Former bartender and current democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked the world last month when she upset senior Democrat Joe Crowley to win a New York primary and put herself on the front page of every newspaper in the country. For a party desperate to find young, fresh stars to take over for the crusty likes of Schumer and Pelosi, this was a dream too good to believe. While many in the party’s senior leadership were rattled by Ocasio-Cortez’s politics, which are to the left of the Democrat Party’s already-flirting-with-socialism agenda, they couldn’t help but smile at the headlines. After all, this is a party that doesn’t get to celebrate all that often anymore. Why not take advantage of the free press?
As it happens, though, the House of Representatives is a cliquish crew, and the cats already have their claws out for the yet-to-be-elected Ocasio-Cortez. According to The Hill, many Democrats are already growing irritated with the party’s newest star. They don’t appreciate recent interviews and Tweets in which Ocasio-Cortez has attacked Democrats from the left, and they are advising her to simmer down before she makes a legion of enemies on Capitol Hill.
“She’s carrying on and she ain’t gonna make friends that way,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) told The Hill. “Joe conceded, wished her well, said he would support her, so she doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. She’s not asking my advice, but I would do it differently, rather than make enemies of people.”
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) said that Ocasio-Cortez was going to have to learn the hard way that you don’t rise to political superstardom overnight. And if the young Democrat really wanted to push her agenda, she was going to need a lot of friends in order to do it.
“Meteors fizz out,” she told The Hill. “What she will learn in this institution is that it’s glacial to begin with, and therefore no matter how far you rise, that’s just how far you will ultimately get your comeuppance. You come up here and you’re going to be buddy-buddy with all the folks or you’re going to make them do certain things? Ain’t happening, OK?”
Rawr!
