‘Top Democrats’ Want AOC to Challenge Chuck Schumer: Report – By The Political Insider Staff (Lifezette) / June 11 2019
Could young firebrand Ocasio-Cortez actually take the longtime New York senator’s seat in the not-too-distant future?
A report from the news outlet Axios says “top Democrats” want Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to continue her war against the Establishment of her party by challenging one of the two senators in her home state of New York: Sen. Chuck Schumer or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Axios is saying Schumer would be the more likely target.
The Senate minority leader more often sides with moderate Democrats than with progressives.
On the other hand, Gillibrand could be a more vulnerable candidate given her poor primary performance thus so far.
Another factor: Gillibrand won’t be up for re-election until 2024.
Schumer will be in 2022, which could be more to AOC’s liking.
https://twitter.com/AIIAmericanGirI/status/1138135015194267651
But there are other concerns. The Daily Wire notes:
There are drawbacks. Even if Ocasio-Cortez is planning to move on to bigger and better things, she’ll need a base of support she currently lacks.
National popularity is one thing, but a Senate run will require the attention of every voter in New York State, and Ocasio-Cortez is only popular with voters in and around Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Those might be key constituencies for a Senate run, but they by no means guarantee a victory for a first timer.
And as far as Ocasio-Cortez is concerned, they are also by no means hers to fall back on.
She’s popular in her home district but not particularly effective, and has yet to open a constituent office from Bronx residents, preferring to focus her attention less on local needs and more on building a national progressive movement.
Ocasio-Cortez’s Communications Director Corbin Trent told Axios, “Having worked on her campaign, I don’t think we’re going to be moving to a different role any time soon.”
Still, anything can happen in four years — particularly if enough Democrats want it to.
AOC could run for Senate next – and might run against Chuck Schumer in a primary to make the jump https://t.co/ApYjjYvmhX
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 10, 2019
The ongoing battle between Democrat moderates and the “socialist” Left of the party represented by Ocasio-Cortez — along with fellow congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and 2020 presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
A takedown of Schumer would show how far Left the Democrats have become more than anything Ocasio-Cortez has accomplished to date.
Stay tuned.
https://www.lifezette.com/2019/06/top-democrats-want-aoc-to-challenge-chuck-schumer-report/
