She comes across as a crazy socialist who doesn't understand / lies about facts. Even the liberal WaPo agrees with that: https://wapo.st/2TH3WpE
4
May the truth will out. Anyone who saw the 60 Minutes interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be left with the impression of a gutsy, intelligent 29-year old woman who can articulate her vision.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-the-rookie-congresswoman-challenging-the-democratic-establishment-60-minutes-interview-full-transcript-2019-01-06/
Fox and company cannot erase the impact of that interview with its routine shallow and fraudulent portrayal of her.
Still, I’m sorry we’ve reached the point when reporting on the optics of the crowded Schumer Pelosi shared podium so overshadowed their message. That’s the kind of silly buzz that got us into the Trump mess.
I hope elder Democratic leaders make way for the next generation to speak “internet” for the party. Hakeem Jeffries is eloquent and personable. Others are waiting their turns. But, given the speed of life, this generation should not be expected to wait for long.
6
Neither Trump nor AOC "speak the language of the internet". They both use Twitter, which is a limited way to communicate complicated ides. Twitter allows you to write 140 characters and/or letters, so it is a very limited megaphone for people who want to gain or to communicate substantial knowledge..
AOC shares a few traits with Trump, given the limitations of Twitter. She appeals to people who already agree with her positions. And I am not overtly impressed by her knowledge. For example, she stated the following on 60 minutes: “My policies most closely resemble what we see in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told “60 Minutes.” But their is a very interesting opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal which assets that Sweden’s experiment with socialist policies was disastrous, and its economic success in recent decades is a result of market-based reforms. see https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-sweden-overcame-socialism-11547078767
Trump is incompetent. His use of the internet hasn't expanded his political support.And he seems incapable of making rational analysis, given his extreme dislike of reading.so AOC may seem like a very breath of fresh air, but Trump has set a low bar.
Finally, I am wary of politicians who use twitter to much. whether be liberals or conservatives. I don't need to be told how bad Trump is. What are some solutions to problems he has created or ignored? Finding those solutions will be hard simply using twitter.
1
AOC is saying the things that need to be said and using traditional and non-traditional means to say it. These ideas will not be said or explained in the traditional media.
She said that the wall is immoral when being interviewed by Rachel Maddow and she is right. It's immoral to neglect people in the paths of fires and hurricanes. It is immoral to stick it to the middle class in blue states to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. It is immoral to neglect the 38,000 deaths from opioids in the USA. It is immoral to take thousands of federal workers hostages and force them to work without pay to get the stupid wall. And it is immoral to spend billions of dollars on the wall when the money and the time we spend arguing over it could be spent for other better purposes.
303
@Mark you are right there are actual emergencies that Trump could use his power the drug overdose emergency, the gun violence emergency, and above all the global warming emergency. The building of his vanity wall is not in any way and emergency.
69
@MarkThank you for saying that, Mark. It really sums things up nicely. I would add this: It is immoral to separate children from their parents and keep them indefinitely in deplorable conditions!
28
@Mark, without regard to country or political party, ALL government is immoral. ALL politicians lie. Too many politicians have never held a real job and have made a career out of getting re-elected. Too many politicians retire from their political position having somehow gained wealth while in office. The only answer to our political abomination is TERM LIMITS. AOC is a newcomer to the game and is too uninformed, lacking knowledge to serve more than ONE term.
4
Not a fan of AOC's politics, but I admire her gumption and think she could be great for America.
She's deliberately doing to establishment Democrats what Trump inadvertently did to establishment Republicans - making them look old and out of touch while exposing their hypocrisy and corruption.
The GOP is falling apart and Hollywood is eating its own, if she can destroy the Democrats thats a hat trick for the 99 percent! What remains to be seen is whether AOC will change politics or politics will change AOC.
By the way, I saw in her bio that Trump's election led to her decision to run for office. Some day, even the New York Times Editorial Board will have to admit that Trump was the meteor of positive social and political change. If Hillary had won, Sandy Cortez might still be making Mojitos in Manhattan, NY Times subscriptions would be way down, and everyone would be cheering for Harvey Weinstein at the 2019 Oscars.
So next time you see some nut in a MAGA hat, don't give him the stink-eye, just say, "thank you" and be on your way.
5
AOC will do well with young Democrats.
Her self-involved content-free and shallow Tweetstorms will be rapidly consumed by other shallow self involved selfie addicts whose only information source is limted to 128 characters.
They deserve each other.
5
It's hard to say for sure, but I think Ocasio-Cortez has all the staying power of anyone or anything that goes viral for a few weeks. AOC was the only Hispanic candidate in a district that is 110% Hispanic. The Times writers are so taken with her that they have deemed her "gorgeous". I don't think Penolope Cruz has anything to fear. But wait. There's something new. She can dance.
The supposed substance behind the fluff is that AOC is a progressive. But she hasn't said anything new or particularly interesting except for her favoring high taxes on the rich. Cutting edge progressive stuff, don't you think? It helps that AOC is a minority but not black. Black Congresspeople have a Caucus, and Caucuses don't go viral.
AOC is going it alone. She's a fresh face with dance floor moves who goes online with silly videoes. Now, Stacey Abrams -- there's a minority woman of substance. But she's black, she doesn't come from a made to order district and we don't know if she can dance. She's probably not going to make it.
4
Trump only uses twitter to spout off his hair-brained "pronouncments". He does NOT interact with ANYONE.
4
All this novelty driven chatter about A.O.C.! (Perceived novelty only – there are many articulate, astute, agile, internet-skilled and desirable women in politics.) Yet, yet, novelty and diversity are not restricted to DC and NYC. Here, in distant, mid-continent Illinois, Greg Harris, an openly gay, HIV positive state representative, has been named State House Majority Leader. Another ceiling tile down! Another small step forward! Congratulations Rep Harris! (Hope NYT finds space for article – it’s not yet commonplace.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/ceiling-broken-greg-harris-first-gay-state-house-majority-leader-madigan-pritzker/
2
"Rather than fully engaging with the platforms and employing their nifty audio and video tools, he has stuck to text, using his own set of locutions and his own distinctive voice."
He doesn't know how. Complete dinosaur, luddite.
Please media, stop endlessly repeating his tweets outside that medium. Anybody who wants or needs to see them can join the service and become a #follower.
Though for repeated bullying, his #tweeter-'n-thief account should justifiably be cut off.
A tree falling in the forest makes no sound if no-one is there to hear it. Been saying so since 2016.
You forget to mention Obama because he is the first politician to effectively use social media to run a campaign and win a presidential election. The difference is that Trump and AOC are aggressively at the front of the online media while Obama was more cerebral: leveraging the backend through data science to understand and mobilize voters.
Another thing... Trump is a loser in his own home state while AOC won the hearts and minds of her constituents. Whenever there is a tit-for-tat, she can confidently declare that he is a "loser" and she is the "winner".
1
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has used the internet in a proactive way. The right wing media leaned how to do this long ago. Now , some on the left like Ocasio-Cortez, Beto O'Rourke and others on the left have finally caught up. This is good.
1
They seem to share more similarities than Mr. Swisher cites
From Politifact , Pulitzer Price winning fact checking site
1. All statements from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (6 to date)
False
False
False
Mostly True
Pants on Fire
False
https://www.politifact.com/personalities/alexandria-ocasio-cortez/statements/?list=speaker
2. Washington Post, Fact Checker , Analysis of
"$21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions ‘could not be traced, documented, or explained.’ $21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T. That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.”
— Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in a tweet, Dec. 2, 2018"
Checking the facts, the Washington Post awarded her
Four Pinocchios (out of four )
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/04/alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-trillion-mistake/
MOST disturbingly, Ms. Ocasio Cortez responded to these checks with
“There's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right,” @AOC says in response to criticism that she’s made factual errors.
ttps://cbsn.ws/2GYii3B 5,335 7:16 PM - Jan 6, 2019
“There's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right" could have come straight from Trump.
3
I GOT IT !!. ‘’Alexandria for President ‘’..
or (AOC for President NOW).
Why NOT ?!?!
1
Trump and AOC represent the two factors that I despise about social media-- The stupidity and vapidness of Trump, and the overexposure of AOC. Enough already.
1
If the medium is Twitter, why are it’s users not “twits.” Twit-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.
Trumpty Dumpty is what he is - what he always was destined to be after Nov. 2016, flaming down to the bottom of his wick after just 2 years.
Ocasio Cortez will simmer down. It is more than clear that she has no idea the environment or the job, let alone the long game of Congress. She was elected due to a turn out of only 6% of eligible voters in her NY district. That's hardly a mandate. DC will eat her alive if her doesn't begin to pay attention, learn and dial down the tedious *and tendentious* millennial selfie-entitled narcissism.
2
The comparison is meaningless. Looks like NYT didn’t have any thing else to write Trump is a low bar but he is president. She is a media wonder who has not done any thing yet, does not seem to comprehend basic issues and does not want to spend some time learning basics on the job. This is a world we live in!
3
I give the thumbs up to Alexandria. Consider that she makes sense when she speaks. Trump does not make sense whenever he speaks and lies continuously. She can't help but win if your sane.
1
Alexandria is compelling and charming and driven by a powerful moral sensibility. She is obviously fun, quick and charming. But she is also very much part of a powerful movement. A movement made of people very similar to her, but so very glorious in their differences.
I think of Kellyanne Conway more than Trump. She is quick, charming, has a sense of humor. But there is also some deep injury that curdles all that into meanness, foolishness and a need to rationalize truly horrible things. I think she once had the possibilities of being someone very different than who she has become. As unlikely as it is, maybe there is something still there that can breaks loose and join Alexandria and all the rest of us as we dance on rooftops and everywhere else where freedom sings.
4
I don't know what the future will hold for the Democratic rookie phenom, Ocasio-Cortez. Will she turn out to be a constantly rising star in our political firmament, or just another high promise draft pick with low performance on the field? Time will tell, but, her new-media savvy suggests that she just might be playing David, excuse me Davida, to Trump's Goliath. Wait, "Goliath" isn't quite right, make that Trump's Golem. In any case, it's the Israelites versus the Philistines.
Sorry for all the mixed metaphors.
If you enter Ocasio into the YouTube search bar, you quickly see how much attention she's getting from CNN, MSNBC and . . . FOX. But, it's the latter, that is most revealing. It's in Fox's relentless attempt to vilify her every word that one gets the sense that the disruptor has taken hold and, in this way, already won.
1
Cortez is kind of a little too left to be taken serious by most people.
5
AOC was a game changing restaurant in Los Angeles when it opened more than ten years ago. After years of being derided as being behind cities like NYC or SF in the restaurant scene, it was one of many that allowed us to catch up. Maybe we've even surpassed everyone, it's a radically different foodie scene here now. Many subsequent restaurants noticed AOC's success and imitated the model, further transforming our culinary scene.
AOC's still around, just got a James Beard award in 2018 along with many other deserved plaudits. May AOC the politician follow in the restaurant's path to success, and similarly inspire others to follow in her footsteps.
The Democrats would be smart to have her focus their online efforts.
Here's an idea. Get off the internet and get to work actually doing something for the greater good of all Americans. Whoever does that is the winner. My guess: neither of them.
5
This young lady reminds me of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sharp as a tack. Trump is more like a piece of old sandpaper - he irritates the surface, but doesn't really make any actual accomplishment. We gotta clean out the toolbox . . .
3
They are both annoying, obsessed with their own brand, and are extremely uncaring about how their own needs trample the rights of others. In fact there is an article in another digital paper that highlights how irritated and exasperated the dems are with the rookie politician. And these dem pols are also fearful as she threatens and degrades others with twitter- just as Trump does. How ironic- that they are the same- simply different sides of the same coin. To paraphrase Roger Daltry "Meet the new pol, same as the old pol."
4
We're a government of the twitter. Great. So much for nuance.
2
For me, the appeal of AOC is her willingness to say what most on the left are thinking. We have suffered from a quiet "aw shucks we can't do that" from Democrats as Republicans have run roughshod over established rules and norms. Playing by the rules, holding a mirror to hypocrisy has not worked in correcting the wrongs committed by the right who are completely shameless. Perhaps it is just the sparkle of youth, the brazenness that comes with naivete, but I am betting my hopes on AOC's ability to dazzle with her social media savvy, and drive the conversation back to the middle, and fingers crossed a little to the left.
34
This woman is as shallow as a cup of water. She is the perfect democrat socialist. Even Whoopie Goldberg has rebuked her lack of knowledge and respect for those who have gone before her. I am sick of her dancing. She long on words and short on substance.
7
AOC is our future POTUS
3
AOC is a Jedi Knight, Trump is a Sith Lord
1
The headline of this column is fatuous. The sub-headline assumes that critical thinking is occurs in social media. This column was a disappointment.
How many page clicks did this generate for you and the Times?
Cover a more substantive topic such as how Google, FB, etal should be regulated like utility.
Old media operated as stewards of the public trust. New media is unencumbered by any such idea.
.
2
The Trump cult of personality... the AOC cult of personality...
'Nuff said.
4
The one who doesn't mention the #45's name and ignores him at all!!!!!
That will be the winner of all!!!!!
She's a lot better looking than he is, and if she can spell correctly, then she's got him beat pants down. Surprised no one raised an issue that he can't possibly be an American, he doesn't really speak English.
1
The difference is: She was a bartender dancing while he was dating a pornstar. Now ask yourself: What is the better role model for your Kids?
2
@Daniel Korb
Neither, for the kids (no capitalization) nor for the adults.
Welcome to much of what has steadily gone off the rails in American society.
Trump's a dangerous old man who ought have had the keys to the car taken from him years ago and she's a 13-year-old who presumes not to need a learner's license and yet doesn't know how the two-ton machine actually works.
2
AOC speaks for me and my family. We need Medicare for All and free college education—benefits our relatives in Europe have enjoyed for decades. Climate change is real. Tax income over ten million at 70%. Go AOC!
1
She is at the beginning so we have hope she will improve Trump close to the end of his live has little chance to get the basics right as we know it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
That film of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unabashedly disporting herself in a -- T-shirt -- on the very roof of a -- tenement house or something -- just goes to show that she's what I always thought she was: dynamite.
2
The Internet is always won by the biggest trolls. Sad but true.
2
Go Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez! What a fresh of breath air in the democratic party! Way better than Boring Beto, Cryin Chuck, and Sleepy Nancy! More color the better!!
2
“...I feel vivid and flashing, as if suddenly I’d been plugged into some great electromagnetic field...I feel on the verge of some great, ultimate truth...
I feel this way most days, at about 8:59 PM – when the lead-in for Hannity flickers on even before Tucker has finished his final quizzical scowl...
Then again, at 9:59 – when Laura insightfully chimes in...Sometimes about what a dullard AOC has been, earlier in the day...
In between, I watch and re-watch reruns of “Family Guy” and “The Orville”...
When the folks from Nielsen call, I can truthfully tell them I’ve been glued to Fox the entire evening...
A GOP mailer has told me that if I don’t watch, the FBI may shut my electricity off – though the NSA will not mess (further) with my phone...
I know I can trust Seth to tell me what’s real and for real – the rest of them, not so sure...
.....
AOC, if he offers you a guest appearance – I’d save the date...
I’d wager there’s going to be 10-minute interruptions by Trump – on both shows – sometime this season...
You’ll want to make the rebuttal...
The future of the Internet and the Democrat party are depending on you...
Well, we follow both for LOLs, we cringe every time either opens their mouth, we wonder what is the next pratfall they will display, we talk about his private life, and her nude selfies, they both got elected by voters hoping for an utopia where all their problems are solved by the government, they both have unreal dreams that will never happen, one is a capitalist, the other is a red as they come socialist, they are both the laughing stock of the opposite color of voter (red or blue).
Big difference is he sits in the big chair, and makes mincemeat of any challenger, and she could not find enough voters to get nominated for president outside of her deepest blue corner of deep blue NYC.
And we are all just waiting for the one big screw up that will doom their careers.
So far he is winning by far.
Sad to see our elected representatives are best suited for TMZ than for CSPAN
1
The non-old, non-racist, non-white, non-corrupt, non-male person will win--you can guess who that is out of the two.
2
The mark is now on AOC's forehead.Shes is the change agent.Shes the light on the front of the train that will run over the fascist charlatans wrecking our country. Shes articulate ,informed, educated and on point when she speaks to the public about the real issues facing working folks on a daily basis.All the things that Trump and his ignorant,choleric Republican sychophants are not and will never be
2
Joan Vennochi, a Boston Globe columnist, recently compared Alexandria Octavia-Cortez to Sarah Palin.
Think about it.
2
AOC is nothing like Palen. Don’t people listen?
1
I don’t think its right that the author refers to the Congresswoman as a cartoon bobblehead...
The Bobble Head is in the eye of the beholder.
Twitter = me, myself, and I
Yup about Beale - and note how Bryan Cranston has taken us baby-boomers right through our adult lives from LBJ to Meth and now back to Beale (h/t Paddy C). Meanwhile the hard right turns back on itself to now come out, like Preacher Joh Lithgow, with Extreme High Dudgeon AOC because she, well .... dances. She is not only Extreme Online, she is Footloose (as the Democrats are finding) ...and perhaps, fancy free.
“we are now a government of the Twitter, by the Twit and for the Twitters.”
1
One of them is intelligent and attractive. One of them is insipid and is not just ugly, but has a face only Helen Keller, or maybe a prostitute, could stomach for more than 30 seconds.
Who will win the internet, you ask? Rhetorical questions are like candy for a journalist.
1
I believe that the media is creating a 'rock star' where this Freshman needs years of education and training in all but her social skills which are already considerable. The fact, true fact, that she 'wants to do the right thing' (as she believes) falls quite flat in the face of the considerable factual errors she makes at almost every turn where knowledge of finance, world affairs and politics is required. Dont make her into a shooting star demanding an Obama type Kum Ba Ya following. She is too young, too inexperienced and far too vulnerable given her lack of depth of knowledge at this juncture. These are the very people that the leadership needs to 'bring along' and not be shoved into the limelight prematurely. The daily press she recieves from every utterance she makes does neither she nor the Democratic party any favors.
6
someone who can read and write, vs someone who can't
AOC in a knockout
3
Boston UNIVERSITY. It's not that hard. It's on her shirt while she's dancing.
Ocasio Cortez comes off as a wide eyed, immature kid with no sense, yet the NYT and other liberal media put her out there as if she's the second coming. Good luck with that. The rest of the country (outside of NY and DC) will see her as the socialist that she is and reelect Trump in a heartbeat.
6
Kara Swisher usually has great tech op-eds but stay away from politics. NYT is all Trump above the fold all the time, and a few writers kept away from him.
To answer, AOC will win. The Internet (NYT, Washpo, Reddit, Twitter) are flush with loud liberals, the last two being the worst. Look at the slobbering in the Twitter comments for an Obama post vs Trump. Some mediums arent even worth the time.
2
They should both lift their fingers from the keyboard and do some work. Read. Think. Analyze. When you do all the talking it means your not listening.
3
Neither one will win. They each have their own audience.
2
Governance by the executive branch via twitter has been, to put it mildly, less than effective. Why should anyone think that legislative accomplishment will fare any better?
Twitter is many things, but I doubt its efficacy for anything of substance. Being Extremely Online may be a great diversion for the supporters and detractors of the person and their followers, but to expect positive results to benefit the electorate is wishful thinking.
3
For the love of Pete, would you STOP hyping this brand new, inexperienced congressperson? Sarah Palin received the same kind of coverage, and we know how that turned out.
The media effectively elected Trump with its non-stop coverage. Has it not learned anything?
I voted straight Democrat last election, but I'm more interested in the accomplishments of a legislator. Trump and Ocasio-Cortez may be stars on Twitter, but I'm not in the least impressed with either.
8
@Jeff
Exactly. Nicely done.
3
Ms Swisher's essay is interesting, but seems to be missing insights, which I would define as something seen and brought to others' attention that is valuable. Maybe even value added. Not ironically, vapidness and immaturity are the essential characteristics of both the President and the Congresswoman from NY, neither of whom either have gravitas or the ability to distinguish between fame and worth. How anyone still thinks that putative governance by Twitter or Facebook is anything other than a vehicle for a series of tantrums is beyond me. Whether coming from the right or left, I suspect a large number of Americans simply want an adult. As neither of the two protagonists covered by Ms. Swisher meet that need, and as both are joined at the hip to the internet in completely shallow ways, I would have thought that might have been the most interesting angle to take.
4
Ms. Swisher is an expert on technology. She knows little of politics, and does not seem to grasp that over-exposure of a neophyte like AOC has the potential to destroy the democratic party. She does not appeal to millenials who are more traditional in their thinking, she does not appeal to mainline dems like me who believe experience is a plus. Suggest Ms. Swisher watch Chris Hayes interview with Maxine Waters a week or so ago: she related how she ended up on the banking committee, how little she knew about finance but how enthusiastically she learned and was taught, and how seriously she takes her leadership role in what it now a very important position, especially considering the malfeasance of the trump team. Maxine exemplifies class and presence class-- no "meme" perhaps, but a real plus for We the People. Sadly, part of the AOC appeal is that she is very pretty-- not always a fair plus in real life.
3
Oh but she does appeal to millennials who want Medicare for All, free college education, and action on climate change. How do you think she won by a landslide?
2
Funny one on Mom and Dad and totaling the car, even though I support Chuck and Nancy on the Trump shutdown. But now, in order for politicians to succeed, they all have to become Howard Beale in Network? As in "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"? Say it ain't so...
1
I worry that Ocasio-Cortez's tweets are going to dilute the impact of her message when she has something truly important to say. She may also say something carelessly that will erode her credibility. Trump constantly makes a fool of himself with his tweets. Ocasio-Cortez isn't that dumb, but logorrhea is dangerous as well as annoying. As it says in Proverbs, "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin."
4
I'm a big fan of AOC. I especially like her smart, unflinching responses when one of the R neanderthals jabs at her. But, I grow concerned about her energy management. I keep thinking about Ali and rope-a-dope. AOC, I hope, realizes there are far more of them out there than she can usefully engage. And the news outlets (even friendly ones) will soon begin to ask---with all her appearances regarding national issues---what she is working on for NY14. Sooner rather than later, I hope she starts getting much more selective about where she directs her ripostes and her work focus. Otherwise, she'll find herself punched out with fully energized opposition and less party support than she needs.
5
Don't give her too much credit for being internet savvy, not sure that is an asset anymore for her than Trump. Be a real person.
4
The person who "wins" is usually the person who's around longer. I'm pretty sure I know who that's going to be. Old, tired ideology deserves to be swept away.
2
The main difference: Trump is talking at us, AOC is engaging with us.
2
She's not the anti-Trump people are saying she is. Her ego is every bit his equal. No accomplishments? So what. Turn the spotlight light on, and she has all the answers.
She's the worst. The rookie who thinks she's Babe Ruth.
5
If Ocasio-Cortez were an old white man, we wouldn't be discussing her because the idiotic pronouncements that she utters would have doomed her career. She makes Bernie Sanders look like a Republican.
Her big grin, wide eyes, and inability to demonstrate any understanding of mathematics or economics may work on media that are primarily visual, but for persons who actually read what she says, she's laughable.
She has constituents in her gerrymandered district in both the Bronx and Queens who are depending on her to to her job. She should stick to that.
Trump ? He doesn't control a narrative. He just sets up a situation that is irresistable to the self-involved progressive lefties in the media, and then they put him on the front page.
The difference between he and Ocasio-Cortez is that he a) is President of the United States, b) has fulfilled more campaign promises than any other president in history, c) is focused on restoring federalism, individual rights, American primacy, balance in the federal courts, and eradication of progressiivism, and who was elected by almost 63 million people and not a few tens of thousands.
7
She understands economics. Why shouldn’t income over ten million be taxed at 70%? Eisenhower taxed income over 2 million at 90%. Medicare for All is LESS expensive than for profit health care and why can’t we afford free community college education for all? Funny how nobody ever asks how we can afford to throw a few more trillions at our bloated military industrial complex.
Oh and btw climate change is real.
1
One is extremely smart and the other is just the opposite. Can you guess who they are??
1
Let's be honest. Both AOC and Trump are unqualified for the offices that they were elected to by uneducated electorates. Neither understands how our constitutional republic should work or the role of their respective branches of government.
Each is dangerous in the ideology that they espouse. My friend who fled Venezuela shudders every time AOC opens her mouth the same way I shudder every time Trump opens his mouth.
Madison warned of the dangers of an uneducated populace in electing our governing officials and it's playing out every time I look at my various news feeds.
10
Tell me why Americans can’t have what citizens of citizens of every other first world nation have enjoyed for decades? Medicare for All is LESS expensive than for profit health care. So why don’t you support it? Why can’t we tax income over ten million at 70%? Eisenhower taxed income over 2 million at 90%. Companies reduced tax liability by investing in their companies including boosting wages and benefits.
I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comes across as a bobblehead as well.
Perhaps not in same league as Trump, but long on blather, short on workable solutions.
7
Medicare for All is a workable solution to expensive for profit health care. Free community college is a workable solution to students graduating with high interest debt. There are many ways to pay for it. Nobody ever asks how to pay for another trillion thrown at our bloated military industrial complex.
And why shouldn’t everyone who is able to work and wants to work be guaranteed a job? This is the richest nation the world has ever known-and there is plenty of work to be done. (Just look around. )
Ocasio-Cortez will lose in the democratic primary in 2020. She does not represent the people in her district. She will look foolish soon enough if she hasn't achieved the status of an arrogant young one already.
6
AOC is the wind of change that we so desperately need. Go AOC!
2
Trump will lose, AOC is much more attractive and smarter too.
1
The path to a Latino President has started with Ms. Cortez. It won't happen until Ms. Cortez is a nominee for VP. That is a long way off in the future. That said, we will get there one day.
1
I suggest the possibility that Pelosi and Schumer knew exactly what they were doing: "Mom and Dad are mad" might be the perfect long-run foil to the out-of-control teenager (toddler?) in the White House.
1
It's official, we're doomed. When the yardstick we are using to measure a politician's success is based on the number of likes, retweets, clap-backs, and sick burns, then something has gone terribly wrong. Both of these individuals are cartoonish in their lack of knowledge, demonstrate enormous hubris, and lack critical thinking to look at issues beyond their myopic world-views. Neither of them are real leaders, they are simply entertainers.
11
AOC represents me. I am glad she is speaking out about issues important to me and my family.
1
Ms. AOC comes off to normal people as a young, non -threatening American Congresswoman of Puerto-Riican descent.
What is it about her that obsesses, intrigues and frightens Trump’s male supporters?
I blame most of it on her bright red lipstick, which for some reason is always threatening to insecure men.
5
It is not fair to refer to Ocasio-Cortez cartoon bobblehead!
1
When it comes to online presence, Trump is like an elephant playing a video game. While AOC is indeed refreshing, surpassing Trump is not a daunting challenge.
His tweets, like his brain, are simplistic and coarse.
2
The Left is doing the same with Ocasio-Cortez and the right w/ Trump. They hear but don't listen ....
She is the buzz word of the left ..... when she falters they will drop her like all the rest before her.
2
Oh how I long for someone more interested in governance than publicity and "followers".
How about a quiet Magoo-like person who wants to make sure things function for most of us? Psst, this Ocasio-Cortez woman is a liberal version of Donald Trump. SO FAR.
I don't care. I want people who are competent to run the government, not people who can out tacky Donald Trump or who are attention seeking and looking to become the latest internet sensation.
Are we ever going to grow up and stop chasing the latest shiny object? How about some substance over surface?
4
AOC speaks for me.
1
AOC is a star. Beto is a star. The Republicans are terrified.
1
AOC is not so much the anti-Trump as she is his counter-reflection and Jungian shadow. They are Through-the-Looking-glass or Bizarro-world opposites.
At first it seemed that Trump was an aberration, a one-off. But we can now see that he is actually the prototype and template for all future US politicians in the Internet and social media era. Unfortunately, it's Barack Obama, ultra-cool, polished, and eloquent, who turned out to be the anti-Trump and a one-off.
1
Does anyone except the media really use Twitter? If the media didn't write about it no one would care.
2
New York media doesn't like AOC any more than it likes Bernie or anyone speaking on behalf of the working poor who are, after all, if we are honest, simply 21st century slaves.
4
Two narcissistic, inexperienced, blowhard politicians with a loose grasp of policy, a wavering commitment to the facts, and followers who seem a little bit on the cultish side. But one of them is “winning.” OK, yeah sure I see the difference....?
4
Hey. AOC speaks for me. My family needs Medicare for all. And free college education. We want action on climate change. And we think income over ten million should be taxed at 70%.
2
They're both cartoon bobbleheads.
2
Bet on the bobble head. The Internet is not a medium of nuance; it's built for cartoonish reasoning.
2
What is cartoonish about Medicare for all? Or free college education? Or action on climate change? Or. 70% tax on income over ten million?
What is cartoonish about thinking Americans should have what citizens of every other first world nation have enjoyed for decades?
Money talks. The guy who has learned from pro-wrestling, from reality TV, with a support system of thousands of top paid shapers of opinion will win. Go figure. I bet Ocassio Cortez will be discarded, with disgust, as soo as she show a human frailty that the machine gets to exploit. You as a paper, will stay agnostic on the subject, while FoxNews and co will dig in with a well paid will.
2
One is president and one won’t ever move beyond local office. Who is the real winner?
2
I’m a 70 year-old white man who would vote for AOC in a heartbeat if she was a politician in my state.
3
@WHP706. Which is why CT, NY, NJ have the highest outflows of individuals and businesses. CT is circling the toilet and the one-party dem rule has ruined what once was a great state. The first of many companies just announced it's move out of CT for NYC. Used to be that companies moved out of NYC to CT. AOC is Lamont on meth and Chavez all rolled into one.
2
But Medicare for All is LESS expensive than for profit health insurance-as you probably know. When Eisenhower imposed a 90% tax on income over 2 million businesses reduced tax liability by investing in their companies including increasing wages and benefits.
If people have more disposable income -which they would have if they aren’t paying high monthly premiums and high deductibles as well as high interest student loans-they would spend it -and boost the economy.
2
Trump comes across as a spoiled, petulant third grader. Ocasio-Cortez comes across as an empty headed sorority girl going through rush. Each is a disaster.
5
Because OAC supports Medicare for All? And action on climate change? And free college education? And a 70% tax on income over ten million? And a job for every able bodied person who wants one?
The article just promotes mass media being used to drive a narrative and keep the public from thinking. Trump may be as bad or worse than everyone claims but the others are no saints and have helped create the system that gave us Trump. Consider the plans to withdraw from Syria and the opposition it has created even though it is a good start to get imperialist America out of all the wars and murder it has started in other people's countries. America needs to ask itself why it is involved in so much murder and why they call people who resist terrorists. forget Twitter and facebook and do not believe the media , it is not fake news but it is cherry picked and massaged and packaged to present a story to the masses.
I can’t believe you are giving space
to this vacuous young person who has a degree in economics but hasn’t the slightest clue about the discipline. It’s an embarrassment. Go cover a worthy member of Congress
4
Um...It might be worth mentioning that things ended not-so-well for Mr. Beale.
I guess it’s time to give up on the hope that Facts will ever matter again. Listen up, folks: from now on, only Posing counts!
2
Answer: We all lose.
1
The internet can't make Trump more of a person because he's not...he's an empty suit.
1
As a millennial New Yorker it’s odd that I ( not my friends/colleagues) had never even heard of AOC until I started noticing all the articles you guys to her... what’s with the hype?
3
AOC is a breath of fresh and I hope she is around for years to come. Sadly I think she is starting to believe all of the hype around her. To the media, she is just the new shiny object. I wish she would shun the limelight for a while and learn her craft, You never start a new job and try to suck all of the oxygen from the Old Hands while you are still a rookie. Certainly, her energy and strength will make her a FUTURE player but now she should be learning the game. Trump was the new shiny object in 2016 and look what a mess we are in.
2
Trump lost the internet long before she came along. He's proven to be the most incompetent, vindictive, childish, unstable President in history.
The best thing that could happen to Ms. Ocasio-Ortez is for y'all to leave her alone and let her learn her job.
3
Will Trump be allowed to tweet from jail?
There is no contest. @AOC is fresh, intelligent, alive and interesting. @realDonaldTrump is a broken man, playing a broken record and spinning out of control.
2
While NYTimes’ readers are fairly uniform in their views, a more likely conclusion is that fans of POTUS prefer his postings, fans of AOC prefer hers. A simple matter of perspective rather than fact.
1
I’m quite happy to see AOC instead of the mean girls in the school cafeteria duel our schoolyard bully of a president.
So boogie down, rock out, and 23 skidoo. ‘Cause Trump’s rubber and you’re glue and whatever mean thing you say about him bounces off of him and sticks to you.
Under the circumstances AOC is raising the level of discourse.
1
Is this a joke, trying to compare a brutus ignoramus, likely ante-diluvian, with a smart online expert ready and willing to disembowel Trump's stupid comments at will? Trump may be the king liar, soon to be consigned to oblivion; but Alexandria is the queen dancer of our future, a joy to behold.
1
It's almost unfair. An analogy would be staging a 5k between a race horse and a pygmy pig. And one of those descriptors is almost literal. No offense to the little pig. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez possesses five times the intelligence of the president, along with true passion - a winning combination if ever there was one.
You've seen the assault on AOC again by long gone by insider and quasi-Democrat Joe Liebermann pontificating on Fox Business channel, (it only makes sense an establishment guy would go on the ultimate Wall Street channel) about the Ideas of AOC. Joe, like me, you are a baby boomer that mishandled running the government of the US and you ran what was once a vibrant country into the ground with your policies. Step aside old-timer it is time to rebuild the country handed us by the "Greatest Generation" that you let wither away with the tax policy that the "donor class" bought with the campaign cash supplied to politicians like you. As it turns out the private funding of public elections make for rampant corruption. The status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. She has the right priorities that will salvage and rebuild this once great republic. And like it did in the 50's and 60's it is going to take some sacrifice from those who can afford it. Stop trying to get money from people who don't have it in the Republican demanded and achieved low wage economy.
Gangster Willie Sutton reportedly said "I rob banks because that's where the money is." Joe, guys like you robbed the poor and the middle class and shoveled the wealth of the country to the top and the trickle down economy you supplied led directly to Trump. Joe, step aside and shut up. You've done enough damage.
1
Can we please stop talking about AOC? I understand Fox's fixation with her, but surely the NYT can and should hold itself to a higher standard. Her election was newsworthy - her every tweet and dance move belongs in People magazine.
3
This Republican thinks it is a no brainer. Trump is a sour puss and Ocasio Cortez has a smile on her face and song in heart as she works to smash the state.
1
I guess he read Kara’s column, or some staffer did. His Twitter feed is laced with video today. Arrrghh
For Trump, social media is the caveman's bludgeon, with the occasional spike driven through the big end when he is in particularly high dudgeon.
AOC is more Mack the Knife.
The more presence she has, the more the right hates her. She has great potential and the republicans know this. They are going to pick apart everything she says and everything she doesn’t say. They will make her the enemy just as they did with Hillary. Nothing stokes more fear in Fox viewers eyes than an intelligent female. Not even a black man.
Trump is lucky AOC will not year be 35 in 2020. She would crush him.
Who will win? OSC.
1
Love blatant hypocrisy of the Democratic party.
She comes off as Naïve and Clueless. He is Clueless. Is the internet worth winning anyway?
2
“Who will win the internet?” Obviously, the one with all the trolls on his side. No one can survive that force.
8
@Carmine The trolls are just aping The Troll. Watch Billy Goat Gruff take him on. Rapunzel is with her too.
1
@Carmine
I'll be retiring soon; be glad to troll for 24 hrs/week for AOC or others. Got to stay in the game! JRH
2
If Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez and the "women of the House" quoting John Wayne in the Quiet Man movie, can equalize and then marginalize the president over the near term, 2020 will see the continuing ouster of old white men. I have believed for a long time that 40 women in the Senate and 160 in the House will give Congress its relevance again and finally thwart the nonsense that has been going on too long in the Congress and more recently in the presidency.
Women: Don't rest on your success in 2018, but use that success as a battle cry to bring about the sanity government so desperately needs.
1
Thank you Ms. Swisher for articulating so nicely the age of style we live in today.
Both the Reality Show Con Artist and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez are popular because they know how to use traditional and social media to further themselves. Because of their fluency in the language and styling of today, they are afforded the luxury of irresponsibility which has freed them from having ideas that would pass into law or would work in the real world. In effect, neither has the burden of having to govern.
The grifter in chief has no interest in the responsibility or accountability of running a government – in fact he has no interest in anything other than enriching himself – while Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wants to talk about well meaning things that have no chance of coming to fruition and may even turn off the “independents” needed for the Democrats to win control of the Senate and the Presidency in 2020.
While Medicare for All may sound good and be a goal for the future, it is the one plan that is NOT going to happen in 2019 and proposing it has hurt chances to strengthen and protect the Affordible Care Act, the first comprehensive health care plan passed in this country and a significant step in achieving total coverage.
I know governing and actually accomplishing things is hard. Fortunately neither the liar in chief or Ms. Ocasio-Cortez have to worry about those mundane considerations.
4
They both ran on a whim, and ended up in office. Neither is prepared. Both dictate opinion without facts, both think they're morally right. Both get too much press attention.
6
That Howard Beale in 1976 is instructive for the forces at work in 2019's media today calls attention to the hypothesis - likelihood really - that the differences between PT and AOC are stylistic, not substantive.
Can there be a question that others of PT's ilk will, quickly likely, improve significantly upon the Trumpian form of internet omnipresence. Likewise that those of AOC's will adapt hers to an audience way wider than hers, however admittedly formidable hers is.
This old observer can't excise the lyric "...the world is still the same; you'll never change it." But your survival in politics and policy sure better keep up with the pace of change in packaging and presentation and pitching. The critical question will always be "just which shell is the pea under."
She shouldn't be the face of the Democratic Party in Congress. She is a first term lawmaker with no legislative accomplishments and a tenuous understanding of policy.
8
I enjoy seeing this comparison. I think that AOC is a progressive version of Trump, very short on facts, resistant to questioning of her proposals and having skimpy answers when she has an, presenting herself as knowledgable in areas where she knows little. The resemblance is uncanny.
6
@Critical Thinker
Yet another right liberal pedaling the Democratic establishment under cover of 'neither right nor left.'
Typical of this baloney comparison, this post is "short on facts" - since evaluating specific statements by AOC would reveal her positions as strong politically and as policy.
For example, taxing the rich at a 70%. Horrors, socialism? 'Class warfare'? How extreme? Nah - once you examine the proposal, just what most citizens want (i.e., politically feasible), the way it was 50 years ago (i.e., practically feasible), and what mainstream economics recognizes would result in more money for middle income/poor people, which would be spent and stimulate the economy.
'Critical thinker'? LOL. Yea, with the debate skills of a parrot - 'Crazy as he is, crazy as he is - Braaaaaaaawk!!!'
2
@Critical Thinker, agree 100%. Unfortunately Ms. Swisher like others in the MSM are glorifying and over-exposing the distinctly unqualified AOC. It will ruin us if they keep it up.
1
Maybe not judging a book by it's cover is a good rule to abide by:
"Ocasio-Cortez attended Yorktown High School, graduating in 2007, where she won second prize in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with a microbiologyresearch project on the effect of antioxidantson C. elegans' lifespan. As a result, the International Astronomical Union named a small asteroid after her: 23238 Ocasio-Cortez. In high school, she took part in the National Hispanic Institute's Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. She later became the LDZ Secretary of State while she attended Boston University. Ocasio-Cortez had a John F. Lopez Fellowship. In 2008, while Ocasio-Cortez was a sophomore at Boston University, her father died of lung cancer. During college, she was an intern in the immigration office of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. She graduated cum laudefrom Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences in 2011 with a bachelor's degree ininternational relations and a minor in economics."
-Wikepedia
I couldn't care less
I like neither one.
I will make a observation.
If she wins this battle the Democrats will lose the war.
She is too far to the left and too pro Palestinian.
If she becomes the spokesman for the Democratic party there will be many who voted for Hillary Clinton either not voting in the next election or will vote Republican.
Most of the country is anti DBS.
Most of the country dislike Trump but hate socialist.
Most of the country are not willing to subsidize the poor.
We can argue the merits of the positions she takes.
I won't as I she wins that argument judged by the people who read the Times but that she would lose it everywhere else.
That will not hurt her if she will be content to stay in the Congress and represent the district that elected her.
It will hurt the party as they will need a consensus of the population if they want to beat Trump.
The debate yesterday over DBS in Washington is a situation where Ocasio will hurt the Democrats.
She is pro DBS.
Schumer is on record he is against it and has supported legislation that is similar to the one now that the Republicans want. Officially he might be for that bill but he supports a filibuster that if successful will defeat the bill.
However if she becomes the unofficial spokesperson for the Democrats Schumer will be forced to take a position that opposes the one she has taken.
This will not be good for the Democrats.
The Republicans know this very well and are trying to exploit it.
5
I like AOC and see her tweets etc...I am trying to figure out if being a media star now is helpful or harmful to her...I conclude that she does get out her message quite well and that is good as a foil against trump...but the media stardom does not a good legislator make...
3
Ocasio-Cortez doesn't always come across as a cartoon bobblehead. She has made some good points, give her credit.
1
The ability to curate an endearing online presence simply cannot be the measuring stick we use to vet our candidates. It says little (possibly nothing) about one's ability to do the job--which is to devise policy capable of permitting America's diverse citizenry to flourish. We are not going to resolve our healthcare, educational, and societal problems with an attractive filter placed upon a cute video posted on Instagram. That is not to say that social media skills cannot be helpful to the cause--they certainly speak to a candidate's ability to relate to voters. But, to mistake one's ability to campaign with one's ability to govern is dangerous. We need only consider Donald Trump to understand just how dangerous.
5
This may be a surprise to some, but there are millions of us who think Twitter is a silly way to do business, especially from the President of the United States. The only exposure to Twitter for many of us is when it is endlessly quoted in the print news we read.
9
I think the problem with twitter is that it is not designed for conversations - just your viewpoints and opinions in short tweets or twits. It's a great platform for people with Attention Deficit Disorder.
8
the Democrats should not try to shush up AOC. They cannot be a liberal version of the piranha like GOP akaTea Party. Let her talk. Let her float ideas. Debate her ideas but make her show how they can work. Ideas that can't be implemented and that don't consider the cost and benefits are as useless as Trump.
3
Please do not make AOC an online entertainment. Quit featuring her in the media every day. Wait until she has done something significant in Congress, then report it. Same for Beto. Let’s not have a repeat of 2016 a la Twitter and Trump. We don’t need any more social media superstars; we do need sensible, knowledgeable members of Congress. And we need sensible, knowledgeable reporters in the media, people who will report real news and real facts, not the stuff produced by social media.
10
@ASW
Many, many years ago, long before Twitter, Social Media, or the internet, another freshman Congresswoman got a similar buildup by the press. She was such a force in the House from Day 1 that the Republicans in Albany re-drew her district moving HER house into another popular Democrat's district, forcing her from the 19th into the 20th after just one term. She won anyway.
"I've been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella."
Yup, Bella Abzug.
1
I'm a fan of AOC and not of Trump, but I can't get away from the idea that AOC is a news/media darling.
5
Why is Ocasio-Cortez being promoted so much so often? More reason to doubt we are not being manipulated.
12
The Right’s obsession over AOC is a predictable mirror image of the Left’s obsession over AOC. She is a young, sharply intelligent, promising yet naive departure from the norm. She can handle Trump, Fox News and the Post. Her skill with social media keeps her on top of the news cycle. But like any superhero, she bears the burden of rapidly rising expectations. I worry most that she won’t survive the progressives’ 24-7 adulation, or her efforts to deliver on those expectations.
6
Forgive me for sounding old school and un-woke, but the instant Trump took the oath of office he became a public servant and stopped being a private citizen. He should have been told in no uncertain terms by our national security agencies that as POTUS he gave up his right to use his personal cell phone and twitter account as a megaphone. He's addicted to the attention-grabbing high he gets from twitter and knows he can count on the media to keep feeding his habit. His use of a private cell phone makes him -- and us -- vulnerable to hackers and his toxic tweets provoke our enemies. That should have been reason enough to take the would-be twittler-in-chief's toys away on Inauguration Day. POTUS and members of Congress (including social media prodigy AOC) have official twitter accounts whose sole purpose should be to keep the public informed on policy and other issues of national import.
3
She is the future and he is so yesterday. She will be arround Long after he is gone. Let her design the future while he is sticking to the past.
4
Read Bruni. I think we have our answer.
I don’t want our new member of Congress to become a master of the internet. I want her to focus on the issues. Fighting with a mad man on Twitter is not the way to go.
15
AOC has a razor-sharp wit and knows how to argue her points while being remarkable relatable. Trump has been named a great "counter-puncher," but if that's true, he should at least be unable to actually hurt someone with a similar skill set, yet he can't.
However, there's plenty of downside here for AOC. It is inherent in the very saturation which comes with being "Extremely Online" and exploiting a style defined by its "frantic tone." The pace of these modes of communication already foster a very limited attention span, and require truly inventive, and often increasingly outrageous marketing.
It is important to acknowledge that a great deal of what OCA is truly marking is herself, which means celebrity and image in a celebrity image worshiping culture. If it was actually about her profoundly compelling ideas, anyone could sell them.
When you burn out, or your followers lose interest because they’ve latched onto something they find more interesting, what do you do? Trump is cautionary tale; everything he now projects into social media simply makes his seem increasingly unhinged.
Trump was always a one-trick pony. All but his most rabid followers are long done with the novelty of his Twitter rants; they’re either disgusted, or worse, totally bored. It should be warning to OCA. She will eventually need to slow down, or no matter how talented she is she will either begin to burn out, or worse, have to start doing outrageous things to keep people from moving on.
4
I remain puzzled by those who think the 'disappointed Mom and Dad' meme concerning Pelosi and Schumer is some kind of sick burn against them.
It only reinforces the image that they are the adults in the room, giving a steady and measured response to the irresponsible and overly hormonal trump.
While 'boring' is, I suppose, a criticism, it is not the same as the kind of 'boring' criticism leveled at trump -- which carries the expectation that he thrill us by jumping off the porch roof into the pool. Again, the contrast only reinforces the distinction that works in the Democrats' favor.
Meanwhile, every time the Right gins up something even more nasty, Ocasio-Cortez smacks them down. And they just don't seem to learn from the bruising.
Again, the meme reinforces the theme: trump embodies the irresponsibility and thoughtlessness of youth; Ocasio-Cortez embodies the conscience, freshness and unwillingness to be held down.
The Democrats have a good team, combining sober maturity with exuberance and conscience.
The Republicans' gunpowder, on the other hand, is all wet.
7
Ms Ocasio-Cortez became a congress woman to make the world a better place. Mr Trump stepped into the game for power and self-enrichment.
Mr Trump feeds on anger and fear. Ms Ocasio-Cortez generates hope.
To me this was bound to happen. Nature is organised around opposites. By playing his base, feeding into the anger and fear, Mr Trump also created the opposition that will trump his message of hate and anger with hope.
Hate and fear will not last.
4
The Russians and other bad players have ruined the credibility of the internet, so who wins it will be meaningless- unless the US voting public doesn't wise up- and then we are doomed.
1
Making an analogy to the business world, if I hire a 29-year old electrical engineer I cannot expect her to be a master at international business management from day one, but that doesn't mean she's stupid or ignorant; one day that electrical engineer might well become CEO of a large corporation, but the wide range of skills required for the job cannot be acquired in a day.
The same applies to AOC: she can and she will develop knowledge beyond her core skills, but she needs to take her time, listen and learn from the experts, and participate in as many committees as possible to acquire in-depth knowledge in the subjects she's less proficient on (like foreign policy).
In the meantime, I love her insurgent, firebrand character and I wish her all the best. She can easily keep up with DT with her typically millennial online savvy, and I love that!
4
Count me as a techno-Luddite who Love^3's AOC.
But I still don't think tweeting policy at the governmental level, from dog catcher to the declaration of nuclear war (just wait, it's on the horizon) is an idea whose time has come.
2
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a razor-sharp wit and knows how to make her points using multiple platforms, all while being remarkable relatable, but isn't there downside here?
Being "Extremely Online" necessarily means intense saturation while also employing a style defined by its "frantic tone." Such rapid-fire modes of communication easily foster overload, while the pace requires constant and immediate invention. OCA is truly remarkable, but it's inevitable that even a master of such communication will at some point issue problematic statements she'd not issue if she took more time to consider them. In the case of Trump, credibility is as meaningless to him and his followers as is truth, but since OCA genuinely cares about truth, it's doubtful the same will apply to her.
It is also worth acknowledging that OCA is in many ways marketing herself, which means celebrity and image in a celebrity image worshiping culture. If everyone automatically "got" OCA's compelling ideas, anyone could sell them. This is something to simply be accepted; it's both foolish and naive to think that Democrats can win if they don't have charismatic and quick-witted representatives to confront Republicans while communicating their ideas.
Trump was always a one-trick pony. All but his most rabid followers are done with his Twitter rants; either disgusted, or worse, totally bored. Perhaps I'm simply alarmist, but I want OCA to continue to succeed, which means she'll eventually need to slow down.
1
She is not following in the footsteps of Trump. She is using the same tools and creating a new path.
135
@Fred R. Krauss
A Shining Path, perhaps?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Path
"...Who Will Win the Internet?
I sense it is the internet that will lose.
And that makes me quite sad.
The internet is neither 'bobblehead' nor 'human being'... but it always ends up picking up after the party.
Poor sad internet.
2
The problem with all the social media flash and glitter is that it is content-free. It only matters to the extent that the real media take it seriously, allowing it to set the agenda, and cowardly corporations buckle under to threats that are probably illusory. Ms Ocasio-Cortez' dancing was neither a coup nor a disaster in the real world; it was simply irrelevant.
There is every chance that people will eventually become weary of it, like an endless fireworks show. Then those with better things to do will find that they can get back to them, and the real media will start to treat Twitter with the indifference that it deserves and return to doing their job.
4
I agree that use of the internet and social media is very important and can keep one in the news cycle forever (think trump). I also think too much is too much and to use it to your advantage you must have a strategy. Trump has overused it to the point its a joke as he just blurts out lies and positions he changes daily. He does look like a bobblehead!! So far I believe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is much smarter.
1
I've got nieces and nephews older than AOC, and a son just 5 years younger. I think she is a wonderful, bold, brilliant breath of fresh air who can't be intimidated. This is a tough Bronx waitress who had to navigate and fend off jerks (like Trump) making inappropriate comments and eager to pinch her bottom while she worked. And she is, like my kids, nieces, and nephews, born into the Internet Social Media generation.
Nobody gets the better of her, and the stupidity of hassling her about dancing in college (Horrors! I guess young women and men stopped dancing in college in the years after I graduated in 1977--yes, I'm being sarcastic) backfired as she flipped it beautifully.
Last night, she was on TRMS and she was poised, sharp, on point, well-informed, logical, and consistent, exactly what you would hope any and every Representative to be, no matter their age or gender. I wish her well!
3
Born in the bronx. bronx science grad, this is my kind of politician. Go for for it AOC.We really need you.Speaking common sense to the electorate.
1
AOC - already a capital letter nom de guerre Like FDR or JFK ! - has that 'special something'. That thing you very rarely find, but can't quite put your finger on. It's not a female or male thing. It's a human thing. A thing that grabs you and speaks to your heart in the language of hope. She has maturity and grace beyond her years.
I look forward to seeing where she will go in politics. Of course she is going to run headfirst into hatred on the right. The power of her charisma and ideas is going to majorly threaten them. She will also run into jealousy from fellow democrats. But maybe she can defuse that ,just as she fearlessly stands up to critics and smear artists on the right.
I think their is a destiny for this woman. I wish her well, and hope I live long enough to see her rise. Our country needs her.
1
If "extremely online" is the way to go, when do you read, when do you ponder some deep problems? When do you reflect, let your unconscious work on something, let in what a possibly non-random pattern is trying to tell you, go out of your way and talk to someone you wouldn't ordinarily have a conversation with? Consider what you might be missing with your head bent over your phone? Remember we learn more during real back-&-forths with people; not one-way from me to you, either on-line or not.
2
Mr. Beale was extremely unhinged. So maybe neither Trump or Cortez are our best bet.
Trump used to be adept at using Twitter but his tweets now are rambling, multi-threaded messes rife with insecurity and obsession.
A Trump tweet during 2015-2016 was a news cycle event. Now, not so much.
1
We used to speak about savants, geniuses and phenoms as people with seemingly unworldly inborn talent. Now we use similar language to talk about people who are really good at manipulating other people by being “Extremely Online”. Somehow I have a problem equating the internet talents of AOC and Trump with Mozart, Michelangelo or Da Vinci. Perhaps I am not woke enough.
3
Trump.
People disregarded and hated Hillary.
Many people think Ocasio-Cortez should keep her mouth shut and listen and learn from others. She is young, inexperienced.
Because she won big in a district in New York, does not mean she can now take over. She needs a bit of knowledge and experience. As a Democrat, I agree.
2
Binary won't cut it unless AOC comes up with a formula for restoring tolerance, helpfulness and democracy -- the triadic basis for world harmony and US renewal.
I’ve become lees and less of a Trump supporter - and I didn’t vote for him in my state primary. But AOC is in a league of ineptitude all of her own. She’s a walking disaster.
4
I hope Congress will write a law that forbids a president from using social media while in office. Reason: national security.
2
Who cares about an internet win ??? Every 2 and 4 years Mr and Mrs America take a look. If they still have a job that is paying them enough money to have a comfortable life and they and their kids are safe all is well. If not, change will happen
Ocasio-Cortez, like Trump, doesn't understand the political system of the United States. She didn't know what the three branches of government are. Like Trump, she feels our system is rotten and needs revolutionary changes. Neither Trump nor Ocasio-Cortez knows how to be polite. Neither one knows that democracy is inherently moral.
4
Ocasio recently got some facts wrong and when questioned about her mistake she blew it off as insignificant. She said the intent of her statement was more important than the actual facts. Has she forgotten we have a president who daily ignores facts? Trump in 2016 came across to his supporters as a human being who understood their plight. Those who fail to remember are doomed to repeat.
9
AOC is quite a contrast to the Pelosi-Schumer Trump rebuttal.
If those two has one tenth of the leadership their sycophants ascribed to them, they wouldn’t have come across as the press release for The Walking Dead.
1
The actual gov and corp actions are concealed behind the barking by the attack dogs for sheer lust at the greatness of loud, continuous barking, but also for sheer shivering and shuddering, lascivious lust at all the shiny loot that the bafflingly ubiquitous, pernicious, incessant, deafening, and maddening barking hides and distracts from.
The Twitter is just an additional megaphone amplifying the reach and volume of the barking, but the senseless, brain & soul damaging barking was 24/7 shoutingly televised by FixNews before and still is, while tabloided full color with screaming headlines at all the strategic places.
As long as there is a near-monopoly of talk radio stations, local TV stations, and tabloid covers everywhere barking the shrill, deceptive lies, distractions, and cover-ups, with even the better MSM ineffective at fighting back while Big-Munney-subverted too, the contra of Cortez remains an uphill battle.
The truth needs tabloids too. The soft soothe of our saving grace, and ever so often our corrective blaze need local TV stations too. Our firm, clear, stable, generous, and blessing wisdom needs to reach out to us on our car radio frequencies too.
Occasionally a Cortez tweet won't do da trick. We need more shtick.
Having said that, Cortez is the blessing we need, as the candidate with the unshakable self-confidence and the sex appeal regularly wins the Presidency.
We need a Revolution Overthrowing the Corrupt Kleptocracy, Serving Truly as American Reina.
When I watched her on 60 Minutes, I was very impressed with AOC. She was by far the best-spoken, most seemingly intelligent, most attractive, most truly friendly-sounding Democratic politician on the planet. It scares me, for her best-spoken opinions were in the neighborhood of the moronic, her intelligence has obviously been skewered by a leftist agenda she probably brought out of college, her attractiveness will cause people to vote for her because of that alone when they are incapable of understanding the absolute horror of much of what she advocates, and her friendliness will draw people in in a way not seen since so many of them made the mistake of thinking that Bill Clinton's friendliness bespoke a reasonably moral human being. Too bad that, at 29 now, she won't be able to run for president until at least 2024, because she is, despite all of my objections just listed, the only Democrat around who seems at least a little bit really human. How did we come to this?
1
Can you imagine if more young leaders entered politics that were...*gasp*...more representative of the people who voted for them? Can you imagine a world where positive, forward-thinking, and even *omg I may actually just burst into flames* transformative politics can actually be supported by young political leaders?
AOC gives us hope in ways that transcend and disarm all those "divide and conquer" distracting talking points about identity politics on identity politics or "both sides-isms" that Op-Ed contributors of THIS PAPER IN PARTICULAR like to advance. AOC deserves so much credit for putting big and necessary topics on the national map. In the process, she's underscoring just how sad the DNC has become when her mere existence in Congress seems "radical" or "extreme".
Who else in the DNC has said out loud that perhaps cutting the DOD budget by... say.. 1-3% would be a good, necessary, and logical thing to do? Or that the Kavanaughs and Bezos of the world should pay their share in taxes?
2
I think the excitement AOC seems to generate among Democrats should cause these same Democrats grave concern about the quality of their next generation (those under 70 years of age) national candidates. Let’s be real about Ms. AOC. She won the congressional race after winning the primary. Why wouldn’t she? A Hispanic female candidate in a district almost 50% Hispanic in the midst of the #MeToo summer. Running against an old white guy how could she NOT win?
Keep in mind, all you who are waiting in breathless anticipation of pasting your AOC 2020 bumper sticker on your Prius, that Ms. AOC garnered just 100,000 votes in a district where the winning Democrat historically typically won with more than 135,000 votes and Mahoney once scored over 185,000 votes.
AOC is getting attention , not because she brings exceptional ideas or talents to her new job, but because she ‘looks’ like the progressive wing of the Democrat party. That’s not necessarily a good thing for Democrats as her act won’t fly except in places like Berkeley and N.Y. 14.
And even there she didn’t do as well as previous candidates have done. Really didn’t even come close.
2
I believe people miss the bottom line message of the movie
Network. Yes, Howard was person who could not take it anymore. But, if Howard had not gotten ratings, he would not have been on tv. Ratings are king. Out here in Phoenix, the local stations only show car accidents and police shootings.
Lot of flashing lights, Gets ratings. Helicopter shots of the action. They do not have outside reporters.
If a five year old decides to run for president and starts getting great ratings, the network will be all over the story.
Frances Perkins, 1933. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 2019 and forward to the future.
The internet is just an extension of the media. Whoever entertains best wins.
4
I am thrilled and full.of hope when I tune into some communication online from Beto or AOC. Conversely, when I'm unable to avoid a tRump tweet or public remarks because some program or newspaper is covering it, I feel angry and sick for hours. I believe people who actually enjoy tRump must have a kind of death wish, like Jim Jones' flock when they followed him into the jungle in South America. Common sense had to be telling them they weren't going to be able to get out, yet they went. And when he told them to feed the kool-aid to their children they did, and then they drank it themselves.
MAGA folks are passive consumers of media-drinking in tRump's act and Hannity's prescriptions of what they should do and believe.
In contrast, last night when I got online to check out Beto's walk along the border with his neighbors, I soon felt like a neighbor and a participant. Time flowed along as I shared the experience. Beto and AOC don't talk AT you. They include you.
tRump had a brief moment on Twitter, but now he's just your crazy, disgusting neighborhood crank, every day yelling at people to get off his lawn.
When you have money for designer clothing but not enough money to make a deposit on an apartment I really don’t want you to be my representative in Congress because bartending skills and the cash economy that it represents in part are not what we need for leadership.
Everyone, including me, would like to see Trump’s tax returns and I would like to see the Congresswoman’s as well.
Being able to put a pretty face on an Instagram posting and some clever verbiage appears to be the new threshold while espousing thoughts of using other people’s capital to support your needs. God help us if the socialists gain support because there isn’t enough of “other people’s money” to finance her whims
2
Trump uses Twitter to lie. Every day. AOC is trying to connect with people. Big difference.
1
I hope Trump and Ocasio-Cortez are not our only two choices in politics.
4
They will both win the Internet. In very different ways.
Mr. Trump will win the "worst president ever" award and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez may win the presidency one day.
Mr. Trump will soon be the ex-president and perhaps be in jail.
1
Regarding the 2020 Presidential campaign, one wonders if Bernie's ticker be able to withstand AOC's energy?
And she is great looking.
I love AOC! She so aweome, she even has become an acronym! I can hardly wait until she tours Venezuela or, perhaps Cuba, to "live stream" how fantastic it is to have free healthcare and walls that keep people IN rather than OUT. I'd also like her to do a TED Talk about economics and the life-changing magic of giving away other people's money for free; she could then do a Wacka-Mole meme like Oprah giving out cars, of No, that's not socialism! No, that's not socialism either! And no, of course, that's not socialism! Socialism is magical (start Internet kitty meme), free health care floats down from the sky, raining Unicorn stuff as rich people pay 99.9% of their income in taxes yet keep working because she's just so adorable. But despite all that, I love her! She's fresh. She's fun. She's exciting. Maybe she really IS the Trump of the Left. Don't think too deeply about her, or Trump, as there may be nothing behind either one of them except 1's and lots and lots and lots of zeros.
1
Well it's nice to know the mainstream media has found its Flavor of the Month with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Just think a year ago she was serving Whiskey Sours and Martinis to those angry white guys she's now determined to bring down. Not since Barack Obama, an unknown junior Senator from Illinois, announced he was running for president have I ever seen the media shamelessly swoon over a neophyte politician. AOC was barely in Congress a week when she as sitting for a 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. There are Members of Congress who have been toiling away in Congress for 25 years and they've never been interviewed by anyone.
It's good to be the Flavor of the Month.
3
So Trump doesn’t listen , while AOC listens.
Aren’t these typical behavior patterns of the genders ??
Nevertheless, the ability to listen is what makes AOC so likable. She is in the news regularly these days , Hopefully, she also learns about policies at work & starts to contribute actively to legislative work. Or else , she might end up being a shooting star.
Wonder if she were around during the Obama presidency, how much of a difference could she have made?
32
@The Gray American not sure if Trump listens or not just because someone seems like they are not listening means little. Regardless the twitter talk is just distraction while things happen. For instance no one mentions that the government has not spent billions of dollars because of the shut down or that both sides may want it to keep going for various reasons
@The Gray American
What does it mean when you say she listens.
Do you mean she hears the other side a nd like Trump rejects it.
@tom Hickie Not spending it doesn't mean they don't owe it. The unpaid bills pile up whether they're paid or not. Any homeowner knows that . . .
4
I think Kara Swisher is onto something with her comments about these two politicians, and juxtaposing her thoughts against networks Howard Beale epiphany is spot on. Upon being threatened with removal his is the perfect reaction and articulation of social media addiction, which is what both Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a goodly number of other American's by the way, suffer from.
They are in thrall to our latest drug, our digital narcotic of choice, the Twitters and all the rest. For real sanity's sake we need an intervention, though if you threaten to remove it from them they will suffer the same conclusion; they will collapse into nothingness.
Not a bad thing from other some folks perspective, eh?
John~
American Net'Zen
6
@John Gosh! Just like that old black, dial telephone when old Al Bell put it on the market. Just like TV's first five inch 20/20 vision and a magnifying glass required set that took center stage in every living room. What's new? Oh! And computers!!
Move along, folks, nothing to see here . . .
2
Are these our only options for "winning the internet"? If so, we are in big trouble. While I am on the same page politically with AOC, I can't help but wonder if she's more talented at "clapping back" on social media than being an effective legislator (who knows? She's been in office for ONE WEEK). Her posts are certainly more thoughtful than Trump's, but I refuse to admit that he is the standard, and I rarely see her choosing the high road over slapping others down. Could someone who's focused on unity and hope over mean-spirited, boastful self-promotion possibly win the internet?
2
We have to realize that we are a bi-polar nation. Ms Cortez and her fresh message cannot penetrate the Republican bubble. They will only see a brown skinned Latina who is trying to upset their white first order.
Similarly, while Trump is the most negative lout, perhaps on earth, he cannot penetrate the liberal bubble.
These two are competing ships, passing in the night, who's followers can do nothing but loath the other.
She is the future of our country - he is our sad, sorry past.
54
@bobbybow
Who cares about the GOP bubble. It's the rest of the country that matters.
6
@Nb
True but the same is true with the moderate Democrats like Schumer.
It will be true in liberal states like in New York . and California.
It won't just be Republicans
@bobbybow
If socialism is the future of the US, then I'll stay abroad.
And talk about bubbles, you must have missed the map of the 2016 election that the NYT published. You'll see a sea of red with islands of blue.
As soon as Ocasio-Cortez started talking about how she would pay for her wonderful programs (increase taxes on the elites), it was just a matter of time before the elite's long knives came out.
There is no more certain road to wealth in America than progressive politics (see the Clintons or Maxine Waters), so I expect she will be able to make millions off her status if she learns how to tow the line.
If she continues to actually be serious about change, she will be destroyed.
1
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a gem. She is young, intelligent, informed and can articulate her positions and point of view coherently. In other words she is diametrically the opposite of Trump.
I admire her bold ideas. America needs the implementation of bold initiatives desperately. Too bad, Republicans continue to regurgitate the old, rejected policy of tax cuts for the rich. Maybe one day they will get someone who will break from the pack and articulate ideas that will give us a better country.
2
Not AOC. I am a lifelong Democrat who can't stand her unrealistic idealism. We need someone who does not easily alienate people and who can bring people together to take baby steps toward progressive change. Picking AOC and her ilk as the face of the "new" Democratic Party is like relying on the lottery for your retirement plan.
2
Trump is grandpa who discovered what the kids have been doing since 2006 (I remember following Chris Cillizza for the 2008 election live Tweets). As young tech internet savvy people moved on Grandpa discovered Twitter. Trump and Twitter are quite passe and he will be left in the dust. Why the media even covers his tweets as live news I have not figured out.
What is left out on Trump is Trump fatigue. The more exposed the less watched. Check out the "great" Apprentice ratings. They went from a 7 to 15 share year 1 to 2 and then finished in year 6 at 131 (or 28 mill viewers for the final year 1 and 4 mill+ for year 6)
If we have conceded that the measure of a good politician is their ability to sling insults at critics on Twitter, Trump has already won.
This column popped out just as I was thinking the same thoughts. That said, A.O.C. risks becoming a Trump-like figure herself. The tit-for-tat sniping is tiresome and reduces our government to an ongoing episode of "Jersey Shore" or the Kardashians. I would like to see less tweeting and much more substantive action. Action, after all, speaks louder.
4
@AOC hands down. Before the advent of TV, let alone internet social media, a big part of expressing politics was caricature. When the right wing trolling AOC backfired, a star was born. While AOC's may be too progressive even for the moderate dems, a photogenic image has softened the backlash.
That said, don't underestimate Trump troll troops, they may lose a round but they have a lot of dark money for their causes
3
Odd that you'd say that both Trump and Ocasio-Cortez have a "frantic tone". Frantic could be used to describe Trump, but I think manic/hysterical would be a better fit, while Ocasio-Cortez has more of a lively, enthusiastic feel to her online communications. There is a difference.
9
I know it’s a reality of today’s world but this is so depressing to me.
I’m psyched AOC can keep pace with the tweeter in chief and others in his camp to frame the debate and set the agenda... and that she does it in a more human and authentic way that connects.
But it’s still the online world which is carefully curated with a barrier and elicits herding mentality. Maybe you get quick wins but that doesn’t solve problems. We must remember this and not forget that change can’t happen without face to face human interaction.
Go meet and listen (not talk) to folks who are different on their turf. Be present and cognizant not to judge. Hear their stories from the past and today. Empathize. Consider. For real. On both sides.
Much is written about the importance of understanding how to use technology for future success. And how AI is gonna solve everything.
In my opinion, we need to teach our kids more about EQ. It’s under appreciated and, more importantly, we’re doomed without it.
4
One of them also has youth on her side. Years and years of influencing to come.
6
Ocasio-Cortez has the rare ability to articulate and unite the Democratic Party around policies that the majority of Americans, across all generations, will support. As Trump's and his GOP enablers' fortunes literally and figuratively decline in the coming weeks, Ocasio-Cortez's sustained focus on bold and common sense policies that actually matter to the majority of Americans will, in contrast, help make the 2018 Blue Wave even bigger in 2020.
9
@Frank Monachello Thanks for the pretense.
I can understand why people are excited about AOC, and I do think her heart is in the right place. However, I find it extremely unsettling just how much power and attention we're giving to a Congresswoman who has not yet served a full month in office. We've seen how politicians have been deified in recent years with Trump and Sanders, and now we're seeing the same with her. Even this article feels more like an excuse to praise AOC than anything else -- I think most of went into this knowing that no reporter that writes for The NYT is going to publish an article commending Trump's use of social media.
Ironically, I fall right into AOC's target audience: I'm a young, female New Yorker with college loans and medical bills to pay. And yet I can't shake the feeling that she's more of a celebrity than a politician: she's appeared on every late-night talk show and devotes an exorbitant amount of time to responding to every one of her critics on Twitter. I admire her lack of pretensions, yet when she uses phrases like "mansplaining," it feels like she's trying to manipulate someone like me, to trigger an emotional response (which, to be fair, I suppose makes her more of a politician).
Overall, I think AOC is a sincere woman who wants to change the country for the better. But at the end of the day, she is one of 435 House representatives, most of whom have more experience than her. There is no reason to regard her as the unofficial face of the Democratic party.
25
@Autumn "heart in the right place" also, mouth. That's a good thing right?
1
The absolute key thing for the Dems in the upcoming year is NOT to be distracted and not to engage with Trump's constant distractions...
If it is true, as another commentator wrote that AOC is not doing this online, then she is the only one who truly GETS how to handle him. He has the notable ability to keep everyone distracted and he keeps changing the "story"....the news cycle can't keep up; the Dems can't keep up.
Thing the Dems need to do is IGNORE him as much as possible and state their own position, which imo should be medicare for all, infrastructure , getting rid of Citizen's United and whatever else is truly important.
7
Her lead post on Twitter and Facebook right now is about never giving up - about how just a year ago she was a 28 yr. old waitress who had been sidetracked by family financial burdens and who felt that her chance to make more of her life had come and gone. Everyone should read it. It was beautifully written and one of the most inspiring things I’ve read. I totally get why people, especially young people, so relate to her.
16
Max Boot compared AOC to Sarah Palin, but I think a more apt comparison is to Ivanka, except in a socialist version. AOC seems to broadcast her 'relatability' too often in her posts like Ivanka broadcasts her glamour against a political backdrop. I don't understand why people think she's so talented.
And, just like Bob Corker once gushed about Ivanka's brilliance, AOC is given far too much credit based on her appearance. I didn't find the video of her dancing her way into her office refreshing; I found it a sad and immature version of the "look at me" college dance video which she should have outgrown by now. She seems overly focused on what people say about her - reacting to every perceived slight - and to now be completely out of her depth.
Compare this to Adam Schiff's quiet and effective intellect. At 30, in CA, he successfully prosecuted an FBI agent who betrayed the US. Maybe accessibility and relatability aren't enough without character, knowledge (even about basic civics) and experience. Or to a young Nancy Pelosi or Elijah Cummings . . .
What concerns me is that looks, more often those of women, over substance resonate with so many people irrespective of ideology.
13
@Robin
I think the media has really underestimated the role Ivanka played in getting her father elected. Even if we do not like to admit it, she has always come across as likable, bright, attractive and well-spoken. She was at the forefront of her father's campaign, and voters took notice of it, even if only subconsciously.
1
@Robin
"What concerns me is that looks, more often those of women, over substance resonate with so many people irrespective of ideology."
It certainly seems to resonate with you...
3
Ms Ocasio-Cortez did not put a college video out- some GOP trolls did to disparage her - it backfired when the public found it charming.
2
I object to saying that AOC is "flowing in Trumps footprints." Obama, and even Dean preceded Trump as politicians who knew how to use social media for political purpose. Trump has taken it to the mud, so not anybody's role model, IMHO.
4
She'll win it: The face of Cuba 1959. Was popular then, not so much today.
2
@Alice's Restaurant
Why is it that anything that benefits the broad public is soviet socialism? As if what conservatives give us is capitalism.
The problem is that when people deal with these concepts, they are dealing with a theory that exists absolutely nowhere at any time in human history.
The reality is that any stable and sane system is a blended system. Capitalism with central banks, huge multinational companies, and rampant monopolization is not capitalism the theory. Any more than Bolshevism was socialism the theory.
Decent wages, universal healthcare, and progressive taxation is simply a point on the spectrum. And it tends to be the marker of civilizations that value profit AND the common weal.
14
@Andy Makar you have a good point. I think we should try to move away from outdated terms like socialism and capitalism, which carry generations of baggage and are open to being understood in radically different ways by different segments of the population.
Personally I'd prefer that we refer to our current economic-political ideologies much more descriptively, something like "everyone's-well-being-ism" and "enrich-the-wealthy-ism" to avoid the confusion around these terms :-)
3
The fundamental difference between Trump’s ranting 280 character tweets and AOC’s Instagram photos with lengthy captions and uniquely (for a politician) personal videos is that there’s a relatable human being conveyed by the latter, whether you agree with her politics or not.
Who will win “the internet”? AOC hands down. The medium is the message.
4
I agree that both djt and AOC get attention through their online activities.
His are a bad-tempered monotone. He is no more able to deliver humor and good nature on social media than he can have a good laugh in person. AOC makes her case with devastating but decent and not vindictive humor. Like most young people, she could probably teach her elders more than they could ever handle about technology and social media. djt may have learned the mechanics of how to tweet. But what he has not learned, and never will, is decency. His schtick is getting boring and I'm sure it will slowly but surely become turn-off to many of his more more marginal fans.
More to the point, AOC teaches her fellow Democrats how important it is not to be mealy-mouthed and sound embarrassed about voicing liberal and progressive beliefs. Of course Bernie Sanders did the same, but as someone who has a few years even on Bernie, I think it's great that all of a sudden there's a generation of youngsters renewing the Democrats. The party is fortunate to have them setting a very public agenda in a manner that has been lacking for years.
27
Representative Ocasio-Cortez is a positive influence both on and off line. Is it really all that important that she still has much to learn? She is very intelligent and creative and will learn as she experiences, just as all of us do. I find her genuinely warm on her on-line presence. The President leaves me cold.
14
I don’t want my congressman to be figuring their jobs (and Basic math) out at $175k a year
Why exactly is AOC all over the airwaves and social media when she has only been on the job for a matter of days? Since when does a junior congresswoman become the vociferous message bearer of the Democratic party when she has not yet served on a committee nor cast a vote? It would serve her well to quietly and humbly learn the political intricacies of the job from those who have been serving far longer than she. Seasoned legislators like Nancy Pelosi and others have much to offer her as she matures into her congressional career. Her star has not yet risen.
17
@HMP She calls people on the things that matter, in a unique, direct, and refreshing way, regardless of party.
9
Life is unfair, is it not?
Because the liberal woman getting all the airtime happens to be young and, let's face it, downright hot, suddenly everybody wants her to take the back seat, to learn from her elders, and to sit quietly on the bench while the veterans try the same old tactics? No way!
Why is she everywhere? Maybe it is because she is a twenty-something, with almost no background in politics, who came out of nowhere to improbably defeat Crowley, an entrenched elderly white male Democratic party operative who many thought might be the next speaker of the house, by arguing that unfettered capitalism is a dead end! That was a 1980, USA vs USSR hockey level upset. Maybe it is the message. Is it any wonder all the conservatives are relentlessly attacking her? Of course, they see her as a threat!
The game is on, and it is still in doubt. She's got skill. Let her play her game.
2
We used to speak about savants, geniuses and phenoms as people with seemingly unworldly inborn talent. Now we use similar language to talk about people who are really good at manipulating other people through on-line tools and technologies. Somehow I have a problem equating AOC and (Heaven Help Us!) Trump with Mozart, Michelangelo or Da Vinci.
8
This is exactly the kind of trivialization of politics that we need to avoid. AOC is fantastic not because of her mastery of the digital universe, but because of her old fashioned ideas about economic justice, compassion, and empathy for human beings. Let's talk about that and give the glib techno theorizing a rest.
14
So, what's going on here? Why is "AOC", who was a Bernie activist, now getting such positive press? Krugman, Dowd and now here? Bernie gets abysmal coverage - and AOC is celebrated. Her political positions may have great substance. But her knowledge and communication skills do not represent progressive politics well. She may have a face and body that both men and women want. But she does not have a command of the issues that the under-represented people of our society need. Bernie does - and this paper and mainstream media know it. Time will probably tell whether AOC is being promoted now, specifically, because she's an attractive lightweight or because she made a Faustian deal to endorse someone like Warren.
4
Tell me...how many bills has Independent Bernie Sanders sponsored in his tenure as a senator? AOC ran as a Democrat and has a right and responsibility to communicate her policy positions via any and all means of communication. I am 65 and thrilled to see younger and more diverse faces representing me.
6
@mbamom
As he is an Independent, Bernie made his mark in Congress through committee work, amendments and filibusters. Getting bills passed, basically, requires affiliation in either of the two parties. The people of VT (where I used to live) re-elected Bernie by huge margins time and again. They wouldn't have done this if he was ineffectual. AOC's tweets were not an issue for me. I heard a few lengthy interviews of her and she sounded like a high school student to me (though I liked her views).
1
@carl bumba
Guess what, her knowledge of issues and policies and her compassion and empathy for working people are even better than her face and body. Imagine that.
I notice that while you feel free to slam her mastery of the issues you provide no specific examples. A clear sign of someone who has no mastery of the issues.
Putting AOC and Beto in the same article should be against the law. Alexandria is an earnest reformer. The latter is a corporate-owned politician, sure to give us nothing but more of the status quo.
7
Hear, hear.
Why is this a contest about who will "win the internet" ?! Shouldn't this be about who wins the legislative battle and the wider issue of good governance?
I expect nothing from Trump in that arena. But I expect more, much more, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I am glad she got elected and now rightly occupies her place in the House Of Representatives. But perhaps instead of the emphasis of being "fully online", Ms. Cortez should highlight and promote her legislative agenda a lot more.
Ditto for the media coverage which seems more fixated with Representative Cortez's dancing reenactment, her fashion and talk show interviews... which does nothing but belittle her position in Congress and diminishes her office as well.
The hope was and remains that the new generation of legislators (timely) elected last November under the banner and real desire for change, will actually embody and become that change, beyond just rhetoric and wishful thinking.
13
Thank you for bringing up the point of good governance! A concept that is diminishing in value these days but is desperately needed.
3
I think it is worthwhile to ask if Ms. Ocasio-Cortez can defeat a Republican opponent. This column suggests that the answer may be yes.
3
I believe she did, albeit in a very safe, blue district. If they actually ran one against her. The more important thing is that she beat an old school Democratic Party opponent in the primary. Changing of the guard? Torch has been passed? This is what should be opening some eyes, at least for the left.
2
If social media internet savvy is now the holy grail in human leadership, I say let’s go full cycle and turn it all over to AI to guide us in everything we do. All we’ll be good for anymore is to reboot the server when it crashes.
6
AOC should have provided the prime-time response to Trump. Also, bobbleheads have more intelligence and integrity than Trump, despite their hollow, spring-mounted heads. So please do not insult them by such comparison!
7
As a country we can (and must) do better than DJT or AOC.
17
@Harry
Like Rick Scott? too funny....
I don't know if Ms.AOC. is the voice of the future. My advice to her is, tone down your rhetoric, listen and learn.
24
I am sure she is going to get put in her place by the older generation who created the current mess, including Trump. Millennials didn’t vote Trump in—we did. Thank you, next.
2
Siddown and shaddap, young lady - that's your advice?
Bless your heart.
1
Amazing to realize AOC and her 'freshman' class have been elected to Congress and unable to serve because the government has been shut down since Day One of their term.
With ever passing day I feel the country and I are falling at a faster and faster rate down the proverbial rabbit hole.
4
Attention and adulation can be corrupting influences. Let us pray that this young woman's intelligence, wit and spirit do not fall prey to the destructive influences of celebrity, wealth and media attention
9
The revolution will not be Twitterized. In thirty years, the all-caps name in the headings of history book chapters will be the Extremely Offline Robert Mueller. I'm a democrat, but let's be careful about falling in love with witty, good-looking candidates, short on experience, who might know how to dance, or play the saxophone.
16
But the resolution will.
Only in America do our superstars arrive without having accomplished virtually nothing.
23
@Joe, The Kardashian phenomena.
1
Pardon my saying so, but that doesn't not make nonsense.
1
But I doubt Trump supporters (I am not one) perceive him as a cartoon bobblehead. Likely the reverse.
I think Claire McCaskill, a sober and experienced legislator, had it right by referring to Cortez as a "a bright shiny new object." The freshman representative, a Democrat Socialist, has a tiny regional constituency, little experience, and a big mouth. Despite the inordinate attention and free publicity she's been granted by the Democrat-leaning press, she's about to find out that she's a very small fish in a big ocean.
17
@Ed L. Oh, I think it's the right-leaning press that's giving her all the free media. They are obsessed with her, and so she is called on to answer for herself. If the right was not on her case all the time, she would've faded into normalcy by now.
1
@Dominic
The political right is focused mainly on reacting to the over-the-top and fawning coverage Ms. Cortez has received from the left since her election, coverage well out of proportion to her actual experience and accomplishments.
Meanwhile, the inexperienced freshman representative was spurned for a choice slot on the House Ways and Means Committee, a tax-writing position where she sought to push her progressive agenda. The job went instead to a moderate Democrat, Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, a former CPA, attorney and county executive.
After seeing the title of this article and thinking these are the
two people running our country, I am so glad I am leaving
NYC for Mexico.
6
As far as I’m concerned, winning the internet means you lost.
12
I can't stand either.
12
I'm a huge AOC fan and I'm a 55 year old white guy from suburbia surrounded by Trumpers! She's a force and it's as if the GOP anointed her "the one to watch" with their constant attacks before she even knew it herself! AOC/BETO 2020! In the past I'd say too young not enough experience but after Trump why not? Slam dunk the old guard, get them all out! I mentioned to my millennial kids how impressive AOC is with social media they looked at me with disdain..."uhh yeah, no big deal that's how it is now, get over it." It's their world now and I'm cheering them on!
17
Completely agree Michael. The old (over 45) electorate had their chance and look where we are now? Love how they are oblivious to that fact. And Baby Boomers pushed more Russian propaganda on Facebook as unwittingly useful fools.
1
What every incumbent politician seems to be unaware of is that they are aging/old and that young, new faces with new ideas are coming in behind them.
They can resist this influx for only so long - ie: before they die or retire out. This is not politics, it is life.
They should be imbuing these new people with a sense of purpose and a belief in the institutions they chose to become part of - not poisoning their thoughts with partisan biases and lies.
And, yes, like parents bringing up headstrong children, they should expect, and not be affronted by, the fact that these 'youg'ns' don't hold the same values or think the same way.
2
I don't think it's very polite to refer to the 20-something phenom as a "cartoon bubblehead."
4
An important difference between Trump and AOC is she can spell. And articulate her thoughts clearly.
20
Alexandria is blessed not only with a keen sense of the truth that she will/can not discount, which then morphs into strong political convictions that she delivers with aplomb and extraordinary poise, but look; Alexandria has a compelling physical presence. Her eyes are piercing and yet clear with justice, her chiseled features are beguiling and her countenance is striking in the extreme; what she delivers is fully credible and convincing through her shear force of personality!
She owns loads of archetypal qualities, and seemingly nature loves her. People love her! How can they not?
Alexandria is a force to be reckoned with, she Rules!
Trump is a Monster! Monsters don't win, they only trade in fear for they are insecure and mean;they give rise to fear in infantile minds and manipulate weak and uninformed people.
Alexandria has an extraordinary future ahead! Trump, I believe, will end his life in jail!
8
This brought to mind the 1965 hit by the one-and-done garage rock band, The Gentrys: “Keep On Dancin’!”
1
Internet is Youth. How many Trump Peers excel at it? AOC WIns
5
You write:
One of them comes across as a human being and the other as a cartoon bobblehead.
Which one is which?
For me, they are both "cartoon bobbleheads".
8
"“Constant content creation forces your opponent to respond to you.” It means you are creating the news."
Consider NY14's audience. Young, connected, hip and mobile. If you are constantly creating content, it begins to look like a laser pointer and a hyperactive pet. Amusing. But, not educational.
1
" But one of them comes across as a human being and the other as a cartoon bobblehead."
Please reconsider being so hard on AOC.
Her positions on issues are predictable left-wing fantasies, but she can dance.
And who doesn't want Fred Astaire in the WH, with top hat and tails?
4
Haha, you had me at the title, Kara. Our son goes to your alma mater, PDS, and we as a family like where you’ve been landing on topics like this (and topics such as Zuckerberg’s abdication of responsibility...we watch you on CNBC too). Keep up the good work.
Main difference: He's the shrill one.
3
The one who promotes a top personal income tax rate of 70%, the abolishment of ICE, open borders, and is a self-proclaimed radical, comes across as the cartoon bobblehead.
8
Mr. Beale not only was Extremely Online, but he still is Extremely Online because the internet is spacetimeless.
The Network reference was super, funny sad.
2
The media love her. Every time she opens her mouth out comes something absurd. She’s great for entertainment.
9
Ocasio-Cortez will win the Internet by her intelligence. Trump fakes his.
2
Howard Beale was also barking mad!
I'm all with AOC.
4
Ocasio-Cortez has displaced Obama as the darling of the media. Each day brings a new glowing article about this cute but completely inexperienced politician who continually faces soft ball questions and adulation. Reporters, if you are still capable, do your job and ask a few tough questions now and then.
6
The presumed advantages stated here may turn into liabilities higher the office considered. I don't want the guy next door, or God forbid guy like me, to be the President. Congress? Maybe, why not. But people want the POTUS to be larger than anything they know. Some aura of mystique and mystery is needed. Obama had it it, and if you can get past your Trump trauma, so did he. Yes, Beto is looking like Will Conway in House of Cards in more ways than one, but sorry that was a filmed entertainment, plus he did not win. His brand is now freely intermingled with cat videos, daring jumps and iPhone tips. Streaming having his teeth cleaned? Would you pick a brain surgeon for your child's operation who does that? Familiarity does breed contempt. Familiarity is different from presence and visibility.
Remember, the very things that make college QB's fun to watch stars become there biggest liabilities in NFL.
"They know how to control the narrative. But one of them comes across as a human being and the other as a cartoon bobblehead."
Yes Ocasio-Cortez is clearly the bobblehead.
3
Funny, Ocasio-Cortez always struck me as an ignorant millennial who thinks she can wave a magic wand an create money to spend.
12
Such a shame that these two individuals and their (both) outlandish behaviors make the news. They share one very critical characteristic in common - they are both very naïve when it comes to how the government operates.
1
November 2918, Blue Wave, huge turn out ! America sent a strong and loud message to Donald and the GOP!
My money is on Alxendria Ocasio Cortez! She’s the future!
3
I find her to be caustic, arrogant and totally out of touch with the real world.
8
..it's enough with the 'AOC phenom' - let's get real - the Democrats need to tee up a great candidate in one year - we need a moderate - no revolutions - just good, sound leadership. No demonstrations, no swearing, no take over the world - we want a respectful, experienced politician who has no extreme agenda - it's what will be necessary to defeat President Trump.
Joe Biden in 2020 -
the AOC's make nice poster children, outside of that, their influence inside the Beltway will be de minimis at best...….
1
I cry for journalistic discourse when BuzzFeed is now accepted without protest by New York Times columnists as on par with The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.
Looking forward to Charlie Warzel's contributions to NYT!
3
Anyone who bets on a septuagenarian over a vicenarian regarding Internet prowess is clueless.
3
Showboat vs. showboat.
4
More like Tug-Boat vs. Speed-Boat.
It is such a breath of fresh air to follow this rising political star that appears to be shaking up the Washington old guard. This and the head-to-head verbal sparing with the twitter-head himself is a true bonus. AOC would have been a much better choice to respond to the Trump wall-rant than Pelosi and Shumer. While I have the greatest respect for them, they just look too unappealing and blah. AOC just seems so sharp and futuristic!!!! You go girl.
4
I am reading the Gorgias this week - it is funny how history repeats itself.
2
Another similarity between AOC and DJT:
The media’s unhealthy obsession with them won’t end well for anybody.
10
Dear Alexandria, Many thanks for injecting some fun and new ideas into what was becoming a very tedious story.
Keep banging away on the tax policy issue. You are
on the right track.
If Mr. Trump doesn't like it you must be doing the right thing !!!
saludos de sunny Yucatan
Ancient Canadian economist
PS
google Falstaff...
4
Oh, please. The left wing democrats are losing their minds. This person wants a 70% tax rate!! She simply wants to keep the welfare state giving people more reasons not to work. She is young and photogenic and just slurping up the attention. Why don’t we wait until she actually accomplishes something legislatively before we anoint her for sainthood, ok?
8
Marginal, Chuck. And don't worry. You will never pay it.
Bless your heart.
I cant wait until her followers outnumber his....
4
A unproven person a lot of her progressive ideas while admirable are not realistic and run counter to the mainstream that is not open to socialist welfare state proposals. A chicken in every pot a car in every garage. Let her youth enjoy the moment she is in. I'm happy she is not one of the foul mouth new comers. But tailor your agenda to what is achievable you are a Freshman congresswoman. LBJ was able to push the Civil Rights Act in 1964 but he was in the Senate many years and President. Listen and Learn Breakfast Club was a fun movie but so was Fast times at Ridgemont High learn from the Speaker she is the Oracle.
3
So multimedia - video and audio - is Extremely Online while text only is just online? There are fundamental, world changing technologies (Deep Learning, data mining, VR) and there is "shiny shiny". Twitter is ephemeral and will just be just a memory in the blink of an eye, the AOL of our time. I'd say the Democrats should go with someone who understands policy, maybe even with a background in foreign affairs who has a hope of repairing our position in the world after the Trump debacle. Nothing I've seen about Ocasio-Cortez indicates to me that she's ready for that role.
56
@Dan W. Well, among other things, she far too young to be president. Maybe in the 6 years it’ll take her to be just barely old enough, she can learn enough about policies of various areas to qualify. Give the woman a chance. She’s had a very interesting start! Plus she has something rare in a politician: a sense of humor.
42
@Dan W.Fogat
Sorry, but for me the movie shows the direction that networks will take to get ratings.
If it get ratings, the networks will cover it. Fact of life
5
@Dan W. - "Nothing I've seen about Ocasio-Cortez indicates to me that she's ready for that role."
For a ready response (strictly from memory) from defenders of Trump on various comment boards over the past couple of years, "Give her time! Give her time!"
18
“'I feel vivid and flashing, as if suddenly I’d been plugged into some great electromagnetic field,' he says. 'It is a shattering and beautiful sensation. It is the exalted flow of the space-time continuum, save that it is spaceless and timeless and of such loveliness. I feel on the verge of some great, ultimate truth. And you will not take me off the air for now or for any other spaceless time!'
"Mr. Beale was Extremely Online."
No. When he gave that speech, Mr. Beale was Extremely Unhinged.
The point of "Network" was that people were being utterly dehumanized and turned into entertainment products. At the beginning of the movie, Howard Beale got a sudden flash of this truth, a quick glimpse of the puppeteers by the fire behind him.
Beale felt that he was being crushed by the information flow -- fighting back against it energized him, but it eventually drove him mad. That is the Howard Beale of that speech at the end of the movie. He feels that he has become one with the dehumanizing information flow, just before it does, in fact, crush him.
Maybe AOC is enough of a digital native that the information can flow through her, and she can direct it, like a wizard. Trump thinks that he is the master of it, but he is truly just the pathetic small man behind the curtain.
87
@NFC
Maybe AOC is enough of a digital native that the information "can flow through her, and she can direct it,..."
The wind flows thru.
She passes it.
In my view.
2
It would be nice if the media instead of anointing the new star of the world, would give some coverage to some of the other newly elected members of congress. Perhaps they too were articulate, intelligent, and even attractive enough to get elected.
17
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has a significantly higher IQ than Trump and clearly has a better understanding of social media use. She's a bright star. Trump is a fading star. She has a future in politics. Trump is all but finished and when Cohen testifies in Congress next month he will be toast.
She represents the new Democrat Party and in my 70s I support her wholeheartedly.
23
Setting this up as a competition between her and Trump for internet presence is annoying and extremely unfair to her. Of course Trump will continue to dominate almost everything and everyone in politics online (if you really consider twitter online - many of us don't use it, although we end up having to read about it). She is just using social media to make a connection with her constituents, even while conservatives keep forcing her into the national conversation by harassing her online.
4
True, but it comes down to policy. And unfortunately Ms. Ocasio-Cortez essentially is doing the bidding of the bipartisan Koch Brothers and Chamber of Commerce crowd on the issue of immigration, especially by her & fellow Democrats continuing opposition to the policy reforms unanimously recommended by President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform (led by African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan).
I.e., her opposition to such Jordan Commission recommendations as chain migration reform; elimination of the diversity visa lottery; reduction of legal immigration from the 1980's and 1990's average of 750,000 per year down to 500,000 per year (to account for the predicted labor market changes from NAFTA and automation that have virtually all come true), etc. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is no doubt a human being and internet-savvy but the immigration policies of mass migration and de facto open borders she supports will continue to drive down wages; hurt the environment; and increase demands on public schools, as they must continue to provide increased funds for mandated ESL, free-school lunch, and other social support interventions for illegal alien children, etc., at the expense of the children of US citizens and legal immigrants. Sprawl, traffic, habitat and ecosystem destruction, and diminished water resources across California, the desert Southwest and Midwest (Oglalla Aquifer). This is end result of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez policies.
12
TL;DR
Besides, "chain migration" is how Our President brought the in-laws over.
1
Regardless of whether they lean forward (e.g., A O-C) or backward (e.g., DJT), wannabe leaders running for political office should never gain office based solely on their messaging skills and showmanship (or showwomanship).
Reagan, Obama, Trump -- all got into office largely due to their ability to" control the narrative."
Scary.
3
Personally, I think Alexandra comes across as a bit of an air head. She seems to be very short on facts in every interview I have seen. She would do well to study up on the facts, as should President Trump. Comparing her to Trump is setting a low bar when it comes to facts.
17
I don't care for Trump, but he buried more experienced politicians than AOC with his Jackie Mason style put downs. He incrementally takes something that might conceivably have a small amount of truth and incrementally takes it out to the furthest extreme possible, until the person, place, or thing has been thoroughly made a subject of ridicule. He has also had the experience of going through a Comedy Central Roast, where he had the opportunity to watch the best in the business trade barbs. AOC doesn't have those kind of iron cage skills, so it would best if someone else from his opposition comes forward. Best person to do it, any politician who has served in the military in a combat zone. He doesn't have a lot of snappy answers for those individuals, and when he has tried, it even makes his base unhappy with him.
1
No, the best person to take him down is someone who knows how to handle internet trolls. Because that's Our President's persona in a nutshell.
1
2024. Just one more election, and she can run.
7
Yes, so far AOC is a phenom, in many ways the anti-trump and the next torch-bearer of Bernie's postponed revolution. But long term, to me, AOC will prove her political brilliance by becoming neither oversaturated nor cynical.
256
@Murray Bolesta
Here's hoping you are right, and that this bright, early star will not succomb to saturation and cynicicsm. It's pretty tough for a newcomber not to do so - the lobbies visit them before they even get an office, and the fundraising demands sink them from Day One. Since I believe she relied on individual donations, she'll have more time to do her homework.
Brava and good luck to her.
27
@Murray Bolesta She is 28 years old, got very lucky and still has a lot to learn. Lets see where she is in 10 years. before we anoint her.
Giving everyone who wants it a free college education is a waste of our resources. People don't value what they they get for free.
4
AOC is as much, if not more, of a narcissist than DJT. They are both like deer in the headlights when someone flashes any kind of media attention at them -- they will do and say whatever it takes to draw more attention to themselves. It's amazing to me that people's political beliefs blind themselves to these simple truths.
4
Ms.Ocasio-Cortez May be extreme;y on line but she is also extremely articulate and able to state a position on TV.She has a rare gift to express her ideas cogently in a very authoritative but pleasant manner.J heard her on the Rachel Maddox show and realized that she has a rare gift.If she is as good on social media-wow! She is the age of my grandchildren and I do get annoyed at their constant attention to social media, but I realize it is the future and skill using it positively is very clever.
403
@Janet Michael
But she's not that articulate and her party should do more to protect her. People just have the kids gloves on with her because they want to like her. Go watch her interview with Jake Tapper on CNN about how the government would pay for programs she wants like Universal Healthcare, Free College, etc....it was pretty embarrassing for her. When asked specifically about the budget and taxes she just went into a nonsensical spiral of liberal talking points that didn't address the question and she looked as shifty and dishonest as any other politician. That's a bad look for a her because it's exactly what she isn't supposed to be. While she is not as limited as Sarah Palin, I would say her performance was Palinesque. She needs guidance and information, because at times she comes across as breathtakingly ignorant on many many important issues, most notably complex international ones.
17
@Janet Michael she's green and it shows in her interviews. She needs a good mentor or two.
7
@Janet Michael I too saw her on the Rachel Maddox show after trump's speech. She was highly animated but the yelling, misstatements of facts and lack of a coherent message doesn't bode well for the congresswoman. Her office doesn't process mortgages, and several other similarly conflated statements make little different from trump's loose use of facts. I'll give her a pass being in the spotlight for the first time, if she wants to be effective she needs to tone down her rhetoric and use the facts to support her point. Such as, bc the federal government is shut down federal mortgage applications of multiple constituents are being processed. We already have one twit spouting off a false narrative; I can't see how doing the same thing makes AOC any better.
7
I would suggest it prudent not to get too carried away with Freshman Rep Ocasio-Cortez.She certainly is a breath of fresh air but her uber fast tracking to Democratic savior is premature and frankly quite ludicrous.Style is fine ( and she clearly has it in spades ) but it must always be accompanied by real substance. To date, in her brief time in Washington,this has not always been the case...and dangers of over exposure and over expectations ( typical of the 24/7 social media,news cycle world ) have already surfaced.
13
Ocasio is a fad. Her proposals only appeal to those who don't pay taxes. The rest of us could never agree to doubling our already hefty tax burden. Once her fundamental lack of appeal to the voting public becomes apparent she will fade away into the fringe. Trump, for all his faults, is far more rooted in reality and so far, despite the drama, he's done quite well. They both simplify complex issues, but Trump's simplifications, such as getting out of the Middle East, are basically correct and feasible. The workers' paradise promoted by Ocasio - free health care, free housing, free education - is pure fantasy. Nothing is free.
13
@
Hi Steven. My wife and I pay plenty of taxes, and we love Ocasio-Cortez. You'll find that most people will like her (or love her). Her ideas are not a fad.
And in terms of worker's paradises, I suggest you visit Europe. There's nothing unworkable about most of her ideas. We just came back from Europe, dealing extensively with my wife's aging parents. Sure, it takes a while to get an appointment, but nothing worse than the poor experience here in America. And when you get to the doctor - get this - there's no bill. The National Health Service pays the bill, out of the taxes collected on the wealthy.
If you want to talk about fantasy - oops, sorry, I have to log off to take a call from my friend in the Space Force....
52
@Steven
Nothing is free yet you complain about taxes. I'd laugh if it wasn't so sad.
2
@Steven Double? So you make over $10 million dollars a year? Congratulations!
In so many ways AOC fills the news void maintained 24/7 by the networks. Creative, outrageous, unafraid, and maybe revolutionary, but I find her fascinating. The early American revolutionaries like Thomas Paine, equally "dangerous," would applaud these political outliers.
376
@Doc looking back now on Paine's pamphleteering with "Common Sense", I don't think his ideas were all that well received. He made sense, most people agreed, at the time, but the authorities weren't buying. I hope AOC has better luck. My money's on her.
39
@willw
@TomPaine wasn't writing to authorities.
8
@willw Authorities aside, "Common Sense" was overwhelmingly well received: "It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history.[2] As of 2006, it remains the all-time best selling American title, and is still in print today."--Wikipedia
Historians have described "Common Sense" as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet," of the time. The nation would be much improved if the ideas of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez obtain a similar reception.
39
She possesses empathy and a desire to make life better for all Americans — already she's leaps and bounds ahead of #45.
I think Ms. Ocasio-Cortez will do just fine, and may excel in elected office. I wish her well in her public service career.
28
I love AOC, but she needs to make sure she doesn't turn into the left's version of Trump: all tweet and no substance. The memes, the tweets, the videos are all fine, but at some point she needs to hunker down and learn the craft of policy and governing, to become an expert in policy proposals and solutions, and to learn how to implement them. In short, to impose substance over style. If she does that, watch out world: President AOC in 2032.
8
@Marcus: in theory, she can run in 2024 as she would turn 35 in October of that year and be old enough to run for POTUS.
However, nobody that young has ever run before, male or female. The youngest POTUS in US history was Teddy Roosevelt (42) and he was not elected (he succeeded the late Mckinley).
John F. Kennedy was elected at age 43 -- Clinton at 46 and Obama at 47.
So it would be highly unusual but not impossible for her to run in 2024.
1
I am a 73 year old white male - and to use a very old term "she is cool, very cool." Smart and knows what she is talking about.
33
@deBlacksmith
Yes she is 29 and pretty. Howver she is just 29 and has almost no life experience. Certainly no other political experience. She seems to be a self absorbed millennial intent on steaming her life bc she thinks someone cares.
No contest. Ocasio is miles ahead of Trump in every way. She has humor, compassion, intelligence and decency.
50
“they are controlling the narrative”
I hope so. Trump’s narrative is depressingly narcissistic; AOC’s is optimism and altruism. We know which one wins. She has a lot to learn, but her compass is true and points to the future.
28
There is no doubt that Ms AOC is appealing and genuine, nor is there any doubt that Mr. Trump is repellent. But her loud megaphone is not necessarily a good thing at this point. It will be much better when she has had an opportunity to find out how the government operates, to interact with her colleagues, and to take advantage of her new position to learn from experts in economics and other fields that interest her. As things are today, she is hurting her credibility by spraying out too many offhand opinions that are poorly thought-out and easily refuted. Sort of like her antagonist....
10
@BigTony
IOW , Big T, she should throttle down become a moderate Dem and continue to be "part of the problem." Or do I misread your?
2
@BigTony Given that the right-wing media is trying to discredit her in every way she can, she doesn't have an option. To be silent in the face of the "shaming" the GOP is attempting, not to respond would be taken as admitting guilt. Therefore, in these times of instant access, AOC is doing very well to show how wrong the shaming is and how invulnerable she is to their crass behavior. It's refreshing to watch a female politician take on the misogyny on display. Go AOC.
3
For some reason, I hadn't really thought of the right wing response to AOC as her winning but this really does help me put it in perspective.
I'd kinda just assumed it was only the usual reasons like her sex or color that made them focus on her so much but it makes a lot of sense that they simply aren't able to stand not doing anything in response when there's this politician constantly putting out stuff, similar to how many of us on the liberal side react whenever DJT tweets.
And no matter how hard they try to push back it does seem to be the case that whatever they do, she'll keep winning with every response she gets compared to the alternative where she would have been an ordinary junior house member.
3
What have we turned into as a society? High School? Have we now lowered our standards for government leaders to voting for who is “Most Likely to be Extremely Online”?
Granted AOC is championing some good ideas but she shoots from the hip and glosses over facts. Just because Trump lies more blatantly, more egregiously and more often doesn’t mean that we all shouldn’t be trying to break the curse over this country of having immoral liars lead our government by manipulating ignorant people on social media. The way to take this country back from the brink of being plunged back into the Dark Ages is to continue to insist on fact-checking, scientific findings and obejctivity. While it’s tempting for liberals to have their own version of Trump-who can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and still be loved by his followers-having such a person (just with a liberal title) is a classic example of gaining the world but losing your soul.
13
@EM "The way to take this country back from the brink of being plunged back into the Dark Ages is to continue to insist on fact-checking, scientific findings and obejctivity."
In normal times I would agree with you, but we've learned that facts and objectivity don't mean a whiff to the rabid right-wing. Trump's lies have been pointed out literally thousands of times by the press and others, with absolutely no impact on the people who only hear what they want to hear.
3
@EM
Where, I ask, has the subject of this article advocated shooting someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and thus "lost her soul"? What she has advocated is the reverse of what the GOP has been advocating since Ronald Reagan.
This "Equivalency" (false) of Miss OC and DJT rather betrays your own true colors. False flags, anyone?
@EM I'm feeling cautiously optimistic, not freaked out like when Dems were saying, "Oprah for president!"
I'm betting on AOC. Mainly because her audience is way more savvy then Trumps.
I dont agree with all her POVs, but I do agree with her belief that what we need right now is a moon-shot of seriousness and commitment to real change.
Key factors; she has a true set of beliefs. Has a moral compass. She seeks to head to the light.
While with Trump...well we all know, other then the Trumplodites, know that he has no true beliefs that dont involve him getting applause, and/or ratings, or "likes", and making money. He has no moral compass, least not one that points towards a moral/ethical North. And he most definitely is of the Dark, made of dark matter (not the Universe filler stuff) and wishes to take us away from anything positive and progressive. (not progressive political ideology, but progress as a means of positive advancement.)
AOC also has time on her side. She's young, full of life and energy. Isnt a jaded old fool who had Dads money to rely on, then lies about it. She works hard, like the rest of us, and has a better grasp of how to use social media to counter the haters - as she appears to have a sense of humor. Which Trump lacks.
Humor is a huge factor in how one thrives and then survives on social media. Being able to laugh at oneself - crucial. Trump makes us laugh at him, not with him. And his approach is getting, no has gotten tiresome...worn out. He's a one-trick tweeter.
AOC, and others like her, have the social media angles figured out.
7
Don't insult analog. There are many perfectly admirable qualities to analog technology. We developed a game set that works great for camping trips. If you don't know what to do with ten people and no power, analog is awfully handy. A well stocked liquor cabinet and a good set of instructions are also useful. I would avoid the ax and hammer games where booze is involved though. We almost lost a really nice hatchet that way.
3
People who actually vote are not the same people who spend time on Twitter and Facebook. So what if they get a lot of attention who don't vote or are ineligible to vote.
4
@BJW
Perhaps, although the last election may question your assumptions. However, data shows that as people get older, they vote more. And the people who support AOC will get older. And the older Trump voters will pass on a better place.
3
@gratis
As people get older, they do not like or value the same things as they did when they were young and immature.
@BJW
Perhaps. I was a lot more conservative when I was younger. Now, at 68, I am a raging democratic socialist.
2
AOC does use Twitter and Instagram to have a personal connection with the public. But it's for a good purpose -- which she has stated. It's to show her humanness and frailties so other ordinary working class people considering running for office aren't intimidated by the fascade that they must be rich and perfect.
Online she is the diametric opposite of Trump, who is unrelentingly dishonest, self-serving, hating and manipulative.
AOC's popularity comes not from her image, but from the stubstance of what she advocates for--a fair deal for the ordinary person and a long-needed takedown of the rich and powerful and corrupt.
I know, it sounds like a cliche. But with her it's real, and people see it.
195
Hopefully neither will.e are not the people that should be setting bars but more importantly they are the ones that we should seriously examine as extremes to be avoided at all costs. Look at their collect faces and the word clueless shoots from the screen.
Is Ms Swisher suggesting that either one of these people is a product of experience that we in the general population should aspire too.
1.A daddy's boy whose accomplishments include bankrupting organizations to his own benefit, a reality show, and a University that caters to the desperate and desperately ignorant.
Or
2. A 30 year old bartender looking very clueless and who probably never paid taxes out of her tip jar or had to understand the grind of the middle class struggling to send their kids to school or pay a mortgage. She is a person that believes something free has value.
4
"Don't wanna end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard..."
I always wondered what that line meant. I think maybe I get it now.
1
You must be absolutely without knowledge of the complexity of humans, careers, experience, or government, Ms. Swisher. What an appalling deconstruction of everything everyone on earth knows about what things are important. This must be, of all the crazy, obsessive, President Trump-hating notions on the internet )or the solar system), the perfectly least responsible. Desperation that severe now?
1
@JBC
What? This has to be the most nonsensical, say-nothing post on any comments section anywhere...
Please explain; "What an appalling deconstruction of everything everyone on earth knows about what things are important."
Really? Everything, everyone? And what are these important things?
Do tell...but make sense.
Kudos to Ocasio-Cortez who may be an effective antidote to the raging government by tweet Trump. Better equipped being young and tech savy she can do cartwheels around our aging buffoon president who lies constantly and is ignorant about governing. Ocasio can make our thin skinned president squirm with insecurity being made to look like the fool he is by a 20 something newby from NyC just elected to a democratic controlled congress. With so many walls closing in on TRump this side show may throw him into a frenzy of insecurity and bluster.
1
Delighted the hear of AOC's music choice - "War (What is it good for)" and hope she'll study up on this topic as she has apparently done on taxes. Most Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the recent, bloated increase to the Military Industrial Complex, and it would be great to dial back the whole enterprise, in sensible ways, of course.
6
@Ellen, it is so bad that even so-called "progressive" like Bernie Sanders refuses to waver in his iron-clad support for Lockheed's budget-busting F-35 fighter jet; and basing it in Vermont's most densely populated area, regardless of negative impact to health and home values of his most vulnerable constituents. Including working poor; working class; elderly; and immigrant refugees. The demographics people like Bernie supposedly cares for. In general, the policies he supports seem to be great but then when he has an actual chance to walk the walk and make a difference in his own Vermont constituent's lives, he repeatedly stands with the military-industrial complex.
Thank you for an excellent article Kara....Ms Ocasia-Cortez appears to be the breath of fresh air in a bipartisan fashion that Mr Trump mistakenly believes he already is. She will make mistakes.... I would be very surprised if she made the same mistake twice.
9
Trump has laid a giant trap and Democrats are all getting caught in it.
The extreme 'progressive' wing of the party is young, loud, and embraced by the media.
One problem: Middle America elected Trump and they'll never accept this nonsense.
6
Let's not forget that AOC has the same degree as Trump's top economic advisor.
6
Some may accuse the media of over-exposing us all to AOC, but I am sure it is not so.
I enjoy passion. We need that in politics. However, as all members of the house must do, is to win their job back repeatedly. So, her enthuriasm is refreshing but will she fall into the cycle of “work the first year in office go 100%. Year 2..be very mindful of re-election,,raise money, assure your base is still with you, stay away from controvesy, etc..
Re-distribution of wealth has been a long time cry..for years. I’m an independent voter so have no ax to grind, nor do I typically, criticize any politican by name. However, the speaker of the house is a very wealthy individual as is our POTUS. I also am not a on the “Lets build a wall” bandwagon. But, her sound bite, declaring that building a wall is immoral got my goat.
I know..people die trying to come here. Or die after they get here. Fleeing violence, or seeking economic opportunity is an absoulte reason to come to the US. However, (again I am NOT a wall person) those who patrol the border from what I can find in reasearch indicate a physical barrier is needed both to help enforcement but also to dissincent the method of entry that is the most threatening. I would humbly propose that we add the structure, funding and personnel to allow people who wish emigrate here safely. Perhaps this new house rep could focus OFF of the POTUS attacks and on an issue.
Finally, I enjoy reading the Times along with other main stream media. But I find it wanting...I purposely read 3 sources to center the bias...
Her star is born. Its really her's to lose now. The right likes to use the word "liberal" like a punching bag. She wears the label proudly and punches back. Who knew it was that easy?
4
I like Alexandria a lot better than Trump for sure. I look for her on twitter.
4
They are both bobbleheads. AOC should show a bit more humility being so new in Congress and work on avoiding falsehoods that just arm the republican party. She is not a member of Congress that I am proud of and it concerns me that the democratic party and media is so focused on her rather than legitimate members of the party as we approach the 2020 cycle (and this is coming from a liberal Latina around AOC's age)...
11
@Cris
Are you saying her skin color or age or gender do not make her legitimate? Or all three together?
"Cartoon bobblehead" reminded me of both of them.
1
I can't get enough of the delicious irony of the GOP catapulting AOC to superstardom.
10
I loved that she called Ed Meese a 'dude:' fitted perfectly.
1
AOC is this old woman’s hope. Trump should not be used in the same sentence as AOC. They are opposites. She makes sense. Please NYTimes, cover this smart woman honestly and often.
3
It will be interesting to watch if AOC can dance her way through her in your face Millenial politics without commiting any error... for it will probably only take one significant one to bring her down to Earth.
4
More playing into the Trumpian personality politics game. Sorry but he wins again because he's calling the shots. The rest of us lose.
1
Representative Ocasio-Cortez is authentic and genuine whether online, being interviewed on television or radio, or captured on videotape. More importantly, she tells the TRUTH. The Fake President is...well, the exact opposite of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Trump has been a well-practiced conman in every aspect of his adult life, whether business, familial, or social. If he is a “cartoon bobble head”, he must be the world’s first malevolent one.
5
@John Grillo
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez does not just show Trump to be fake - but also the entire fake Democratic leadership.
She is not afraid to tell it like it is or have fun. All the other politicians are ashen Zombies who commute to work every day after day.
If you wonder why people don't vote, take a look at that photo of Chuck and Nancy brought to you by ex-lax.
Their twitter posts are quite different although the amount may be the same. Trump's post are always full of anger while AOC's posts are informative.
1
A cartoon bobblehead describes this carnival barker perfectly!
1
Let's see how the GOP reacts to two sets of behavior.
Teenage and college drunken blackouts, drunken, rowdy behavior, drunk nearly every night, questions about sexual assault?
The GOP's response?
"Welcome to the Supreme Court, Justice Kavanaugh! Justice Kavanaugh is a great example of high character and integrity!"
Dancing on a rooftop in a fit of undergraduate pique?
"Ocasio-Cortez is a threat to our democracy".
But then again, that's the GOP for you.
Grand Old (Hypo)Pocrites!
But that's old news.
7
' “Constant content creation forces your opponent to respond to you.” It means you are creating the news.'
What it really seems like is not thinking through much of anything.
Sincerity for the win!
3
I am no Trump supporter by any stretch, but this article is nonsense and exactly the sort of thing that will help him win in 2020. His all-caps rants on the Internet DO make him seem human, while Ocasio-Cortez (I refuse to call her AOC; more nonsense) often seems like the smily, cutesy, I-am-one-of-you politician bobblehead to whom we are all accustomed. This is not to say Ocasio-Cortez can't have good ideas or is doomed to be a terrible politician, or that Trump is awesome and smart and kind and perfect just because he seems "real" online. But the dichotomy this article so desperately seeks to establish is imaginary at best.
Let's not forget also that Ocasio-Cortez has had precisely ONE opportunity to make a decision as a Congressperson so far: choosing a House speaker. And she chose the establishment's top choice; she did not make change or do anything radical or lefty like everyone says she will. Remember when everyone completely lost it because she joined a bunch of protestors at Pelosi's office? I knew that was all for show. Silly, naive Democrats!
Love, an Independent
1
Nice piece, but belongs in the entertainment section. Somehow it is annoying to have our elected politicians reduced to celebrities. Maybe Trump deserves it (and much worse) but this really does trivialize Cortez's ambition, potential and talent.
However, in the entertainment section of the Times... Perfect.
3
Why don't we give AOC a little bit of time before we crown her as princess of the internet. Let's see how she flies first.
She is so newly hatched and a bit too overly promoted.
12
There are plenty of Representatives who believed their own press, ending up burned out and replaced quickly. You're right - it's better to see some actual effort on the job before the annointment.
2
I live in NYC. What I like about Ocasio-Cortez is that she does not talk about Trump on social media, which is a smart thing to do when you are dealing with a childish or narcissistic person. She does not pay attention to Trump's unwanted behavior. This is something Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer can learn from her instead of easily getting provoked by Trump and end up paying LOTS of attention to him. Hope they will get it. Sigh.
266
@Tomo Ditto for the press and media ! Enough already , would he go away if no one covered him 24/7 ? His outrageous lies and behavior are becoming like Stuart on Mad TV (see what I can do) tiresome and mundane . OAC hopefully will learn the job she was elected to ; she shows wisdom in not being baited . Unfortunately Chuck and Nancy do need to respond , that's their job too .
7
@Tomo I don't know. She went off for a bit on twitter about someone criticizing her clothes and sounded just like Melania. Hope she will get it. Sigh.
@Tomo As Speaker of the House and Senate Minority Leader, I should hope Pelosi and Schumer are paying lots of attention to Trump and fulfilling their responsibility as the first branch of government to reign in his destructive attempts to create a United States of Racism.
2
One can only hope that the "new" way to get the message out (tech platforms) merges with the new voices (Cortex, O'Rourke) and gets this country to a new and better place. Because it has reached absolute rock bottom and I fear for my childrens future. The extreme lack of leadership in this country is frightening. And what passes for leadership is disgraceful. We must do better.
11
For both of them the online thing is words. Everything online does nothing. It may convey a position or an idea, but what matters are outcomes.
Right now O-C is fresh and she deserves time to turn her positions into outcomes. Trump has already failed. We are much more worse for wear since he took over with his congressional cohorts.
Positive outcomes matter. Everything else is digital chafe.
15
Trump likely has a 2 year shelf life, and she probably can stick around for a lot longer. Whether she gets beyond being a young and pretty version of Bernie is another question.
7
Ocasio-Cortez’ program on redistribution of income, global warming, and jobs is bolder than Bernie’s. She’s an educated Bronx Nuyorican—tough, articulate, hard-working, poised, and keepin’ it real. Her outspoken defense of American working people, immigrants, and women won her the election, put her in the firestorm of right-wing media attacks, and on Colbert and Trevor Noah. It’s unlikely she’ll pass a single law this session, but she’s going to transform discussion on economic and social justice in Congress.
61
Somehow, I don't think being Extremely Online is particularly appropriate for someone who needs to be doing a lot of studying and listening for a job (writing and passing complex legislation) is Extremely Offline. A more effective media presence than the Chuck and Nancy American Gothic act is certainly important (Obama knew how to nail it), but competing with Trump in style should be for reality TV and the Kardashians, not serious legislators.
20
@Oriflamme
What makes you think she's serious?
I have watched many an interview (some live) of Representative Ocasio-Cortez across multiple platforms, and the thing that comes across is that she is real, thinks about the questions that are being asked of her, and tries to answer them truthfully right then and there.
There is no equivocation regardless if it is analog or whether it is in the digital domain.
There are actually very few that resonate so strongly (across all political affiliations), and I would submit that is why she is so popular. She is a fighter, and she does so for other people.
You don't have to be negative to be popular.
133
@FunkyIrishman
AOC reminds me in some ways of another articulate young Congresswoman - Tulsi Gabbard. Perhaps the two of them will link up on important issues of the day.
5
@Ellen
AOC is taking up a lot of oxygen in the room at the moment (fine), but I think she is also more than a team player, which is going to propel so many other strong and clear Progressive voices, for many more elections to come.
Exciting times.
5
I'd like to see Trump and Ocasio-Cortez face off in a dance contest.
24
@Linda
Trump lacks the self-awareness to learn to be an adequate dancer. When he looks in a mirror he sees perfection, so critiquing and learning from what he sees is impossible.
8
Linda,
Ewww!!!!
Please no!
The old Republicans attempting to shake their booty on Dancing With The Stars was truly sad, awful and embarrassing.
Just no...
2
About half the population does not vote and those under 30 have terrible turnout. It's Turnout that wins, not message. The Republicans know this; they win with no message at all.
The key to winning is Turnout but it's not a great message that motivates voters down to the polls. Message is left-brain and puts people to sleep. One minute after a Power Point presentation you've forgotten every single point - but you remember the personality of the presenter.
Personality and emotion push people to the polls. And Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has Personality. She also has good ideas.
But she has more - enough to easily beat Trump in 2020. She has the ability to get that previously apathetic 50% of new voters, mostly young, to the polls.
Not one of the entitled oldsters can do that. They're all so boring, they'd need lots of luck to go against Trump, who is not boring. Only Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has a winning chance.
But what about her experience?
You don't need it to be President, as Bush Jr and Trump proved. If needed, you delegate.
But you can't delegate Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's charisma or personality or judgment or character. Where else can you even find it?
15
@Fourteen
Sorry, "entitled oldsters" is -- what? Who? Wh--?
Do you really know what "entitled" means? Look it up.
5
@Fourteen
She might be a modern incarnation of Alexander the Great, but she is not yet 35, and that is a constitutional requirement.
8
@Fourteen -- "About half the population does not vote and those under 30 have terrible turnout."
Turnout for whom? They did not turn out for what was offered. They did turn out in vast numbers for Bernie.
They wouldn't turn out for you. They may well turn out for AOC.
5
Trump said in a popup press conference today that he never said Mexico would pay for the wall. That man cannot cease to lie. Everything about him is vile, from his language, his bullying, his racism, his sexism, his ignorance, even his slapdash orange makeup.
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is smart, vivacious, and a breath of fresh air. Such a joy after the hot air of Trump.
155
@Linda
I had prepared a comment yesterday for another thread but couldn't submit it because of problems with the NYT's system. Part of it is a tailor-made follow-up to your comment.
========
An oft-repeated scene from numerous rallies:
djt: And who's going to pay for that wall???
adoring crowd: MEXICO!!!
It's a no-brainer that the Dems should compile a montage of clips from maybe ten such scenes and get them out early and often in TV and social media spots.
8
Too early to be definitive but Ocasio-Cortez has already honed her message and speaks to a different if not larger population than Trump. As does Beto. Either of them could prove a thorn in side. I am 75 years-old but young ideas are refreshing to me.
111
It doesn't take me to remind everyone that our country is being led by an immoral caricature of a man, a charlatan who I hope will be consigned to the dustbin of history sooner rather than later. Having said that, I'm a bit skeptical about all the noise surrounding Ocasio-Cortez. She's just been elected to Congress and has yet to establish her legislative credentials. I think it might be correct to WAIT in terms of nominating her for sainthood until she's had a chance to put some of her good ideas into practice. Having good ideas means nothing if a politician is unable to get them put into law so, again, I think far too much attention is being paid to her simply because she's young and energetic and has some good ideas which stand in contrast to the buffoon leading the country at the moment. Unlike the mindless minions who voted for Trump, I hold my politicians to a standard that expects them to DELIVER on their promises, not just make them so the jury is still out on Ocasio-Cortez - let's see what she accomplishes and THEN form some solid judgments about her. On a personal level, yes, I support her general philosophy and counter-attacks against those that hate her simply because she's young, Latin, and energetic in support of a liberal agenda (most of which I agree with).
41
@ManhattanWilliam
Amen. Totally agree. I saw AOC on TRMS the other evening and she appears to still be running for office. I'm waiting for her to settle into a legislative register.
10
@ManhattanWilliam
Having good ideas also means nothing if a politician is unable to spread them and get them talked about. She knows how to do this and seems to be a natural at it. The only thing we have to wait for is whether she can continue to shift good noise from the Donald to herself.
Delivering on promises (and not making undeliverable promises) is a strength of Mitch McConnell. He is formidable even though he failed to deliver on his promise to make Obama a one-term president. Nancy Pelosi is also formidable. But neither is outstanding at controlling the narrative or getting new ideas into it.
Trump leaves delivering on his promises to others, and does not help or even coordinate with them. If Ocasio-Cortez works with others, but they have the delivery skills to deliver on her promises, this would be great.
4
@ManhattanWilliam The job of a Representative is to represent. Legislation is done by the paid staff. I will confess, however, that the function of the Senate continues to elude me.
1
"They both know how to control the narrative. But one of them comes across as a human being and the other as a cartoon bobblehead."
This is a brilliant subhead. Most in this divided country would agree with the statement, but not which was which. I actually think they've both got bobbley qualities.
12
@WJF
Maybe, but "cartoon"?
It would be a dream if AOC was this "perfect foil" for President Trump, except she's not quite perfect. She has a bit of baggage of how she misrepresented her background in her election. But the bigger problem is that in her storm of tweets and postings she's a bit undisciplined about her facts and her generalizations, ironically kind of like her adversary, President Trump. None of this is mentioned in this article.
OK, yes, nobody is "perfect," but my hope for her is she grows up a bit and learns to wield her new-found power more wisely. This would be great for all of us.
28
She’s totally, like, acting as if she’s in her 20s or something...
1
How can anyone even ask this question? Trump is an old man, someone who got his fortune handed to him by his father, both of which are absurdists of the first degree. Ocasio-Cortez is an example of someone who literally cares about the working class. She is a young woman who's views are independent and rejuvenating. Today I ate lunch at a restaurant in Boston that cost me 16$ for a salad. Trump would nit even blink an eye at the idea but I am sure that she would.
25
@Willy P she is appealing but she must get her facts straight, otherwise one can’t take her seriously.
4
I have high hopes for AOC, but do hope she will sometimes just listen and learn.
34
@SNA And do you wish the same for all the old cronies in DC? I am willing to bet my lunch $ that AOC is doing a lot of listening.
2
There was a time when being an eloquent speaker was important for a politician and they practiced it. As that old song says, the times they are a changing. Public speaking is still important, and 45 is good in a way.
But we live in the era of the internet and, for better or worse, Twitter is important. Both 45 and AOC use it effectively.
Deal with it.
2
@Bill Benzon -- "Public speaking is still important, and 45 is good in a way."
No, he is not. He can do call-and-response with an enthused crowd. That's it. Otherwise, he looks like a sniffing clown.
4
Bill Benzon,
A true, transcribed, example of 45's public speaking. It is anything but "good in a way."
"You know what irks me, look, having nuclear, my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, doctor John Trump, at MIT, good, good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton school of finance, very good, very smart, you know IF YOU'RE a conservative republican, IF I WERE A LIBERAL, if like, OK, if I ran as a liberal democrat they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world, IT'S TRUE, but when you're a conservative republican they try, oh, do they do a number, that's why I always start off, went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fort, you know I have to give like my credentials all the time, cause we're at a little disadvantaged, but, you look at the nuclear, the thing that REALLY BOTHERS me, it would have been so easy, and it's not as as important as these lives are, NUCLEAR IS SO POWERFUL, my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power, and that was 35 years ago, he would explain, the power of what's going to happen AND HE WAS RIGHT, who would have THOUGHT, but, when you look at what's going on with the, eh, four prisoners, now, it used to be THREE, now it's FOUR, but when it was three, AND EVEN NOW, I would have said 'it's all in the messenger, FELLAS', and it is fellas because you know, they don't, they haven't figured out that the women..."
It continues is this fashion.
3
I'm a person who yearns to see a return to maturity and dignity in political offices. During the first 20 years of my life, if the President of the US or a Senator gave a public address, one knew it was about something important, something for deep consideration. Instead today we can expect a fraudulent sham.
That said, if I were a New Yorker, Ocasio-Cortez would have won my vote. When I heard her speak on Rachel Maddow's show, she won my trust in her intellectual and communication abilities. When I saw the video of her dancing on top of a building, she won my heart. Go for it, Alexandria!
174
Ummm. Since reading this article, seeing the dance video and writing this comment, I have followed up to learn more about what's going on with AOC. I think the commenters urging caution and saying that she hasn't yet earned her fame by achievements are right. I've never wanted a "star" in Congress. A true statesman or woman, yes, a "star" no. Twitter has made politics a popularity contest — very dangerous, especially because it generates hubris in people who receive a lot of support that way. Hubris is scarey. It's an ego high that could derail efforts to defeat Trump. Defeating Trump will require the Democrats to coalesce a united and concentrated force. They will all have to take the focus off themselves and onto the goal.
If I were a Republican strategist I would thank US media everyday for building up Ocasio-Cortez. Yes, she is likable and has great energy but she is often wrong on her facts, wrong on her economics and easily portrayed by the right as an out of control leftest. Who better than Ocasio-Cortez to broadstoke the entire Democratic party with?
For any independent who is remotely economically conservative, Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez is a complete turnoff. As for myself, I keep waiting for an adult to enter the room. One who doesn't endorse quixotic agendas that, even if you could get them passed, would roil the country into more division.
Once she becomes more seasoned and gets a better grip on her facts I think Ms. Ocasio Cortrez will be an important voice on the left but for now the media is building her up way beyond her political relevance.
37
@JohnM You see, John here is probably one of those who could use an education in just exactly what a marginal tax rate is. When she says she would prefer a 60-70% marginal tax rate on incomes of 10 million or more what that means John is 60-70% on any money made over 10 million dollars and that strategy was used to build this country in the 50's and 60's because the rich, rather than give their money to the government they gave it to their employees or invested it in capital improvements. Her ideas are not new her ideas are proven winners. What is the failure is the trickle down theory of economics in use these last 4 decades.
117
@mr. mxyzptlk, education is a good thing. What you may be mistaken about is the myth of the 90% tax bracket and its effect on the national economy in the 1950s. The 90% bracket was a fact (92%, actually) but thanks to the deduction & depreciation-heavy tax code of the 1950s, very few, if any, paid it. What’s more important is the effective tax rate, which in the 50s was approximately 40%, which is approximately what it is now. Maybe the 1950s were a prosperous time because most of them were under a Republican administration!
2
@JohnM
Someone who is economically conservative may endorse voodoo economics, which is an agenda proven quixotic again and again and still endorsed by many. Or they may dislike deficit spending, in which case (based on behavior while in power) Republicans will reduce them to despair and Democrats give them glimmerings of hope -- unless they have drunk the prevailing deficit Kool-Aid, which most economic conservatives have done.
4
True, Trump does come across as a cartoon bubble head but it does not follow that he is wrong. He may be saying something true in a way which does not work.
I think of this. Obama promised to take us out of Afghanistan and close Guantanamo. But when he stepped down we were still in Afghanistan. No one blamed him. Trump wants to take us all out of Afghanistan which Obama had promised. But for fulfilling Obama's promise, Trump got a lot of flack.
It is not what the facts are and what you do. Rather it is the story that the media tell about what you do. And Trump lacks the smarts to present his case well. The media have told a false story far better than Trump has told a true one.
11
@Ludwig
I agree - it's important to read widely to get an array of points of view. There were many commenting here who were thrilled to see us finally getting out of the Middle East - they just didn't "like" the messenger or the way he delivered it - by tweet.
4
Setting this up as who is winning is cultural disease. It deforms the dialogue regarding what is effective in government. We have contaminated the framing of every narrative in terms of The Superbowl, The World Series, The Oscars, and Reality show winners. That is why some countries sometimes refer to us as immature childrenn in adult bodies.
30
I hope Ms. Ocasio-Cortez gets offline and starts to make headlines for the great legislation she will sponsor and get passed and not for her tweets.
42
@Hugh CC
I agree, except that to get the Republican controlled Senate to pass any legislation favored by the majority of Americans means energizing American voters to increase their influence over those Senators who for now feel safe supporting Trump, his base, and their donors. Her persona can be an important tool for this.
5
@Hugh CC I agree with you. I want to see AOC doing detailed policy talks, instead of regurgitating populist left messages via tweets and interviews. I want to see the legislation that she is fighting for. Provide analyses for her positions, and not refer to Ro Khanna. I also want to see attention given to other newly elected Democratic Congressmen and Congresswomen; it seems they have less TV time than AOCs lep lipstick and hoop earrings. All college educated young women may not be as enthused at this continuous media fawning of AOC.
Representative Ocasio-Cortez is a star. I feel her pull and I don't resist because I see someone whose natural instincts are well tuned to the moment. She's ok with making mistakes. I don't know whether she'll be Speaker of the House or the next President but it's hard to miss her leadership potential. She's going to be a force for a long time.
96
AOC is popular, online and off, not because of her image or personality, but because of what she advocates for.
She's appealing precisely because she's *not* the kind of political manipulator the article suggests she is.
116
@Msckkcsm Many of the things which AOC says are true. We need to have less division of income and we do need to have single payer health care, so AOC is right about this.
But I am not one of those who agree with AOC and then go on to say that Trump is a jerk. Trump is right about some other things like you really cannot have open borders and the Democrats are playing politics preventing his wall.
My rule is, "agree with whoever is telling t he truth and don't care whether it is a Democrat or a Republican." Some things AOC is right about and some other things Trump is right about. I refuse to be partisan.
3
@Ludwig You do know that Trump has wanted a wall since Inauguration Day, right? And that Republicans have controlled Congress up until a week ago? And that Democrats actually agreed to some wall funding in exchange for a path to citizenship for the Dreamers, a deal which Trump agreed to one day and walked away from the next day? And that the (Republican) Senate that now refuses to fund the government had agreed by voice vote to do that very thing last month? Trying to find equivalence on both sides is not refusing to be partisan, it's refusing to be informed.
12
I like OAC but, come on, Twitter is 95 petcent an abomination. Are we to belive that, in this era, there is no such thing as over-exposure? Do we have to follow Trump down the path to thoughtlessness (both meanings of the word...no thought, no empathy)? Is there no one to whom we can look to be THOUGHTFUL in the sense of reflecting on something for about the length of an NFL commercial? The world is a complex entity and constant nattering, even from admirable people, is not helpful
18
The history of politicians and technology shows that FDR was the first to use radio effectively; that JFK was the first to use television effectively; and that DJT was the first to use Twitter effectively.
AOC has taken this to an entirely new level … she can use all of the internet effectively. As can other new politicians not yet as well known.
So the Donald has now met his match, in a 29 year old Latina!
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@John Graybeard
From one graybeard to another, John, I'll admit that Trump uses Twitter, but I'm not so certain about how effectively he uses it.
While quantity may have its own quality, it is no substitute for true quality.
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@Scott Liebling - it is quite effective, mainly because the main stream media fixates on it.
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@John Graybeard agree. The media is absolutely obsessed and fixated on every twitter that is released, and that only provides incentive for him to keep on twittering! I don't understand the continual twitter coverage and only seems to enable him to do it more.
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She is a Star! The Right’s obsession with her keeps raising her value. She is a Social Democrat and a Champion for the middle class. Her persistence will serve all of us well!
God Bless AOC!
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As a Gen X-er, I have to say that AOC is probably one of the few politicians in my lifetime, who I can actually relate to.
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@newton Now all you have to do other than respect her is get your generation out to vote and not for the establishment politicians supported by the establishment media.
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Me too
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Just think about for a moment the SHEER AMOUNT OF TIME these individuals are spending on their own online output and following the output of everybody else.
If this time were spent on educating themselves on the issues at hand and negotiating policy within the institutions in D.C. it surely would serve their country a great deal more!?
Add the president's TV bingeing to his time spent online, and his day is basically over...
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@Beyond Repair
"If this time were spent on educating themselves on the issues at hand and negotiating policy within the institutions in D.C. it surely would serve their country a great deal more!?"
There's nothing wrong with this observation but it misses the mark if the intent is to take to task AOC and other internet-literate politicians. A better approach might be to object to the time spent by most people in Congress on tasks unrelated to advancing good policy. Even if the time spent by AOC detracts from activities aimed at actual governing, which is merely someone's unsupported assumption at this point, how is this any worse than what most members of Congress now do? They expend much of their time and energy on fundraising so that they can keep their jobs. Thanks to a system that has evolved over many years and was hideously fine-tuned by Citizen's United, political survival depends far less upon the ability to govern than upon the size of the war chest.
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@Beyond Repair
We learned the other day from David Brooks' column that many senators are writing books. Now we know what they are busy doing, as they certainly don't seem to be governing.
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They're both cartoonish, more intent on self-promotion than anything else. Neither has shifted from campaign-mode to governing.
One would have hoped that the media had learnt the lesson of 2016, when they gave Trump basically unlimited free air-time in the form of constant interviews, all in the name of getting clicks/hits/viewers. Sadly, the media hasn't learnt, and is making the same mistake with Ocasio-Cortez. She hasn't accomplished anything yet, and sounds as ill-informed as Trump when she has to answer off the cuff, but she's the new media-darling, so they give a megaphone to an empty shirt; fabulous.
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@Danny I'm afraid your analysis is flawed, from what I've seen of most of her online posts she is defending herself against the media/politician establishment and doing it well. She is well educated and her ideas will improve America unless the establishment succeed in wooing the uninformed to their side. A prime example is how the media/politicians don't give the full definition of marginal tax rates and it is obvious the everyday American doesn't understand them either. Go look it up.
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@Danny She's been a congressperson for a week! Name someone--anyone--who accomplished anything within a week of being sworn in as a first time representative.
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@Danny. I have heard Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speak, respond to questions and outline positions on concerns of the day. She is articulate and well informed, actually quite a pleasure to listen to.
And most definitely NOT an "empty shirt."
She has given us no reason to doubt her compassion, intellect or veracity. It is an insult to compare her in most any way that matters to Donald Trump.
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Cliches fail me in describing how different DJT and AOC are from each other and it is equally impossible to overstate which of them is more appealing. There is, however, one area in which they are depressingly similar: neither one of them has a clue what they are doing.
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@Larry I'm pretty sure you're wrong about AOC but if you're right in the least, she is a quick learner.
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@mr. mxyzptlk, upon reflection, I take it back. AOC may indeed know exactly what she is doing, playing to her emerging base. They love that soak-the-rich nonsense. She thinks people should start paying their fair share? How about the 50% who pay no FIT at all?
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@Larry. Do you suppose that "the 50% who pay no FIT at all" don't earn enough to do so, but still have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on every dollar they earn.
If you want to see more Americans paying Federal income tax, support a political party that wants to raise the Federal minimum wage and lift WORKERS out of poverty.
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Don't like her politics but I like her. Many moons ago I was a Pom Pom Girl at Boston U (we worked with the Cheer Leaders and ran on the field when the players came out). When critics started bashing her dance video I said to myself "you go girl because that could have been me dancing if I was young today".
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@Peggysmom GO TERRIERS! AOC 2024!
Excellent points as always from Kara Swisher. Thank you Kara Swisher for the bobblehead image.
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I've always thought of Trump as someone's grandfather (not mine!) learning to use social media or keep up with the latest dance moves. His own kind of dissonance. What this piece implies is that perhaps, all the stolen data is less important than having something to say. Good offense beats passive-aggressive defense all the time.
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Interesting account of using social media, Twitter in particular, as the primary political communications medium of Trump and AOC. The technology, therefore, is apolitical.
Yet, it is noteworthy that Ms. Swisher used over 1000 words to describe the phenomenon and her principal players. Those of us who can still think in paragraphs rather than memes take comfort in the use of the essay to describe such “modern" phenomena.
Now, where did I leave my quill?
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@David Potenziani
Ha! I still use a fountain pen, and seal my good stationery (remember that? engraved with a plate?) with sealing wax.
:-)
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@David Potenziani
Funny one. I still write letters - pen and paper - much to the amusement and enjoyment of my friends.
However, I do think Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is capable of thinking in paragraphs, from what I read of her.
3
God bless Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and God bless the New Yorkers who put her in office.
She gives me hope. She is a ray of sunshine and positivity amidst all of this darkness and hate.
I can't wait to see her leadership unfold.
Brava! May others follow her bold path.
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@RD Have you counted the number of ignorant things she has said about economics? Or how many times she has attacked the press when it is critical of her? Or are those things meaningful only when Trump commits them?
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@RD
In truth, the very, very likely arc of Ms. Ocasio-Corez' Congressional career will be at most one term.
So naive, so unwilling to learn, ACO will become so frustrated by being reminded of her impertinent misunderstandings of economics of any kind, of government of any kind and of humans of any kind regardless of her platitudinous rantings, she'll just quit. She has exactly that kind of staying power, and no more.
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@RD - I'm with you. Great comments. She has a brilliant future ahead. She's quite the firecracker.
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There is a major difference between trying to govern via your online presence (Trump) and using your online presence to make yourself more approachable and relatable (AOC). Her use of social media allows us all to get a peek behind the DC curtain, and is extremely refreshing. Bring on the wave of Millenials making their way into positions of political leadership!
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Yes, JulieH. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is admirable and very well spoken. However, this is not about her or any one person.
She represents the thinking of many of OUR newly hired/elected Congress Women and Men. Let's not try to make a "star" of any of them. That is what got us into the mess we're in now and most of the other political messes since FDR.
Let's learn from our mistakes.
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Thoughtful and effective governance is impossible in a world where political and policy conversation occurs first and foremost on Twitter. It's nearly pointless to say it, but it's nevertheless true.
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She is a Justice Democrat as am I and the Justice Democrats are coming. We self fund out elections so there is no question about who we represent. We represent the people who vote for us, not large PACS, special interests like Wall Street or the establishment media. That is why the full court press is on to character assassinate Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the country and the electoral system is broken for everyone else unless you are in the top 5%. Her plan oh high marginal taxation is not liked by the elite. It is the only way to pay for what the country needs a New Green Deal. In the low wage economy of the last 4 decades no one else can afford to underwrite the rebuilding of America. The politicians have already run the country into the ground by running it on borrowing payroll taxes and handing out taxcuts to the rich and corporations.
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@mr. mxyzptlk I too am a justice democrat, well I try to be, I do no have enough money to donate to them often but I try to support them in other ways. I agree with everything you have said and urge others who are fed up with the status quo to support the Justice Democrats.
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@mr. mxyzptlk
Better than “we represent the people who vote for us” would be “we represent the people, whether or not they voted for us”.
Trump is the first president to say that he represents what he calls his people rather than all Americans. Elizabeth Warren does it too, constantly saying she represents the middle class. Both of them forget that they have a responsibility to their whole constituency.
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@mr. mxyzptlk I am so excited to see what else the Justice Democrats will do in 2020!
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