AOC: Not My Job To ‘Gain Personal Acceptance’ From Democrats | EUROtoday

On the heels of shedding her bid for a high House committee publish, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) mentioned Friday that she doesn’t really feel rejected by Democrats, as a result of she doesn’t work for them.

“I don’t really feel abandoned by the Democratic Party, because my primary relationship that I care about the most is mass movements and mass-movement politics,” she mentioned on an episode of “The Majority Report,” a radio present hosted by political commentator Sam Seder.

“I don’t feel abandoned, because my job is not to try to gain personal acceptance,” she continued. “My job is to try to build power for the working class.”

On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez, 35, misplaced a Democratic caucus vote to call the top-ranking occasion member on the House Oversight Committee within the upcoming Congress ― a place tasked with highlighting potential abuses by the incoming Trump administration. Instead, her colleagues went with Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a 74-year-old, eight-term congressman.

Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive who runs with the Working Families Party, famous that the 131-84 vote was nearer than individuals anticipated, making her optimistic concerning the occasion’s route.

“I don’t think anybody in the party thought that it would be this close at the start,” she instructed Seder. “The fact that it was this close, the fact that some of the most established and powerful elements of the party had to mobilize to make this result happen ― you know, people were hot on their heels ― I think is a very good sign for us.”

She additionally mentioned there’s an issue with long-serving Democrats holding on to outdated communication types.

“There’s this idea… I think among more of the old guard, that having that kind of resonance and responsiveness is gauche and lowbrow and unsophisticated, and it’s attention-seeking,” she mentioned. “Like the fact that a person has attention means that they are attention-seeking, as opposed to the fact that they are talking to people.”

Republicans, Ocasio-Cortez continued, “don’t have a seniority system” the best way Democrats do.

Connolly’s supporters for the committee job largely cited his tenure on the panel when explaining why they backed him over Ocasio-Cortez.

“Gerry’s been on the committee for a long time. We watched him in the first [Trump] term. He’s a tenacious bulldog,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) instructed HuffPost this week. “And I’m glad that AOC ran as well. I think she presents a vision of the future, so kudos to her.”

“Gerry’s just been there and really devoted to that committee, and I think over time that really pays off,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) instructed HuffPost. “[Ocasio-Cortez is] great, though. I mean, not taking anything away. She’s a talent. Got to figure out a way to make sure that we use her skills.”