Ocasio-Cortez supports the campaign of the primary democrats

Congress

The new Congressman endorses the Justice Democrats' efforts to make the House's democratic caucus more liberal and diverse by recruiting incumbents.

Elected representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday endorsed a new national campaign to hold primaries against practicing Democrats considered to be ideologically and demographically out of step with their districts.

The new star of the New York Congress has once again warned the Democratic establishment that it and left-wing militant groups were not content with a Democrat-controlled House: they are determined to move the party to the left..

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"To sum up, I need your application," Ocasio-Cortez said at a videoconference led by Justice Democrats, as the group launched a campaign called "#OurTime". Justice Democrats supported the first Ocasio-Cortez campaign against powerful representative Joe Crowley (DN.Y.).

"All Americans know that money in politics is a huge problem, but unfortunately we solve it by demanding that our incumbents leave it or by organizing fierce campaigns ourselves," Ocasio-Cortez added. "It's really what we need to do to save this country – it's exactly what it is."

Saikat Chakrabarti, co-founder of Justice Democrats, chief of staff of the new congressman, was blump.

"We need new leaders, one point is everything," he said. "We need the primaries."

The group said it would like the Democratic members of Congress to be representative of their diverse communities and support liberal policies such as Medicare for all, removing the immigration and customs service, establishing a "new" Green New Deal "and rejecting corporate donations. During the election campaign, Ocasio-Cortez spoke of the possibility of forming a "business-free caucus" as a way to lobby for reform. This type of group, if formed, could turn out to be the left-wing counterpart of the freedom caucus, which pushed Republican leaders to the right.

"I do not think that people who receive money from oil and gas companies should be drafting climate legislation," Ocasio-Cortez said.

With regard to the Democrats they will target, the grassroots organization has invited its members to submit nominations and potential districts to target in 2020. Justice Democrats said it would give priority to women and diversity in their recruitment. The four incoming House members supported by Democratic Justice Judges are women of color: Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez.

"If you are a strong progressive leader in your community and you commit to withdrawing money from politics, I wish you to join me in Congress. I want you to run, "said Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter on Twitter on Twitter

Ocasio-Cortez and Justice Democrats, 29, want his victory over Crowley to mark the beginning of a movement, not a one-off surprise. "We have recruited and supported Ocasio-Cortez until a historic victory and we will now repeat the book," Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, said in a statement.

Tlaib, another Democrat Socialist who had received Democratic Justice support in his first competitive primary for the former headquarters of Representative John Conyers Jr., also supported the new campaign.

"Helping women like us at all levels of government. We still need more of you to run with us. So, gather your team. We are waiting for you, "said Tlaib in a statement.

The grassroots group expects to focus more on safe Democratic seats – as was the case with Crowley – than on the neighborhoods in motion, largely concentrated in the suburbs, which the party won on the way to the United States. majority in the House. This is a slight shift in strategy after all of the group's candidates, such as Kara Eastman in Nebraska, have failed in Republican-controlled districts in 2018. Replacing Secure Democratic Holders with More Progressives and Leaders various Window opening on what is and is not acceptable in the Democratic Party.

"There are many blue districts in this country where communities want to support a new generation of diverse working class leaders who are tirelessly fighting for their constituents and building a movement around great solutions to the most serious problems of our country." Rojas said.

There are parallels between this effort and the Tea Party movement during Barack Obama's presidency, when members of Congress holding strong Republican seats, such as former Republican majority leader Eric Cantor, faced major challenges. from the right.

Nevertheless, it is unusual for first-year Democratic students to support an organization that threatens to do primaries against their new colleagues. And it is unclear whether this could trigger a reaction from legislators in place who want to take advantage of their new majority to get things done, rather than making sweat a major challenge.

But Ocasio-Cortez has already said it was trying to break the mold. During her first week in Washington, she joined a demonstration in the offices of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, supporting calls for a "Green New Deal".

"It was not a very polite decision," Chakrabarti said.

Ocasio-Cortez said during the sit-in that she was not there to protest Pelosi but to support the activists and their program.

"If Leader Pelosi were to become the next Speaker of the House, we must tell her that we have found her to show and continue the most progressive energy agenda this country has ever seen," she said. "It's about unity. It's solidarity. "