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Revolt, as Old Guard Democrats Whisper of Primary Challenger for Ocasio-Cortez

Revolt, as Old Guard Democrats Whisper of Primary Challenger for Ocasio-Cortez

Last updated on: January 29, 2019 at 8:37 am by Susan Wright

Revolt, as Old Guard Democrats Whisper of Primary Challenger for Ocasio-Cortez 2019-01-29T08:37:22-05:00 Susan Wright

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Well, this takes guts: You recognize a cancer that will lead your party straight to perdition, and you consider how to excise that cancer, rather than to amplify it.

Then again, don’t expect Democrats to openly discuss plans to hamstring one of their so-touted “bright, new stars.”

According to a report in The Hill, newly-seated New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been rubbing many of her Democrat colleagues the wrong way since taking up her new position earlier this month.

It’s to the point that there are whispers of having the New York delegation reach out to potential primary challengers for Ocasio-Cortez from the Bronx or Queens.

The problem, apparently, is that she got to Washington and aligned herself with a radical progressive group that looks to drive out the old guard of Democrats.

As someone who has long opposed the Democrat power structure, I can say the solution is not to make the Democrat party more liberal and oppressive.

Whatever the case, those seasoned Democrat mainstays aren’t pleased with an upstart rocking the boat, who, for all anyone can tell, is as dumb as a sack of rocks.

Really, really dumb rocks.

No, they’re not going to be open about it, but they are talking.

“What I have recommended to the New York delegation is that you find her a primary opponent and make her a one-term congressperson,” the Democratic lawmaker, who requested anonymity, told The Hill. “You’ve got numerous council people and state legislators who’ve been waiting 20 years for that seat. I’m sure they can find numerous people who want that seat in that district.”

It may not be that easy.

Ocasio-Cortez got where she is because she managed to best veteran representative Joe Crowley in a primary race. It was clear she would win the seat in the midterm election, since Republicans in the liberal bastion of New York have little to no real presence.

Many New York and Congressional Black Caucus lawmakers were also furious with Ocasio-Cortez after a recent Politico report stated she and the grass-roots group aligned with her, Justice Democrats, were considering backing a primary challenge to fellow New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, a Black Caucus member and establishment insider who succeeded Crowley as caucus chairman.

She and the group deny those reports, for now, but they’re open about targeting centrist Democrats, such as Texas Representative Henry Cuellar.

They’re stepping on toes in their push to the far left.

It’s still really early in her career to begin rocking the boat, and openly, Democrat lawmakers are taking a measured approach to addressing questions about her.

She’s the Pewdie Pie of Congress, with several million social media followers. She’s a personality, and if 2016 taught us nothing, it’s that the majority of American voters prefer personalities and vague political promises of some new American utopia than they do substantive, serious talk about the issues.

Waleed Shahid, the spokesman for Justice Democrats, suggested that it would be unwise to attempt to primary the young representative.

“Considering she’s more popular and well-known than some of the Democratic presidential contenders, I think whoever challenges her will lose by huge margins,” Shahid said. “It’s a quick way for some D.C. and Wall Street consultants to make some easy money.”

Representative Jeffries has likewise denied that there is tension, or that there have been whispers of scouting for a primary challenger.

“I don’t think that is something the New York delegation would contemplate. As you can see, we are totally united behind each other. … The New York delegation sticks together,” Jeffries told The Hill. He said Ocasio-Cortez denied the news report that she was backing a challenger to him, “so there was nothing to work through. I haven’t seen a primary candidate emerge, so I assume when she denied it, she was correct that there was nothing to it.”

It’s still early. No doubt, these same people publicly saying there has been no talk of a primary challenger understand that there is still time before divulging their hand, if it comes down to that.

Just as Ocasio-Cortez had ambitions to stop slinging drinks in bars and start slinging lies in Congress, however, you have to know she isn’t the only one.

“She’s p*ssing off a lot of people and has probably made a lot of enemies. … A lot of people who are furious with her are Joe’s allies, including some named Crowley,” said the insider, referring to Crowley’s cousin, Elizabeth Crowley, a former New York City councilwoman. “She is a woman. She’s been moving more to the left. She would be someone interesting.”

This is still not a thing, so don’t get excited. Elizabeth Crowley has her eyes on a more local position – borough president of Queens in 2021 – for the time being.

Never say never.

“We believe in primaries as an idea. We’re not upset by the idea of being primaried. We are not going to go out there being anti-primary — they are good for party,” said Corbin Trent, a campaign spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez and a co-founder of Justice Democrats.

“If voters in the district feel that they can be better represented, that will be their choice on primary day,” he continued. “In the meantime, we’re going to be doing our dead-level best to make sure we are representing the needs and the will of our constituents.”

Members of the Hispanic Caucus aren’t pleased with the efforts to push out Cuellar by Ocasio-Cortez and her group, either.

“We’re going to protect our members and we’re going to protect our own. Full stop,” said centrist Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), a former whip for the Hispanic Caucus. “There are plenty of [swing] races and seats that we can play in, and we want to devote our resources to that.”

So this is the song-and-dance that Democrats will do for now. They know they have to handle this particular problem carefully, if they wish to survive.

We’ve seen how easy it is for either party to become a glassy-eyed fan club, rather than a vehicle for sound governance. Neither side can claim to be in a better place than the other.

They’re both wrecked, right now.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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