'It Takes Political Courage'

As of Tuesday morning, I had never heard of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

On Wednesday morning, I saw her on Morning Joe, CBS and CNN, and she was the subject of every other tweet. And why not? Ocasio-Cortez is photogenic, she’s young, she’s Hispanic and she just knocked off the fourth-ranking member in House Democratic Party leadership. 

She has a smile that makes you believe America is going to win every contest it enters. She spent $207,000, all from individual contributions, while Rep. Joe Crowley spent $3.4 million.

This is like the Harrisburg Heat beating Brazil on the pitch.

So why am I not sure whether to congratulate Ocasio-Cortez, or feel sorry for her?

She has a great story: the place she tended bar just one year ago still has her picture on its home page. Ocasio-Cortez also has the positions one would only adopt if they felt free of any expectations of victory.

Medicare for all, free tuition, guaranteed work and housing. In other words, unabashed Socialism. This is big-time stuff.

"I just felt like at this point we have nothing to lose,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview. “We have nothing to lose! And even in a race that just seemed impossible, as it was even three months ago, even on long odds, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.”

It’s these positions that are drawing attention today. Most of them are untenable in the current climate. It’s going to make life very difficult for Ocasio-Cortez and it’s going to put her in the crosshairs of some very nasty people.

Everyone will be coming at her now – from establishment Democrats to lobbyists to opposition Republicans. Some will want to befriend her, some will want to change her, and all will want to use her.

My coffeemaker hadn’t even turned off this morning before Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was already rushing to label Ocasio-Cortez.

“It was a stunning development. The energy in the Democratic Party is self-avowed socialists, open borders," McConnell said. "I think the Democrats are going hard left. If you look at the presidential primary, voters in 2020, it seems to me that like 35 or 40 percent were self-identified socialists so I think it's a general election problem for them in a number of places ... and a real drag on the party in terms of appealing to American voters who I don't think want us to turn into a European Socialist country.”

Ocasio-Cortez Is 28 years old. Twenty-eight years ago, McConnell was on his way to his second U.S. Senate election victory. How is this a fair fight?

Heartwarming Victory

There is definitely something heartwarming in her success. It perfectly captured that moment where all of the bad things I am referencing were swept aside. The purity of a 28-year-old Latina bartender knocking off a 10-term congressman is everything promised in Thomas Jefferson’s vision of America.

Now we wake up to wonder if the rug will be yanked out from beneath us. After all, those demons of democracy were just swept aside, not eliminated.

Ocasio-Cortez is the only one who can deliver on the hope and promise of her place in history. Is she up for this? And are we wrong to expect too much?

"It doesn't take 100 years to do this," she says in her brilliant campaign ad. "It takes political courage."

Indeed it does.

Frankly, maybe I’m afraid to trust her. Twenty-five years ago, I watched “The War Room” and was ready to change the world with Bill Clinton. I can’t remember when and where he disappointed me and maybe he really didn’t (although DOMA was pretty bad).

Maybe it’s just a realization that even good people face wretched ethical choices while trying to accomplish anything in politics. It’s an arena where seemingly everyone has enough money to buy votes and opinions. 

Congress is a place where vision and hope are cruelly stamped out and replaced by cynical survival.

Yesterday, I posted a wonderful line that I keep reading from author Robert Caro describing the late progressive Sen. Paul Douglas’ fight for civil rights: “the hero who had charged up the beach when he was too old to charge up a beach.”

It sounds like Ocasio-Cortez, with all her youthful enthusiasm, wants to be on that beach.

Maybe that should be good enough for now.