AOC embraces a new role: Mainstream Democrat

CHICAGO — The Democratic establishment has learned to embrace Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a firebrand socialist once at the margins of the party who has become one of its most prominent messengers. And now she is embracing them back. The New York Democrat used a prime time speaking role at the party’s convention this week to blast former President Donald Trump, whom she called a “two-bit union buster,” and give the progressive stamp of approval to Vice President Kamala Harris. The speech electrified delegates — and earned Ocasio-Cortez the begrudging admiration of Democratic leaders, who are now starting to speculate about her political future. Ocasio-Cortez’s evolution reflects mainline Democrats’ acknowledgment that she is among the party’s most celebrated stars, and comes as their platform has been nudged leftward by her fellow progressives to reflect populist economic themes. The moderate Democrats who dominate New York politics recognize Ocasio-Cortez, who at 34 is not old enough to be president, is a generational talent. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a centrist Democrat whose largely suburban House district blanches at progressives like Ocasio-Cortez, believes she has moderated her positions successfully. “She’s in way better shape to run for statewide office than I ever was, because she can appeal in a Democratic primary a lot better than I can,” said Suozzi, who twice ran unsuccessfully for governor. An alliance between moderate Democrats and Ocasio-Cortez is a mutually beneficial relationship — and it’s fueling a discussion over her political future as she has eclipsed other centrist party leaders in her home state. New York City Mayor Eric Adams — who once declared himself the future of the Democratic Party — has been sidelined at the national convention as his campaign faces a federal investigation. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a party stalwart, does not command anywhere near the same level of celebrity or stage presence. As Hochul’s own convention speech received middling reviews, Ocasio-Cortez drew praise from all over the party, even from reluctant figures. “I thought AOC was outstanding last night,” New York Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs, a Hochul ally, told the state’s delegation at their morning breakfast a day after her speech. “Don’t tell her I said that, will you?” But Ocasio-Cortez — a household name who regularly appears on national cable news — faces challenges in scaling up her political ambitions in her home state. A bottleneck exists at the top of New York’s political pyramid: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has shown no signs of leaving a seat he was first elected to in 1998, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is on a glide path to another six-year term and Hochul has signaled plans to run again in 2026. Ocasio-Cortez would also be putting herself before a very different set of voters than the safe Bronx-Queens seat she has represented since her upset primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018. New York is a deep blue state, but the electorate leans moderate — especially on issues like public safety. Progressive candidates over the last decade have struggled to surpass 35 percent of the vote in high-profile races for governor. The shift for Ocasio-Cortez comes as Democrats at their national convention this week sought to highlight their expansive tent. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a mentor and fellow socialist, railed against billionaires in politics; he was followed at the podium by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who bragged about being “an actual billionaire” in a dig at former President Donald Trump. Ocasio-Cortez’s politics are also on a collision course with some of the most powerful Democrats in her own state. In New York, Hochul has urged her party’s candidates to run on a platform of moderation and has resisted calls from progressives to increase taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. But Ocasio-Cortez’s political fortunes have gone in the opposite direction of her fellow Squad members this summer. Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush lost their primaries to moderate challengers while she easily won re-nomination in June. Ocasio-Cortez has increasingly embraced a party she distrusted just six years ago — when the former waitress’ win against Crowley, a Washington figure, gave rise to a band of progressive insurgents. After fighting with party leaders, Ocasio-Cortez emerged this year as one of President Joe Biden’s vocal defenders. She presented a striking contrast to Democratic mainstays pushing for him to quit the race. And on the Israel-Hamas War, which has divided Democrats, she has tried to stake out a middle ground this week by applauding Harris’ effort for a cease-fire while supporting Palestinians’ call for more visibility. Her move toward the establishment has not gone unnoticed by her former supporters on the left, who have decried her willingness to give a progressive stamp of approval to mainstream Democrats. Ocasio-Cortez in her Monday night address praised Harris for “working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bringing the hostages home.” It was one of the first references at the convention of the war that has divided the party and one that drew a rebuke from left-leaning figures. “It’s depressing to watch someone who said, a few years ago, that she and Biden shouldn’t be in the same party, try to have her ‘Obama DNC’ moment and ascend within the same corrupt party that’s currently underwriting a genocide,” Briahna Joy Gray, a former aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wrote on X. Still, the Bronx Democrat was willing to buck the party’s carefully choreographed party after she decried in a post on X the lack of a Palestinian-American speaker. Allies of Ocasio-Cortez, however, struggle to game out what’s next with all statewide offices held by Democrats who do not appear close to retirement. She occupies a unique spot within the Democratic Party and New York politics: While Ocasio-Cortez is by far the most well-known House lawmaker, she wields less institutional power than fellow New Yorkers like Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “No matter what she goes for next or even if she chooses to stay in Congress, she’s going to become a much more powerful and popular voice for the New York state Democratic Party,” Erica Vladimer, a progressive member of the New York Democratic committee, said. Polling experts believe Ocasio-Cortez could be different in a statewide race given her expansive name recognition among most voters than past progressive candidates like New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams or actor and activist Cynthia Nixon. “Were she to decide to run statewide, she would be different,” Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg said. “She’s far more well known. And what she did at the convention this week shows she’s not an outsider, she’s very much an insider.” Support for measures like increasing taxes on rich people and expanding health care coverage under a single-payer system would likely be popular in a Democratic primary. But a general election — even in Democratic dominated New York — could place those proposals under a microscope, especially against a Republican candidate in more moderate areas of the state. “In a Democratic primary a lot of those positions are pretty mainstream,” said Jack O’Donnell, a Democratic consultant in New York. “But all of that could certainly be used against her in a general election.” This election cycle will be a quiet one for her. Ocasio-Cortez’s political team has been focused on her own reelection and never considered a primary against Gillibrand, said Jasmine Gripper, the co-director of the left-leaning Working Families Party, a progressive party that has been a key ally for her. Instead, she’s “building her base in her own backyard,” Gripper said. “The super power Ocasio-Cortez has is that she wants to get things done. She works really hard to be effective,” Gripper added. “She doesn’t have tunnel vision, she’s not blindsided by pure ideology.” Emily Ngo contributed to this report.

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