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Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The Star Blows Up

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the Socialist who won the Democrat primary in a New York congressional seat a few weeks back.  She became an instant media celebrity, in particular because of her full throated support for abolishing ICE.  That was the far left mantra of the moment, so it got repeated in a way that only a mantra can.  What made Ocasio-Cortez a star was that she beat a member of the Democrat House leadership in the primary.  Now a few weeks later Ocasio-Cortez is imploding.

First, she's shown herself to be not ready for the campaign trail.  She told Margaret Hoover on PBS that unemployment was down only because people were working two jobs.  That is, of course, wrong; people with two jobs are still counted only once.  Ocasio-Cortez says she has a degree in economics, so it seems strange that she doesn't know basic facts like that.  Then she gave an interview in which she called Israel "occupied Palestine".  When asked to explain the comment, she couldn't and eventually said that geo-politics really isn't her strong suit.  One has to wonder if she doesn't understand foreign policy or economics, why would she want to be in Congress.

Second, she's attacked the Democrat leadership in Washington.  As a Democrat, you expect her to attack Republicans, but it's a surprise that she is so vehement in condemning Washington Democrats as well.

Third, she's drawn some interesting opposition.  Former senator Joe Lieberman came out today in support of the congressman Ocasio-Cortez defeated in the primary.  He is still on the Working Families ticket on the November ballot.  We don't know yet if he will still run, but if he does he might yet win.  The primary had a meager turnout, so a full election day turnout could put him back in Congress.

Fourth, Ocasio-Cortez is courting controversy.  Yesterday, she called for people to occupy all the airports in the USA (as well as some other locations) to show just how seriously they view the separation of children from the parents at the border.  Think about that.  She wants people across the country to have their trips disrupted or prevented because she's angry about a policy that is already stopped.  That won't pull undecided voters to her cause.

The truth is that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is showing herself to be unready for a serious run for Congress.  Given that she's the official Democrat nominee in a district where only Democrats win, she's still likely to end up in Washington.  Her days as a star, however, are over except for the lunatic fringe of the Democrat party.

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