Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won by 65 points

[oberliner]

She got 78 percent of the vote.

The youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

[OKNancy]

1. So? Rashida Tlaib got 84% of the vote

Ocasio-Cortez like Tlaib reflect their area. It's not a big surprise.

[HopeAgain]

53. What does Tlaib have to do with the OP?

Your small tent is showing...

[KCDebbie]

94. You should make a post touting Tlaib's victory

Margin far and wide...

Don't piss in Ocasio-Cortez's corn flakes!

[Cha]

98. Thanks for telling us about

Rashida Tlaib, OKNancy.

[yardwork]

2. It's a deep blue district. Why wouldn't she win?

[oberliner]

6. People seemed concerned that she was spending time campaigning for other candidates

[JonLP24]

8. That is true

I figured because the district was in the bag. A lot of cities sometimes the Dem primary is the real race while the GE is a foregone conclusion.

[LeftInTX]

20. I didn't like her interferring in primaries

I have no problem with her campaigning after a primary.

[JonLP24]

35. People are free to endorse and support candidates in primaries

That is hardly interfering.

[LanternWaste]

21. You find that concern concerning?

Passive irony; that's a new one to me.

[bigtree]

50. it was just a lame excuse to criticize her

...some folks' favs were being threatened, and telling AOC to go back to her state would have seemed unseemly without the admonition that she needed to be minding her own district out of some non-existent concern she might lose.

I'll say this, AOC's rookie politics outmatched the rookie attempts to discredit her.

[disillusioned73]

51. Oh yeah..

I liked the added bonus of beating Joe Crwoley a second time to remind her "critics" who's their Mommy..

[SidDithers]

102. Rather that she was campaigning against other candidates...nt

Sid

[Vinca]

3. This is why I laugh at the so called "experts" who advise Democrats to go to the center.

Look how well portraying yourself as GOP lite played for McCaskill. Be proud to be left.

[Dream Girl]

4. Proud lefty plays well in the rondo, not so much in MO

[watoos]

10. Can you give specific Lefty issues

that she ran on that people in Missou are against?

[mountain grammy]

14. Good point there..

[Just a Weirdo]

22. Maybe... just maybe... that the conservadems are out

because they didn't represent the people of the state?

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

36. I didn't follow her campaign because I'm not from NYC,

but in general rural people need more assurances that the Dem isn't for taking all their guns away. That the Dem is going to help them with health care without making their taxes super high. That the Dem will do something reasonable to address immigration. Basically, in the rural areas the Republican ideas are dominant and Dem needs to fight that. The Dem has to address all the shit the Repubs say about Dems that makes the rural people concerned and show that they aren't like that. Also, the Dem has to belong to the community, be from there. No city transplants. That never goes over well.

[JonLP24]

56. You think it's about ideas

Most Republicans arent living in reality. You have to first argue reality before you can get into policy.

[melman]

73. That's a great question

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an answer though.

[Trumpocalypse]

12. Really depends on the district or state.

What plays well in the Bronx might not in West Virginia.

[Blue_true]

24. Some people just don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around that reality.

Races need to be local. Tip O'Neill understood that.

[George II]

27. "Experts" don't advise Democrats to go to the center, they advise Democrats to....

....appeal to their constituencies.

We saw that back in the spring and summer during the House primaries in the Midwest.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

32. We're talking about NYC, obviously liberal works well there.

We need to be more moderate for rural areas. You have to know your audience. Also, for presidency, since we need the rural areas for that, moderate is better.

[brooklynite]

74. And you imagine that Ocasio-Cortez could in Missouri?

[qazplm135]

82. Let me understand your point

so you think Ocasio-Cortex would have won Missouri??

[Vinca]

87. Look how close Beto came to winning Texas.

IMO, there are people in the hinterlands chomping at the bit to support a left-leaning candidate. Maybe Ocasio-Cortez would have won there. We'll never know because we haven't tried.

[qazplm135]

89. Your opinion is wrong

I live in Texas now and have before. I've lived in Missouri twice. Being in the military gets you around.

Missouri is probably overall MORE red than Texas is at this point and trending redder while Texas is trending bluer.

Also, Ocasio-Cortez is WAY more progressive than Beto. Beto was center-left. He's not a far left progressive.

But tell you what, I say run progressives everywhere. Let's "try" and then once it blows up in our faces, we can stop with the silliness and go back to running candidates that fit their district vice trying to pretend there's a secret majority of progressives just sitting in the "hinterlands" waiting for a far left candidate to come along.

[Vinca]

90. I am so grateful I live in New England. I can't imagine existing in a state where the big issues are

God, guns and gays interrupted by abortion and flag kneeling. It's hard to imagine a message of Medicare for all, affordable education, etc., etc., hitting a brick wall.

[qazplm135]

93. that's the problem

folks have a hard time envisioning other, different environments so they think what works where they are must work everywhere.

[Fred Sanders]

5. Social Democrat for the massive win...folks like socialist democracy, the party needs to get

with the likes of this fresh face and vision.

Not unexpected? Maybe not, but folks voted for the social democrat just as they they would have for a generic plain vanilla democrat, didn't they?

[Victor_c3]

9. I couldn't agree with you more

A social democrat energizes people like no other

[mountain grammy]

15. Agree

[R B Garr]

38. Not entirely true. Liberal California retained Feinstein despite

the lies, smears, and insults about her from people supposedly within our own party. The “socialist democracy” has mostly been rejected here and you can’t get much more liberal than California.

[bigtree]

48. de Leon got lot of votes

...against the popular Dem incumbent in that race.

His totals don't scream 'rejection' to me. I'd think more than an 8 point margin of defeat would be needed to make that death notice for Social Democrats in your state a reality.

[R B Garr]

49. They lost. All their efforts to smear Feinstein and they

failed. Bernie also. The election results speak for themselves, so trying to ignore them or explain them away is a fool’s errand.

[bigtree]

60. when you rail against these folks, you rail against millions of supporters

...it's hard to see the political wisdom in that.

All of these candidates running under the Democratic banner brought hundreds of thousands of voters to the political process, many of them first time voters, many of them staying involved in the general election, forming chunks of these margins of victory for Democratic candidates around the nation.

Talking about them like they're some kind of enemy is a pathetic political stance. It betrays a profound misunderstanding of how our party (any party) builds and expands it's base of voters in primaries to advantage candidates in the general election.

[R B Garr]

61. Republicans also voted in California. They lost also.

Those are the facts. There are entries on the ballot and you choose one. You should be more concerned about the actual outcomes — they speak for themselves. I notice you ignore the nasty attacks on a fellow Democrat, Feinstein. You should be denouncing that. Those tactics lost, and this isn’t the first time in very liberal California.

No need to make this about trying to shame people who rejected the divisive tactics against a long-standing Democrat.

[bigtree]

63. the stretching to include animus for Bernie in your complaint reminds me

...of how AOC detractors here played their own insidious politics, working to paint progressive candidates as 'extreme' and 'far left,' even though what they advocated wasn't far from our mainstream Democratic agenda.

Critics never actually got to discussions about any policy differences between candidates, opting instead for this broad brush portrayal of progressives like AOC as some sort of threatening Berniebots. It was a deliberate, vapid strategy which revealed the naked partisanship (in support of incumbents) behind all of the calls for unity; admonitions which didn't extend to progressive challengers in our primary.

As I said at the time, it's a good thing DU politics wasn't representative of the efforts of these campaigns - who had the good sense not to alienate the voters these Democratic candidates were bringing to our party primaries.

[R B Garr]

64. These recollections look false and self-serving.

No need to make this about DU when the election results speak for themselves.

California voted at least twice now and the divisive tactics and/or the “Bernie” agenda didn’t prevail in the elections. I only put his name in quotes because you are the one trying to refight whatever it is you are trying to throw in. California voted and those results speak for themselves. No need to harass people who supported and voted for a long/standing Democrat. No need to be divisive about Feinstein’s win.

[bigtree]

65. heh

...I don't say a word about Bernie.

I think it was just another partisan tactic, to pretend Sanders was part of that race, no matter who invoked his name.

I'm not surprised at all that you see that election through the lens of your animus toward Sanders. That's pretty much the go-to for critics opposing progressive candidates, especially the ones he's expressed support for. I think you'd be hard-pressed, though to find someone who voted based on what Sanders said.

What surprised me the most in the discussions here, and why I mentioned the controversies, was how easily critics of AOC conflated my own support for her with some supposed support for Sanders.

I've NEVER been a Sanders supporter. I pretty much wore my opposition to his campaign on my sleeve in 2016. Yet, Sanders is thrown reflexively in my face, like my support for progressive candidates IN OUR PARTY PRIMARY automatically makes me opposed to incumbents like Sen. Feinstein.

It's sophistry, pure and simple - and it's what the opposition to AOC mainly consisted of: conflating progressives with whatever animus critics had with Sanders, and treating their supporters as mere surrogates for that tiff with Bernie.

More than sophistry, it was strategy for some of these incumbent's supporters, much of that reflected in your own arguments to me. Not even having your candidate win has tempered the divisiveness.

[R B Garr]

66. The irony is truly laughable. The attacks on Feinstein

came from “animus” that was drummed up by a certain campaign against “Establishment”. Your revisionist history is false and self-serving. My Senator Feinstein from California wasn’t trying to influence voters against Bernie.

The facts speak for themselves. The California election results should be your focus. That is the reality.

[bigtree]

67. it's like Pres. Obama said

...misappropriating his quote:

“Why is it that the folks that won the last election are so mad all the time?”

Two Democrats were running. I wasn't concerned at all.

[R B Garr]

68. More irony! You keep projecting. Just proof that

your false narratives pertain to yourself. I remember who was trying to drum up anger, and it was a losing candidate. Your personalization of all of this is quite bizarre, actually.

[bigtree]

71. how quaint

...that 'losing' candidate did quite well against the popular incumbent.

Full circle.

[R B Garr]

75. Republicans also vote. A loss is a loss. How cute you

said “quaint”. Full circle indeed.

The moral of the story is that the attacks against Feinstein failed, and it wasn’t the first time this tactic failed. As the original entry stated, that’s now the second election cycle that “democracy socialism” has failed in the most liberal state. That is the reality. Looks like Californians are more interested in winning and governing than in “sending messages”.

[bigtree]

79. "democracy socialism" generates a good amount of support

...even in your state.

Dismissing it is just whistling in the wind.

More than that, it's playing politics with blinders on. There's more to political movements than wins and losses. I suspect that's what these dismissals of Democratic socialism are all about. If you can declare an ideal dead, you can hope to defeat the movement.

I think it's a vain pursuit which does nothing to the principles and only serves to aggravate supporters - many of these folks went on to vote for Feinstein and others in the general election, but you do whatever makes you feel better.

[R B Garr]

81. The actual election results should be your focus.

California is the most liberal state and a majority didn’t buy the attacks against a long standing Democrat. Looks like the majority didn’t buy what was being sold. Looks like the electorate rejected it. At least twice now, so that’s the lesson here. Maybe others should be taking your advice — start embracing the majority of voters here who have clearly spoken.

[bigtree]

83. your candidate won

...but the 'actual election results' show that de Leon got millions of votes.

Those folks were energized to participate in the process, many of them first time voters, by de Leon.

They're just sitting there, hardly bereft of the ideals they brought to the election. I'd guess they're looking for something more from the party than 'your candidate was a Sanders dupe.'

[R B Garr]

84. Republicans voted too, millions. They lost. This is a waste of time.

It looks like the majority of Californians are more interested in winning and governing than in sending messages. Speaking of messages, the majority of Californians have spoken. This is now the second election cycle, so those results speak for themselves.

Your comments are becoming more and more obtuse, sorry.

[bigtree]

86. you're conflating Democratic voters with republicans

...it's not a credible comparison.

It's basically a slur on progressive voters. I realize this is how detractors of progressives see these voters, as the enemy. It's rather pathetic.

Moreover, these voters went to the polls to elect de Leon, not 'send a message.' I really don't think you appreciate that Democrats who may vote against the candidate of your choice are still Democrats - not republicans.

That's who we're talking about here. Two Democratic candidates and their Democratic supporters.

[R B Garr]

88. Actually, the slurs against Democrats were rejected by the

majority of Californians. That is the message about slurs.

You are implying that just because someone votes that they have some kind of special message, but Republicans vote, so your premise is false and self/serving.

It’s also well-known that it was Democrat vs Democrat here, so it was supposed to be a big message being sent, but the huge anti-Establishment slurs failed and were rejected. That is the reality. The election results speak for themselves.

[George II]

110. No, DEMOCRAT for the win. As proven over the spring and summer primary seasons....

....people don't like "socialist democracy" (btw, is that something new?), but they do like Democrats.

[seaglass]

7. Another 29 year old, Abby Finkenauer flipped a red seat to blue. More impressive. n/t

https://kwwl.com/political/2018/11/07/abby-finkenauer-makes-history-in-the-1st-congressional-district/

[47of74]

11. She'll be my rep come January

It’ll be so nice to have actual representation in Congress again. I haven’t had that since 2015.

[mountain grammy]

16. More impressive? Is this a contest?

I’m impressed with EVERY single Democrat victory..

[seaglass]

19. I recognize that some contests are more difficult to win than others and am

more impressed with those successes than an easy win.

If you don't know the purpose of this thread, I can't help you.

[R B Garr]

18. Yes! Flipping Republicans is a real accomplishment.

Thanks.

[Bfd]

28. Abbey, 29, didn't just win an easy blue seat, SHE FLIPPED IT RED TO BLUE!!

Says more about who she is. A capable, smart & proud fighting Democrat!!

She will serve all of America well.

Congrats Abbey!

[Cha]

99. That's what I like to see.. A Dem who FLIPPED a

a red district BLUE! Very Impressive!

Thank You, seaglass!

[NewJeffCT]

13. 65 points was Crowley's average margin of victory

the previous two elections there - he won 83-17 in 2016 and 75-10 in 2014.

Great that she won, but it's hardly a surprise and the margin is in line with recent district performance.

[R B Garr]

17. lol, thread win!

Plus this OP neglects to tell the real story, but that’s no surprise. There was concern over Crowley being on the ticket still as a 3rd party.

[disillusioned73]

52. And she smoked him AGAIN...

like a cheap cigar..

[JonLP24]

54. +1000

[disillusioned73]

57. It's interesting ..

that being the youngest female elected to the House of Reps in history.... oh, and a Latina Democrat at that.. gets a "meh"..

Goes to show, ppl not only put party over country - but also faction over party..

[NewJeffCT]

58. Not at all

I think she has a terrific future and wish her well, but her winning by over 50 points is not unexpected.

I'm not celebrating Chris Murphy winning by 20 points in Connecticut because it was expected.

[JonLP24]

62. During the primaries

People were criticizing big time for endorsing and rallying for a candidate in a primary which is what all politicians said many people criticized her for not campaigning at home focusing on a race she hasn't won yet.

The OP alluded to that is his only reply in the thread.

[JonLP24]

59. I'm excited to have her in Congress

The right hates her as well but I'm excited to her have her policies and votes on key legislation.

[R B Garr]

72. Ah, by 4,000 votes in a low turnout election, but thanks

for agreeing that her concern over fellow Democrat Crowley was a mistake.

[edhopper]

95. He was put on the ballot

against his wishes, he supported her and did not want to run.

Hen has been nothing but a good Dem since his loss.

I won't alert, but this is a disservice to him as a person and a Democrat.

[disillusioned73]

97. What are you gonna alert.??

that I am celebrating a Latina becoming the youngest female to the House of Reps??

Sorry, not sorry

[edhopper]

101. The post about

"smoked him again" we don't put down Democrats here.

I have no problem with celebrating her, but she won his seat by the same amount he had won. And contrary to the ealier post, he was not running against her in the general.

I am just pointing that out, I said I would not alert.

[disillusioned73]

104. He was on the ballot.. FACT

He lost... AGAIN - FACT

Rinse & repeat.. bring a primary next time if it offends you so much.. I, unlike many here don't mind primary challengers - in fact I encourage them... Tulsi Gabbard had a primary like Howard Dean suggested and many here.. guess what happened there, yeah.. Bernie had a Primary.. yup, same result.. SMOKED

[edhopper]

107. He was put on the Ballot against his wishes

and ENDORSED her. FACT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/live-updates/midterms/live-primary-election-results/rep-crowley-endorses-ocasio-cortez-as-trump-slams-him/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0a2a468dfcbf
And for a FACT, I live in NY and supported her. But Crowley was a gracious loser.
Stop bashing Dems.

[NurseJackie]

29. ... and there you have it.

[Cha]

100. Interesting.. Joe Crowley won that Blue District

by more percentage.

[bdamomma]

23. Like her

we have some remarkable women in the House.

[OKNancy]

25. I'm adding that she campaigned against Sharice Davids

Very dumb and arrogant of her to do that. She needs experience and she needs to stop talking so much.

[Bfd]

33. AOC, Campaigned AGAINST Dem Sharice Davids?? WOW. Guess David's handed her a serious lesson in

choosing a loser.

Sharice Davids went on to fight and win against both her primary opponant AND her midterm opponant.
And in a Red State no less.

Sharice is a bad ass who stands solid for her values.
Fighter by nature, for every minority who has ever had to work ten times as hard for what they got.

She will serve the Democratic Party & the equality of all our citizens well.

[George II]

108. Yes she did. She also campaigned against Christine Whitmer and William Lacy Clay, too.

[bigtree]

45. she supported a person in a 5-person race

...in which Davids was ONE of the candidates for the seat.

It's sophistry to complain AOC was campaigning against Davids just because she supported one of the other Democrats in that primary.

It's actually bullshit, because AOC never once directed any of her advocacy in that primary against Davids.

[JonLP24]

55. Thanks for clearing it up

I'm excited to have her. I look forward to January.

[Blue_Tires]

26. okay... your point?

[NurseJackie]

31. Obelus?

÷

[still_one]

30. So? She also won in a blue district. What is your point?

[Bfd]

34. I also read the stunning headline that Sen Sanders won his seat in VT!

wow

[still_one]

37. If the point the OP was trying to make was that she was the youngest woman elected to the House, one

would think that would have been the OPs title. Instead the OP choose to focus the title on the amount she won by, which is really not news at all in a very blue district

[Bfd]

39. Abbey Finkenauer, born Dec 27, 1988, her story of struggle far exceeds a middle class life

DUBUQUE, Ia. — In Abby Finkenauer’s office, there’s a blue sweatshirt with worn-out elbows and tiny holes rippling across its arms like a wave to shore.

For most of her childhood, Finkenauer assumed that all “dad sweatshirts” ended up that battered. But after receiving countless T-shirts with hole after hole, always tiny and slightly singed on their edges, she realized that wasn't average wear and tear — they were the signs of the sparks that flew in all directions as her welder dad worked.

“He was literally burning his skin to make enough to feed our family and to ensure that we had what we needed,” Finkenauer said Wednesday. “For me, it’s a reminder of where I’ve come from, and, now, the hard-working people who I represent.”

AND ABBEY FLIPPED A RED SEAT TO BLUE FOR THE WIN.
This was no easy win. She joins the ranks of fighters for all , because she too has already been there.
WOW..Love Abbey & Sharice Davids' amazing stories of how they come to grace our Democratic Party with pure class & might.
They took nothing for granted along their path to DC

Sometimes the age card is played because its somehow a measure of worth, or no worth.
Odd thing isn't it.

[still_one]

41. I never ceased to be amazed that we have the most knowledgeable folks here, and you just proved it.

I agree, age by itself is not the criteria to determine a person's worth.


and what you have just pointed out is extremely significant about Representative Finkenauer. No small feat indeed to flip the red seat in Iowa to blue


BRAVO!!!

[RhodeIslandOne]

40. Every Dem in NYC proper wins at least 80-20

Jose Serrano got 96% of the vote for about the 10th time.

[Wounded Bear]

42. So make her Speaker of the House...

[NurseJackie]

44. Ha!! :-D

[workinclasszero]

47. LOL

But seriously I think that's what many Pelosi haters want to do. SMH

[bullwinkle428]

69. Were you watching the last episode of "The President Show? Because

that was one of the elements in the premise!

It was a look into the future, which began with Democrats taking over the House in the 2018 midterms, and making AOC the new Speaker.

Trump then attempted and won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for President in 2020, but the Russians hacked the election, and made Jill Stein President. They interviewed the shadowy Russian hacker, and he stated, "In Russia, we always hack to achieve the stupidest possible outcome"!

[bigtree]

43. I'm guessing they liked her campaign efforts

...

[brooklynite]

76. I'm guess they would have voted for a dead body if it had a "D" next to it.

[melman]

85. Charming

[brooklynite]

91. In NYC, realistic

[melman]

92. Maybe

But it still comes off pretty dismissive of the voters.

[brooklynite]

96. As a voter in NYC, especially someone formerly in Yvette Clarke's district, I stand by my opinion

Let me also say that this opinion was established when I was a Ward Committeeman in Philadelphia. Outside of a vote for President, most of my voters would have accepted any list of candidates I gave them.

[brooklynite]

46. Entirely expected..absolutely safe district

Nita Lowy: 87%
Nydia Velasquez: 93%
Grace Meng: 91%
Adriano Espaillat: 94%
Jose Serrano: 96%
Carolyn Maloney: 86%
Yvette Clarke: 89%

Part of the Democrats' national problem is that their voters are packed so tightly into Urban districts.

[Wintryjade]

70. HRC brought her into the fold, making her part of the establishment.

HRC is really good at keeping the eye on the ball, and getting the Democratic win It reminds me of the tough Pelosi saying that Democratic candidates can say whatever they need to about her in order to win the race.

[gopiscrap]

77. that is excellent so much for being a middle of the road Democrat

[Kaleva]

78. It's possible she could serve in Congress for the next 50 years

I'll be a 110 year old by the time she hangs it up.

[oberliner]

80. Very much so

[colsohlibgal]

103. Or....

Maybe she will be our first female president!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

109. Equally possible that she's primaried out in two years.

Maybe by Joe Crowley, maybe by a teenager with massive social media skilz.

It might depend on what she can get done for the people in her district.

[scheming daemons]

105. A ham sandwich with a (D) would get 80% in that district

Let's be real here.

[oberliner]

106. People were concerned that she was spending time campaigning for other candidates