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By Sydney Ember
WICHITA,
Kan. — Less than four weeks after she stunned the political
establishment with an upset victory in a New York House primary,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stepped out onto the national campaign stage
for the first time Friday, an emerging star of the insurgent left
bringing her message to the heartland.
She
joined the white-haired lion of the progressive movement, Senator
Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for two rallies for House candidates in
Kansas districts that Democrats hope to wrest from Republicans in the
fall.
“Change takes courage,” she told a packed auditorium at a downtown convention center here. “Change takes guts.”
“What
you have shown me, and what we will show in the Bronx, is that working
people in Kansas share the same values — the same values — as working
people anywhere else,” she said.
It was a message that had carried Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 28, to victory in New York last month and all but assured her election to Congress in a heavily Democratic district in Queens and the Bronx. And whether establishment politicians like it or not, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist, is now rushing to transport her unapologetically left-wing message to other parts of the country.
On
Friday she shared the energy with the 76-year-old Mr. Sanders, who came
on stage after her to deafening cheers, telling the crowd, “Whether you
live in Vermont or the Bronx or Kansas, we share common hopes and
aspirations that are much greater than the superficial differences that
may separate us.”
But
even those who came primarily to see Mr. Sanders were aware of Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez and her message. Many had seen her on social media and
television and said they were inspired by her youth and enthusiasm.
Nicholas
Beddow, 25, a preschool teacher wearing a vintage “Bernie for
President” T-shirt, said he hadn’t heard of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez until she
won her primary, but now was a full-throated supporter. “She’s very
strong,” he said.
The fact that she is young, he said, “carries the progressive message further.”
He
said he felt that message could resonate, even in an area labeled the
Bible Belt. “I’m thinking we can give it a blue buckle right in the
middle,” he said.
That could be a tough sell in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat
to Congress in a decade. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Sanders were
campaigning here and in Kansas City, Kan., on Friday in support of two
candidates, Brent Welder and James Thompson, who are running
progressive, grass-roots campaigns in districts Democrats consider
winnable. She is also planning campaign stops in the coming days in
Missouri and Michigan.
The trip to
Kansas is a critical test for whether she and her Bronx-born brand of
Democratic socialism resonate in the heartland — and whether she is
overplaying her hand.
In the weeks
since her primary victory, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has publicly endorsed a
flurry of candidates across the country. On Twitter and in interviews
with the media, she has championed a progressive policy agenda that
includes Medicare for all, tuition-free public college, ending private
prisons and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
While
she has quickly become a political sensation, however, she has also
revealed her inexperience. She provoked some outrage by referring to
Israel’s “occupation” of Palestine, for instance, saying later that she
was “not the expert on geopolitics on this issue.” She incorrectly said
unemployment was low because “everyone has two jobs.”
And on Saturday, in a move that risks alienating Democrats in the House
even before she arrives on Capitol Hill, she plans to campaign in St.
Louis with Cori Bush, who is running to unseat Representative William
Lacy Clay, a popular nine-term Democrat and a founding member of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
Still,
her appearance in Kansas alongside Mr. Sanders was the clearest
indication yet that she views herself as one of progressivism’s next
ambassadors — and that far-left Democrats, at least, see her as a key
player in the party’s effort to retake the House.
“If
there was a better way to say it’s the highest, the best, the number
one event we’ve ever had, I would,” Mr. Thompson said in an interview
the day before Friday’s rally. If candidates can show that even Kansas
“can be changed running on progressive principles,” he added, “then it’s
possible anywhere.”
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Later
Friday, in another convention center some 200 miles away, Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez again worked to fire up an enthusiastic, sweaty crowd on a
humid night, speaking with more confidence than she had in the
afternoon.
“We know enough to reject the stereotype that people in the Midwest do not care about their brothers and sisters,” she said.
Conservatives
in the state have taken notice of the support for progressive ideas
that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Sanders have championed. Earlier this
week Mr. Trump tweeted support
for Mr. Welder’s Republican opponent, Kevin Yoder. And Mr. Thompson’s
opponent, Ron Estes, the incumbent, sounded the alarm on the Wichita
rally even as it was taking place.
“At
this very moment self-described socialists Bernie Sanders and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are hosting a rally in Wichita for Kansas
Democrats,” he wrote in an email to supporters. “Their goal is
ambitious, extreme and dangerous.”
Despite
all the enthusiasm surrounding Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, many establishment
Democrats have bristled at the suggestion that the far-left ideas
espoused by her and Mr. Sanders represent the party’s position. And they
reject the notion that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory last month over
Joseph Crowley, the fourth-ranking House Democrat, signaled a
fundamental dissatisfaction with the party’s aging leaders.
Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez’s swift rise has also exposed divisions in the party over
whether the insurgent candidates can capture victories across the
country in general elections, against Republicans.
“Her election in November would make it harder for Congress to stop fighting and start fixing problems,” he wrote.
Some
political strategists question whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s presence in
districts vastly different from hers will turn off, rather than
invigorate, voters.
“I would hope
that she would keep her eye on the critical need to elect a House
Democratic majority to stop Donald Trump and allow and trust candidates
to run their campaigns in a way that results in the majority that we
need,” said Steve Israel, a former chair of the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee and longtime New York representative. “There’s an
important role for her to play in progressive districts, and with
vitally needed base voters. But a message that resonates in some
districts could seem out of tune in others.”
But
supporters of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic socialism have primarily
exhibited a sense of optimism — in her, in her star power, in the
progressive message generally — since her victory. They note that Mr.
Sanders won the 2016 presidential primaries in both Kansas and Michigan
and hope they can build on that energy.
They
also point to the fact that many Democratic candidates have embraced
key pieces of the progressive policy agenda, including Medicare for all
and a higher minimum wage.
For his
part, Mr. Sanders has said he sees Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s success as proof
that his progressive message is not only spreading, but winning. (He did
not endorse Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.)
The
same goes for Michigan, where Ms. Ocasio-Cortez will campaign next
weekend with Abdul El-Sayed, a former director of Detroit’s health
department, who is running for governor. Inspired by her message and
campaign style, Dr. El-Sayed first connected with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on
Twitter. He now hopes he can one day tell his young daughter about the
night “Auntie Alexandria” won in New York.
“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s win is a validation point,” he said in an interview. “She showed us how it’s done.”
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