Democratic leader Rep. Joe Crowley scored 100 percent on the progressive establishment’s scorecard, but he lost his seat to a Latino candidate who touted her anti-establishment economic pitch as often as she described herself as a Latino.
The socialism-and-Latino pitch by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spotlights the growing impact of identity politics which establishment Democrats have promoted via cheap-labor immigration and the outsiders-against-insiders “diversity” strategy. Those new politics are a long-developing danger to many Democratic candidates — and to the party’s share of the middle-class vote.
Donald Trump was elected by mobilizing national opposition to this nation-changing identity-politics trend — and now his chaotic, grinding populist resistance to the establishment Democrats’ marriage of identity-politics ideology with crony capitalism is exacerbating the hidden splits within the Democrats’ raucous caucus of minorities.
Those splits include the divides between Crowley’s New York political machine and the Latino arrivals, between the Democratic-leaning suburbanites who are worried about mass migration and the Democrats progressive activists who yet more immigration, between the Democrats’ union workers and the Democrats’ Wall Streeters, and between Democrats’ real-estate donors and the cheap-labor voters who complain about rising rents.
Crowley’s status as the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House did not save him once she escalated the Democrats’ risky combination of immigration and economic cronyism.
“There is a profound mismatch between the community and its representation,” Ocasio-Cortez told Politico. “What is new about candidates that are not people of color, that are not women, that aren’t working-class, that don’t advocate for progressive policies?”
Vox.com carefully admitted the obvious:
Ocasio-Cortez’s victory is … the story of how the Democratic Party is getting pulled to the left. It’s also about how it’s not just progressive policies that are reshaping the party, but also people of color.
Journalists noted that Crowley was just too white for his district, which is now 50 percent Latino — mostly American, non-immigrant, Peurto Ricans — and only 22 percent white.
A party heavily reliant on millennials, minorities and women is still run predominantly by older white males. Something was going to happen. A takeaway from @Ocasio2018’s victory is Dems want leaders who reflect the makeup of their base. https://t.co/XlzTmt6och
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 27, 2018
Crowley wasn’t perfect. Middle-aged white guy, party boss when the party’s politics were moving in the other direction
But like cantor, he was seen as safe, reliable and did what it took — built chits. pic.twitter.com/KLDRa1YpaN
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 27, 2018
Ocasio-Cortez affirmed this racial claim by posting this comment — “want to unseat these white male incumbents.” — on her Twitter account:
Stories like this one by @SeanMcElwee are the embodiment of hope in the Trump era, and the bold campaigns being waged by @AyannaPressley, @Ocasio2018, and @sairasameerarao are thrilling to behold. This is what a Millennial political revolution looks like. https://t.co/kyyI1L8AYy
— Miles Howard (@MilesPerHoward) June 19, 2018
The district is now 50 percent Latino partly because of the post-1965 mass-immigration policies which have imported a low-wage service class for the upper-income professionals, such as the bankers and investors on Wall Street. Wages for this huge service-class are lowered by the mass migration of each new wave of workers, who must live in shared rental housing close to their workplaces because few earn enough money to move up to the middle-class.
do you know someone who lives in NY-14? Tell them to vote for @Ocasio2018 on tuesday please. it's important pic.twitter.com/y2oPolMjKp
— Plan B Piilgrim (@drnifkin) June 22, 2018
Ocasio-Cortez’s mother is a Puerto Rican migrant, and she claims to have briefly worked on immigration issues in Sen. Ted Kennedy’s office. She won by selling herself as a fellow Latino would promote immigration and aid Puerto Rico, and also a progressive who would tax Democratic donors to reduce rents, subsidize mortgages, pay-off students loans, subsidized jobs, provide free work-training, and provide free healthcare.
She wants higher taxes, telling MSNBC that she wants an “economically ambitious agenda”:
She wants to force banks to hand out riskier loans:
.@TimKaine & @DougJones, you both should be ashamed of yourselves.
You each campaigned on the backs of Latinx & African American voters. Now you’re COSPONSORING legislation that makes redlining (a major element of poverty in these communities) easier for Big Banks?
Step it up. https://t.co/YeTckR6NZJ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) February 20, 2018
She slammed Crowley for his ties to establishment donors:
An enormous amount of Republican financing is going towards supporting my opponent, @repjoecrowley.
As my abuela likes to say, “Dime con quien andas…” https://t.co/VI2SaJUZ7u
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 25, 2018
“I believe that every American should have stable, dignified housing; health care; education — that the most very basic needs to sustain modern life should be guaranteed in a moral society.” https://t.co/UC8l1rGGWB
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 26, 2018
Her big-spending agenda is popular among poor Latino migrants, who see themselves far outside the existing establishment. She told New York magazine:
I believe that every American should have stable, dignified housing; health care; education — that the most very basic needs to sustain modern life should be guaranteed in a moral society.
You can call that whatever you want to call that. Legislatively, when I knock on a door, the way that it looks like is improved and expanded Medicare for all; it looks like housing is a human right; it looks like a federal jobs guarantee that guarantees a $15 minimum wage, paid family and sick leave, and health care. It looks like tuition-free public college, it looks like the exploration and expansion of federal student-loans forgiveness. When I knock on a door and tell people that that’s the world that I’m fighting for, it’s a no-brainer. In fact, this has almost been a non-conversation actually for voters. I was expecting it to be a bigger deal than it was, and people don’t even bat an eye.
She told New York magazine that her campaign combined racial and economic grievances;
There’s this false notion that you have to separate and choose between issues of class and issues of race. What people do when they say that you need to separate class from race is that they are really just saying that people of color should come second … solidarity across racial] lines is very, very powerful.
Her race-and-ethnicity pitch to Latino migrants was front-and-center on her Twitter account:
My most cherished endorsements are those of everyday people in the Bronx and Queens.
Why does Madeline support Ocasio2018?
Because it’s time to get money out of politics – and it’s time to get serious about #PuertoRico. 🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/tIPkT9pi2Z
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 24, 2018
She visited the border during the peak of her election campaign to show her support for foreign migrants:
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York City is overcome with emotion at the entrance of the CBP facility where the #tentcity housing boys and girls is located in #Tornillo. #BorderStories #ImmigrantChildren #lafrontera #onassignment @TexasTribune pic.twitter.com/Yxqm7DY8Gd
— Ivan Pierre Aguirre (@i_p_a_1) June 24, 2018
What an honor to be in the same bus as @Ocasio2018 standing together.
I will not stop until these children have been reunited with their families.
I will not stop until their is an end to detention.
I will not stop until we stop treating immigrants at our borders as criminals. https://t.co/9TPsvGkzEt— JOVAHANA (@jovahanaa) June 24, 2018
She repeatedly called for the abolition of the immigration enforcement agency, despite the shocking 2016 success of Trump’s pro-American policy:
✅ Medicare for All
✅ the abolition of ICE
✅ tuition-free public college@Ocasio2018 is the bold leader New York’s 14th District needs in Congress.https://t.co/jsMPhbDLn7— Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) June 22, 2018
Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez (@Ocasio2018) is in the middle of a NY primary election for Congress. One of her campaign platforms is the abolishment of ICE — here she explains why. pic.twitter.com/Df1Rb0wIOt
— REMEZCLA (@REMEZCLA) June 21, 2018
She upstaged Crowley by demanding that he follow through on his rhetoric that ICE is a “fascist” organization: “Why don’t you adopt the stance to eliminate it?”
ICE is operating exactly as designed when it rips screaming children from parents. That’s exactly why we must abolish it.
We MUST have the moral and political courage to #abolishICE.
Weak half-measures do nothing. This is a defining moment of our time – the time to act is now. pic.twitter.com/0viiQ4qdz8
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 19, 2018
She promoted her adopted identity as a “Latinx,” meaning Latino of either sex.:
We conveniently forget that large, massive swaths of the United States used to be Mexico.
Latinx people are baked into the land of the Americas and the United States.
We are a product of indigenous peoples, who have been displaced and fleeing violence for most modern history.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 24, 2018
@Ocasio2018 is truly the ultimate role-model for latinx women and young girls. VOTE OCASIO 2018!!!!!! https://t.co/fwinTwbvWt
— lillian (@lillliiiaaann11) June 17, 2018
She used her Twitter account to spotlight people who cited their ethnic or racial identity as a reason to vote for her:
Thank you so much 💜💜 https://t.co/QMxgJq9gx8
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 24, 2018
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) June 26, 2018
I’m tagging along with @Ocasio2018 for a bit. So far, walking through Sunnyside 3 people have stopped to chat her up. One woman said “We need more Latinos,” and “my husband is going to be so jealous I met you” #NY14
— Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) June 26, 2018
Apoyemos a @Ocasio2018! Saben como pueden?
Desde las 9AM hasta las 8:45PM, vamos a estar haciendo llamadas a los votantes en español. Si tienen un tiempecito, ayudemos a #UnaDeLasNuestras: https://t.co/l90HN8VUCY y seleccionen “Spanish GOTV”
💻🗣📱
— Joanna Mendez (@joanna_517) June 26, 2018
Just voted for @Ocasio2018! Super excited to have a Latina from the BX who gets our communities and what makes NYC so dope. #Ocasio2018 pic.twitter.com/ZCWGghZED5
— Olga Marina Segura (@OlgaMSegura) June 26, 2018
This immigration-and-socialism pitch almost worked for another son of immigrants in a nearby district held by African-American Rep. Yvette Clark.
97% in #NY09 and Yvette Clarke looks like she'll just make it. Leads 51.4-48.6, a margin of about 750 votes. She laughed at primary challenger at debate, 2020 may be much more serious.
— Daily Kos Elections (@DKElections) June 27, 2018
Crowley had rock-solid establishment-left credentials. He scored 12 percent at the Heritage Foundation’s scorecard, 14 percent at a Koch-network scorecard, 100 percent at the far-left Americans for Democratic Action scorecard, and 88 percent at another left-wing scorecard. He was endorsed by pro-abortion groups and environmental groups, and by political groups who represented the pre-Latino wave of Irish immigrants from the 1900s.
But the imposed ethnic-and-civic-diversity forced by the federal government’s cheap-labor immigration policy has a price, and on June 26, Crowley became just another example of an American who lost his job to cheap-labor immigrants. Latino activists are hoping for more defeats:
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