WASHINGTON (AP) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has had little trouble drawing a crowd.
asserted
Cortez → have → crowd
In a final campaign swing with progressive candidates across the country, the Democratic congresswoman from New York packed rooms in Michigan’s deeply Republican Upper Peninsula, where chants of “AOC” broke out.
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chants → pack → AOC
In Ohio and Maine, hundreds of students turned out to catch a glimpse of her as she campaigned alongside Democrats in competitive races in the Nov. 3 midterms.
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she → turn → midterms
On Friday night, she was in California’s Central Valley, lending support to a progressive seeking to unseat a House Republican.
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she → lend → Republican
Ocasio-Cortez has built a national following that few other members of Congress can match.
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members → build → Congress
Her tens of millions of social media followers give her a platform far beyond her New York district, and her nickname, AOC, has become one of the most recognizable in American politics.
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nickname → give → politics
Now, as she contemplates a next move, including a possible run for the White House or the Senate, she is also offering a largely untested proposition: that her brand of progressive politics can appeal beyond the Democratic base and help the party win those competitive elections.
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party → contemplate → elections
“We have written a check on the left, saying if you champion these policies that have popular support, we can win,” Ocasio-Cortez told a recent fundraiser.
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Cortez → write → fundraiser
“Now it is time to cash in.
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it → cash → ?
Now it is time to go out and show what we are capable of.”
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we → go → what
At 37, she is the natural heir to the political movement fostered by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that has had striking appeal for young voters.
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that → foster → voters
It also offers a stark contrast to the roles that the superrich like Elon Musk are trying to play in influencing elections.
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superrich → offer → elections
“You have to be the right person at the right place at the right time,” said Doug Sosnik, who was a senior adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton.
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who → have → Clinton
“The year that Jimmy Carter ran and got elected president is the only year I think he could have run and gotten elected.
uncertain
he → run → ?
In a historic concert hall in Portland, Maine, filled with college students, retirees and others, Ocasio-Cortez looked to Senate nominee Troy Jackson and acknowledged the political calculation of his appearance alongside her.
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Cortez → fill → her
“There are a lot of consultants out here in Washington that would tell him, ‘Do not sit on a stage next to her,’” she said.
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she → be → her
Minutes later, Ocasio-Cortez received rousing applause after an emphatic response to a question about putting “America first or Israel first.”
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Cortez → receive → America
She argued that the United States should question how it can afford wars rather than programs such as “Medicare for All.”
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it → argue → All
“Going back to her previous comment, why wouldn’t I want to sit alongside someone who just talked like that?” Jackson asked.
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Jackson → go → that
Maine, where Jackson is trying to defeat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, will be pivotal in determining which party controls the Senate.
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party → try → Senate
So will Michigan, where Ocasio-Cortez recently appeared with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Upper Peninsula.
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Cortez → appear → Peninsula
In Iron Mountain, a town near the Wisconsin line in a county that President Donald Trump won by more than 30 percentage points, Ocasio-Cortez made the case for the progressive movement.
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Cortez → win → movement
“Our problems are less left and right,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“They’re top and bottom.”
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They → ’re → ?
Isabella Pruter, a junior at the University of Michigan, said Ocasio-Cortez has a certain star power among younger voters.
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Cortez → say → voters
“I remember in 2020 and hearing about her name and thinking she was so cool,” Pruter said.
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Pruter → remember → name
“She really clicks with anyone who’s younger, especially for college students.”
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who → click → students
At the New York fundraiser for El-Sayed this month, Ocasio-Cortez made clear how much she believes is at stake in Michigan.
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believes → make → Michigan
“If Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere,” she said.
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she → win → Michigan
But not everyone agrees that enthusiasm for progressive candidates will translate into victories in competitive states.
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enthusiasm → agree → states
Former Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who retired from Congress after voting to impeach Trump in 2021, said winning swing states requires appealing beyond a party’s base to independent voters.
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winning → retire → voters
“There’s a place in the party for her but I don’t think it’s a majority,” said Upton, who served with Ocasio-Cortez.
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who → ’ → Cortez
“She’ll win New York and California, but not in other states they’d need to get to 270” electoral votes to win the White House.
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they → win → House
Heading west to help House candidates
The next stretch of Ocasio-Cortez’s swing took her west to gauge her appeal in closely contested House districts and spend time in a state important to a potential 2028 presidential run.
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stretch → head → run
In California’s Central Valley on Friday night, she rallied with Randy Villegas, a young progressive who defeated a rival backed by Democratic Party leaders in the primary.
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who → rally → primary
The district is nearly 75% Hispanic, though Democrats have long struggled to turn out working-class Latino voters there.
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Democrats → struggle → voters
On Saturday, she planned to campaign in Nevada, the second state on the 2028 political calendar and one that would be crucial to her path to the nomination.
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that → plan → nomination
Nevada, where working-class Latinos are a major force in Democratic politics, has been friendly to her brand of progressivism and overwhelmingly backed Sanders in the 2020 caucuses.
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Latinos → back → caucuses
She came to support Rep. Steven Horsford, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, near Las Vegas’ historic westside neighborhood, the cultural and historical heart of the city’s Black community.
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She → come → community
A presidential run would require more than a theory of the case
Even if the progressive candidates Ocasio-Cortez is backing succeed on Election Day, a presidential run would present a different challenge.
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run → require → challenge
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
