Will New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez primary the Empire State’s Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer? She should. She’d win.
Chuck would be prime pickings for AOC and her band of Marxist-Progressives.
The Jewish vote, Schumer’s base, is no longer easily accessible to him. A poll last month by Jim McLaughlin showed that upwards of forty percent of Jewish Democratic Primary voters—mainly the young ones—describe themselves as, “atheist or agnostic.”
To many of them, Israel is just another country and their Jewish heritage has become an anachronism, hardly the basis for choosing a candidate. Religious Jews tend to flock to the ranks of Donald Trump these days and don’t vote in Democratic Primaries.
Against AOC, Schumer sure can’t count on much Latino support and she would probably beat him among blacks.
So where are Chuck’s votes coming from? White Irish and Italian voters? In a Democratic Primary? Not anymore.
Schumer would have gobs of money from every special interest in town, but AOC would reap tens of millions online. Remember how Beto O’Rourke raked in $37 million from small donors in his 2018 race against Senator Ted Cruz.
With Schumer’s and AOC’s national prominence, that kind of money will be child’s play, easy for AOC to raise.
It would be the classic insider vs. outsider battle, once Schumer’s specialty but now AOC’s bread and butter. The establishment of the Democratic Party, from Biden and Harris on down, will rally to Schumer’s defense.
But all the King’s horses and all the King’s men won’t be able to put poor Chuckie together again!
For issues, AOC will dwell on the “failures” of Schumer’s leadership, mainly his inability to break the Senate filibuster of the voting rights act and her other pet projects.
She will hang Schumer’s leniency and weakness toward Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kristen Sinema (D-AZ) around his neck and say Schumer loyalty to the good old boys of the Senate may cost progressives the next election.
Why didn’t he strip the Democratic renegades of their seniority and committee assignments?
Chuck will answer that he didn’t want to lose his “majority” by driving them away, but AOC will have her issue.
Establishment Senators can usually count on fear of a GOP victory to keep primary challengers at bay.
But in blue New York, nobody seriously believes that the bedraggled mess we call the New York Republican Party is much of a threat.
OK, so now we come down to the core question: Why should AOC risk it? She already has a national base, vast fundraising ability, and all the attention she could want.
Answer: To run for president in 2024!
From her perch in Congress, she can’t make the jump. Having defeated Congressman Joe Crowley in 2018 won’t impress people much. But taking down Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, is another matter.
She could challenge and beat Biden in the primaries of 2024, saying that the old, worn out, decrepit, senile president won’t be able to take on Donald Trump again.
She’ll say that only she can rally the base to a fine pitch of energy and enthusiasm to match Trump’s MAGA millions.
AOC would have a movement at her back, far better than the tattered incumbency Biden or Harris would have behind them.
Why am I, a Republican conservative, advising AOC to do it?
Because, for my taste, she’s the ideal Democrat.
She can’t lose the primary and can’t win the general. Trump will have her for breakfast.
But, AOC, what do I know? Go for it!
Your charisma will fade. But if you run and win the primaries, you’ll own the Democratic Party, even if not the White House.
And isn’t that your real goal?
Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris' Reports — More Here.