The Romans called the crazy Emporer Nero “Incendiarius,” meaning “fire starter,” blaming him for starting the Great Fire of 64 AD. It was an unfair nickname. Nero didn’t start the Great Fire but used the conflagration to rebuild Rome, including his magnificent palace, the Domus Aurea.
Rep. Alexandria Cortez is the Democrat’s “Incendiarius.” She thrives on chaos. She revels in confusion. She lives for partisan conflict.
When she first got to Congress in 2019, she threatened to primary Democrats who she felt were “soft” on Donald Trump. This brought about several private meetings with then-Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who told her in no uncertain terms (Pelosi could be very persuasive) to back off with the primary threats.
Now, AOC is in the mainstream of the Democratic Party. She’s still a bomb-throwing Incendiarius, but the difference is she has the power to put her stamp on the party and the Congress. She also has the influence to ignore calls to get along with the leadership. That influence is about to take her to the top echelons of power in the Democratic Party.
This is AOC’s time. She’s ready for her moment in the sun. The first step is to elbow her way to the top of the heap in New York politics. She could run for governor in 2026, but Albany is not where the action is going to be for the foreseeable future. A true believer like AOC wants to be where she can affect change to “transform America.”
Washington, D.C., is where it’s at, and AOC, the former outsider, is now contemplating making a play to become an insider. She was already thinking about running for the Senate in 2028 against Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. With Schumer’s “betrayal” by voting for the Continuing Resolution, AOC is being urged to run by the radical left who are prepared to back her with plenty of money and boots on the ground.
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A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus told CNN after Schumer announced he was voting yes that ‘even centrist Democrats were ‘ready to write checks for AOC for Senate.’ [sic]
Schumer is not up for re-election until 2028, meaning Ocasio-Cortez would have a little over three years to mount what would be an underdog campaign during the next presidential election.
The anonymous Congressmember also told CNN that some House Democrats have privately asked AOC to primary the long-time leader of the party in the Senate, though most are in the far left progressive caucus.
One even said they would write her a check at the party’s retreat in Virginia later Thursday night.
“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think, is a huge slap in the face. And I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned.”
She’s right. Those House Democrats who represent red or purple districts fully expected Senate Democrats to bury the CR and shut down the government. But Senators with their ear to the ground thought the risk of being blamed for a government shutdown was too great and decided to fold their cards and get up from the table.
“Betrayal” is a fighting word if you’re a politician. Schumer can consider AOC’s angry rant a gauntlet thrown down at his feet.
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