary and general elections.
We will not have to wait to see how radically extreme the Democratic Party continues to become. It’s happening before our very eyes.
