AOC has just turned 35. Although she is eligible, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people want to avoid voting for someone who would still be under 40.
She might have her own priorities, also, and not want to try too early, because if she gets the nomination and fails, she might not get another one. She seems smart enough to only pick fights she can win. Chuck Schumer is no spring chicken and his term ends in 2028. I could see AOC taking that seat it she wants, serving 2 terms in the Senate, and still be in her early 50’s for a Presidential or VP run.
If Trump has taught us anything, it’s that Americans have a growing appetite for “unconventional” candidates. A 40-year-old waitress from the Bronx is about as far from conventional as Trump (albeit in the opposite direction), but the more time she spends chasing Senate seats and climbing the political ladder, the more dulled that “political outsider” edge gets.
I think she should take a shot at 2028 — or at the very least, run for DNC chair next year. Someone like her directing political strategy would help younger and more progressive Democrats gain ground in local and congressional elections which could finally help shift the party back out of its corporate-sponsored neo-liberal rut and towards actual progressivism.
You’re right, it doesn’t. But if we can transform the party into one that’s focused on running younger and more progressive candidates, then the DNC at large will start to look less like a crusty party of “good old boys” and more like an actual grassroots movement of “outsiders”. That’s what I’d like to see for the future of the DNC and I think AOC would be a good face for that movement.
AOC has just turned 35. Although she is eligible, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people want to avoid voting for someone who would still be under 40.
She might have her own priorities, also, and not want to try too early, because if she gets the nomination and fails, she might not get another one. She seems smart enough to only pick fights she can win. Chuck Schumer is no spring chicken and his term ends in 2028. I could see AOC taking that seat it she wants, serving 2 terms in the Senate, and still be in her early 50’s for a Presidential or VP run.
If Trump has taught us anything, it’s that Americans have a growing appetite for “unconventional” candidates. A 40-year-old waitress from the Bronx is about as far from conventional as Trump (albeit in the opposite direction), but the more time she spends chasing Senate seats and climbing the political ladder, the more dulled that “political outsider” edge gets.
I think she should take a shot at 2028 — or at the very least, run for DNC chair next year. Someone like her directing political strategy would help younger and more progressive Democrats gain ground in local and congressional elections which could finally help shift the party back out of its corporate-sponsored neo-liberal rut and towards actual progressivism.
You have a point, although I don’t exactly think the position of DNC chair screams “I’m an outsider”…
You’re right, it doesn’t. But if we can transform the party into one that’s focused on running younger and more progressive candidates, then the DNC at large will start to look less like a crusty party of “good old boys” and more like an actual grassroots movement of “outsiders”. That’s what I’d like to see for the future of the DNC and I think AOC would be a good face for that movement.
Trump was a celebrity with name recognition. I think there’s more to it than unconventional.