American Thinker:
A Socialist in Trump Country.
After ten-term incumbent Democratic congressman Joe Crowley unexpectedly lost the primary to political newbie democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DNC chair Tom Perez anointed her “the future of the Democratic Party.” Since New York’s 14th Congressional District – which spans the Bronx and Queens – is 29 percentage points more Democratic than the country as a whole, the media had Ocasio-Cortez all but sworn in, and she began jetting around the country to campaign for other democratic socialists.
A local race suddenly became nationalized, and “teevee pundits” on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC unanimously declared that socialism is on the march in CD14. They characterized the district as largely comprising impoverished minorities who were eagerly anticipating a socialist overthrow of our capitalist system.
Well, the teevee pundits don’t know jack about CD14. The district is mixed-race, with stable middle-class neighborhoods of homeowners – including the picturesque City Island, which is often likened to a quaint Cape Cod village. East Bronx Democrats tend to be politically moderate swing voters. In city and state races, the same Democratic officeholders are perennially re-elected, in part because the GOP rarely fields a viable candidate – someone with name recognition, backed with money and organization. But in presidential election years, registered Democrats have crossed party lines – virtually all the precincts Donald Trump carried in the Bronx are in CD14.
Only 14% of the roughly 194,450 Democrats in CD14 turned out to vote in the primary, and Ocasio-Cortez’s margin over Crowley was just 4,136 votes (15,897 to 11,761). Swing-voting Democrats stayed home, because they were turned off by Crowley’s anti-Trump rhetoric.
The Republicans do this all too often – run an unexciting or substandard candidate because of the belief that it won’t matter in certain districts. But sometimes it does matter, such as when the nominated Democrat is clearly whacko and out of touch like Ocasio-Cortez, or when the Democrat does something that angers voters like being caught in bed with either a dead hooker or a live boy.
I understand devoting resources to campaigns that have the best chances of winning. But Republicans tend to cede entire states to the Democrats – California is a prime example where geographically, most of the state is red but the RNC devotes little to no time to that state. Political winds change, albeit slowly, but they won’t change unless a base is built up.
Wyatt, I live in Virginia and that’s what the GOP has done to us for years. Either they give us losers, or if we primary in someone who could win, the GOP pulls all support and we’re stuck with Mark Warner, Tim Kane, and Gerry Connolly.
I warned this summer that the media fawning over Ocasio-Cortez may backfire and folks might just vote for Crowley in response. He is still on the ballot. This doesn’t surprise me in the least.
http://patriotretort.com/the-startling-arrogance-of-ocasio-cortez/
Not that I give a flying fukc, but if you were a turd living In Crowleys district and have watched this buffoon Ocasio Kotex repeatedly demonstrate how dumb and useless she is during these interviews and rallies, you really have to think twice. As much as I hate Crowley, from a practical standpoint, they are going to exchange a powerful and competent demorat that has delivered for them for an utterly vacuous, incompetent, and childish demorat that will deliver absolutely nothing. In fact, because she is such a light weight and so stupid, she will actually hurt the district as they lose the plums and bennys that scumbag Crowley finagled for them for so long.