{"id":6883,"date":"2019-01-29T08:36:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T13:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/susanwright\/?p=6883"},"modified":"2019-01-29T08:37:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T13:37:22","slug":"revolt-as-old-guard-democrats-whisper-of-primary-challenger-for-ocasio-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/susanwright\/2019\/01\/revolt-as-old-guard-democrats-whisper-of-primary-challenger-for-ocasio-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolt, as Old Guard Democrats Whisper of Primary Challenger for Ocasio-Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Well, this takes guts: You recognize a cancer that will lead your party straight to perdition, and you consider how to excise that cancer, rather than to amplify it.<\/p>\n

Then again, don\u2019t expect Democrats to openly discuss plans to hamstring one of their so-touted \u201cbright, new stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a report in The Hill<\/a>, newly-seated New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been rubbing many of her Democrat colleagues the wrong way since taking up her new position earlier this month.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s to the point that there are whispers of having the New York delegation reach out to potential primary challengers for Ocasio-Cortez from the Bronx or Queens.<\/p>\n

The problem, apparently, is that she got to Washington and aligned herself with a radical progressive group that looks to drive out the old guard of Democrats.<\/p>\n

As someone who has long opposed the Democrat power structure, I can say the solution is not to make the Democrat party more <\/em><\/strong>liberal and oppressive.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, those seasoned Democrat mainstays aren\u2019t pleased with an upstart rocking the boat, who, for all anyone can tell, is as dumb as a sack of rocks.<\/p>\n

Really, really dumb rocks.<\/em><\/p>\n

No, they\u2019re not going to be open about it, but they are<\/em> talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have recommended to the New York delegation is that you find her a primary opponent and make her a one-term congressperson,\u201d the Democratic lawmaker, who requested anonymity, told The Hill. \u201cYou\u2019ve got numerous council people and state legislators who\u2019ve been waiting 20 years for that seat. I\u2019m sure they can find numerous people who want that seat in that district.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It may not be that easy.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez got where she is because she managed to best veteran representative Joe Crowley in a primary race. It was clear she would win the seat in the midterm election, since Republicans in the liberal bastion of New York have little to no real presence.<\/p>\n

Many New York and Congressional Black Caucus lawmakers were also furious with Ocasio-Cortez after a recent Politico report stated she and the grass-roots group aligned with her, Justice Democrats, were considering backing a primary challenge to fellow New York Democrat\u00a0Hakeem Jeffries<\/a>, a Black Caucus member and establishment insider who succeeded Crowley as caucus chairman.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She and the group deny those reports, for now, but they\u2019re open about targeting centrist Democrats, such as Texas Representative Henry Cuellar.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re stepping on toes in their push to the far left.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still really early in her career to begin rocking the boat, and openly, Democrat lawmakers are taking a measured approach to addressing questions about her.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s the Pewdie Pie of Congress, with several million social media followers. She\u2019s a personality, and if 2016 taught us nothing, it\u2019s that the majority of American voters prefer personalities and vague political promises of some new American utopia than they do substantive, serious talk about the issues.<\/p>\n

Waleed Shahid, the spokesman for Justice Democrats, suggested that it would be unwise to attempt to primary the young representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering she\u2019s more popular and well-known than some of the Democratic presidential contenders, I think whoever challenges her will lose by huge margins,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cIt\u2019s a quick way for some D.C. and Wall Street consultants to make some easy money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Representative Jeffries has likewise denied that there is tension, or that there have been whispers of scouting for a primary challenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that is something the New York delegation would contemplate. As you can see, we are totally united behind each other. \u2026 The New York delegation sticks together,\u201d Jeffries told The Hill. He said Ocasio-Cortez denied the news report that she was backing a challenger to him, \u201cso there was nothing to work through. I haven\u2019t seen a primary candidate emerge, so I assume when she denied it, she was correct that there was nothing to it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s still early. No doubt, these same people publicly saying there has been no talk of a primary challenger understand that there is still time before divulging their hand, if it comes down to that.<\/p>\n

Just as Ocasio-Cortez had ambitions to stop slinging drinks in bars and start slinging lies in Congress, however, you have to know she isn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s p*ssing off a lot of people and has probably made a lot of enemies. \u2026 A lot of people who are furious with her are Joe\u2019s allies, including some named Crowley,\u201d said the insider, referring to Crowley\u2019s cousin, Elizabeth Crowley, a former New York City councilwoman. \u201cShe is a woman. She\u2019s been moving more to the left. She would be someone interesting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is still not a thing, so don\u2019t get excited. Elizabeth Crowley has her eyes on a more local position \u2013 borough president of Queens in 2021 \u2013 for the time being.<\/p>\n

Never say never.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in primaries as an idea. We\u2019re not upset by the idea of being primaried. We are not going to go out there being anti-primary \u2014 they are good for party,\u201d said Corbin Trent, a campaign spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez and a co-founder of Justice Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf voters in the district feel that they can be better represented, that will be their choice on primary day,\u201d he continued. \u201cIn the meantime, we\u2019re going to be doing our dead-level best to make sure we are representing the needs and the will of our constituents.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Members of the Hispanic Caucus aren\u2019t pleased with the efforts to push out Cuellar by Ocasio-Cortez and her group, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to protect our members and we\u2019re going to protect our own. Full stop,\u201d said centrist Rep.\u00a0Pete Aguilar<\/a>\u00a0(D-Calif.), a former whip for the Hispanic Caucus. \u201cThere are plenty of [swing] races and seats that we can play in, and we want to devote our resources to that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So this is the song-and-dance that Democrats will do for now. They know they have to handle this particular problem carefully, if they wish to survive.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen how easy it is for either party to become a glassy-eyed fan club, rather than a vehicle for sound governance. Neither side can claim to be in a better place than the other.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re both wrecked, right now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, this takes guts: You recognize a cancer that will lead your party straight to perdition, and you consider how to excise that cancer, rather than to amplify it. Then again, don\u2019t expect Democrats to openly discuss plans to hamstring one of their so-touted \u201cbright, new stars.\u201d According to a report in The Hill, newly-seated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3473,"featured_media":3474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[871,1618,308],"class_list":["post-6883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-democrats","tag-new-york"],"yoast_head":"\nRevolt, as Old Guard Democrats Whisper of Primary Challenger for Ocasio-Cortez<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The young representative has aligned herself with a group that wishes to oust veteran Democrats, or those they see as "centrists."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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