Progressives Mourn AOC’s Defeat in Leadership Race: ‘Democrats Refuse to Learn Their Lesson’
Screenshot via CBS
A number of progressives mourned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) bid to become the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) defeated Ocasio-Cortez in a vote taken by the entire Democratic caucus on Tuesday by a margin of 131-84, one day after the Democrats’ Steering an Policy Committee voted for Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez by a margin of 34-27.
Prior to being easily dispatched by Connolly, many had speculated that Ocasio-Cortez might pull off an upset in the vote among the larger caucus, with Politico Playbook calling the contest a “crapshoot.”
But Connolly ultimate prevailed handily, leading some observers to decry House Democrats’ decision.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid reacted to the loss by declaring that “At this point almost nothing the Democratic Party does makes any damned sense.”
At this point almost nothing the Democratic Party does makes any damned sense. They are hanging onto their gerontocracy and consultant class at the expense of their most loyal voters. And let’s just be clear, they’ll be fine while our communities pay the price.
— Joy-Ann Reid (@joyannreid.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 1:41 PM
“They are hanging onto their gerontocracy and consultant class at the expense of their most loyal voters. And let’s just be clear, they’ll be fine while our communities pay the price,” she added.
“Democrats refuse to learn their lesson,” mused progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen. “Refuse to take generational change seriously. Refuse to spotlight the party’s most effective communicators.”
Democrats refuse to learn their lesson. Refuse to take generational change seriously. Refuse to spotlight the party’s most effective communicators.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 12:16 PM
Pod Save America‘s Dan Pfeiffer concurred, submitting that “Valuing seniority over political and messaging chops is exactly how Democrats got into this mess in the first place.”
Matt Lech, another left-wing podcaster, responded to Pfeiffer’s tweet by declaring that “It is maliciously misleading people to say this is about ‘seniority,’ which was not determinative last time. Are we gonna grow the fuck up and confront this blatant corruption here or just shadowbox.”
And Briahna Joy Gray, a critic of Ocasio-Cortez’s from the left, placed some blame on the congresswoman herself.
“Following AOC’s loss, will any of the ‘inside strategy’ leftists acknowledge they were wrong all these years, and that I and the ‘force the vote’ adversarial left were right?” she wondered.
Ocasio-Cortez reportedly faced headwinds created by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who “actively” worked to “tank” her candidacy.
