AOC is the right鈥檚 new villain. And in Queens, they love her for it.
| New York
Mystery novelist Radha Vatsal was playing detective.
The Queens resident had recently heard about an upstart young woman who was taking on the district鈥檚 longtime Democratic congressman, Joe Crowley. Ms. Vatsal wanted to learn more about her, but couldn鈥檛 recall her name.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥極casio something,鈥欌�� says Ms. Vatsal, who鈥檚 lived in the neighborhood for 17 years. 鈥淚 just remember my experience of googling it and trying all different variations, and nothing would come up.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 confrontational style has the young New York congresswoman both leading charges and serving as a lightning rod. Back home, constituents say someone鈥檚 finally speaking for them.
That was in April of 2018. Later that month, Ms. Vatsal鈥檚 mystery woman would secure four times the number of signatures she needed to get on the ballot in New York鈥檚 14th district. In June, she鈥檇 stun political observers by drubbing Mr. Crowley in the Democratic primary. And in November, she鈥檇 become the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress.聽聽
Today, a search of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turns up countless headlines, videos, and tweets. A recent聽 found that at least 70 percent of Americans now know her name.
The congresswoman鈥檚 exploding fame has given her a platform to lead the charge on policy ideas around fighting climate change, expanding health care, and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and made her a darling of the Democratic Party鈥檚 left wing.
It鈥檚 also made her a lightning rod 鈥� the target of constant, cutting criticism focused on her policies as well as her youth and inexperience. Detractors have called her out for opposing Amazon鈥檚 plan to build a second headquarters in New York, dismissing her views on economic policy as naive and ill-informed. She saw blowback last month with the rollout of the Green New Deal 鈥� the stimulus package meant to address both climate change and economic injustice that鈥檚 one of her key policy initiatives 鈥� when her office released that didn鈥檛 match up with the plan鈥檚 legislative text. Since being elected, she鈥檚 drawn fire from fact-checkers over statements she鈥檚 made about the Pentagon鈥檚 budget and the Middle East.
According to Gallup, more Americans nationwide now regard her unfavorably than favorably (although the rise in her unfavorable rating has come mostly from Republicans).聽
It鈥檚 a lot to take so early in a political tenure. With the 2020 elections on the horizon, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 style strikes even some Democrats as too confrontational, at a time when party brass are working to unite a diverse coalition.
鈥淚f I were her consultant, I鈥檇 tell her: 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to recognize you鈥檙e in this game for the long haul. You have to do all the heavy lifting and the homework that鈥檚 required, all the relationship-building and coalition-building in order to be seen as a serious legislator,鈥� 鈥� says聽Elizabeth Sherman, who teaches politics at American University in Washington, D.C. 鈥淪he鈥檚 in danger of squandering her credibility.鈥�
But supporters in her district 鈥� and she won 78 percent of the vote in the general 鈥� say she models exactly the kind of leadership that underrepresented communities desperately need in this nationalized, hyperpartisan era. It鈥檚 more than the fact that she鈥檚 a young woman of color with savvy social media skills in an institution still dominated by older white men. There鈥檚 real value, they say, in having a representative who balances national attention with local needs. She faces down criticism without blinking and makes a point of voicing her constituents鈥� ideals at the highest levels, even when those ideals go against the party line. And she still shows up to a neighborhood library event on a Saturday afternoon.
鈥淲hat she鈥檚 doing is kind of reframing the conversation,鈥� Ms. Vatsal says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 put an anchor here. We may end up in a different position, but at least someone has staked our ground.鈥�
The right flavor of liberal
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Bronx native, but a lot of the support she saw in the primary 鈥� specifically, Jackson Heights.
Bordered on the north by LaGuardia Airport and the south by the 7 train as it rumbles down Roosevelt Avenue, the community is a blend of the working class and the well-educated, native-born millennials and immigrant families. Restaurants bear signs in multiple languages. Collectively, Jackson Heights residents speak .
For years, Mr. Crowley and the Queens County Democratic Party faced little opposition here. The neighborhood, like the district, is mostly liberal, and the former congressman did what good liberals are supposed to do: oppose the National Rifle Association (NRA), support the Affordable Care Act, and call for immigration reform. By 2016, his 10th consecutive term, Mr. Crowley was the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House.
Then Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Suddenly, being a good liberal wasn鈥檛 enough, says Jacob Neiheisel, a political scientist at the University at Buffalo. 鈥淵ou had to be the right flavor of liberal.鈥�
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez 鈥� or A.O.C., as she鈥檚 called these days 鈥� has that flavor in spades, and she worked it during the campaign. Through social media, she won over young people like David Lee, a Queens resident who a year ago was in his second bachelor鈥檚 program at Columbia University. Mr. Lee was especially taken with a of her talking about 鈥淢edicare for All,鈥� swearing off corporate PAC money, and promoting a renewable energy economy.
鈥淗er message instantaneously resonated with me,鈥� says Mr. Lee, the son of South Korean immigrants. He signed on to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 campaign in April 2018 and soon dropped out of school to volunteer for her full time.
Others she convinced with her ground game. Longtime Jackson Heights resident Nuala O鈥橠oherty was at first skeptical that anyone could beat Mr. Crowley, much less an untried 28-year-old. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and her team were unrelenting, says Ms. O鈥橠oherty, a mother of five who runs the Jackson Heights Beautification Group. The then-candidate went to living rooms and libraries, talked to superintendents and students. 鈥淟iterally, she showed up to events where there were seven people,鈥� Ms. O鈥橠oherty says. 鈥淎nd she wouldn鈥檛 leave.鈥�
By the time Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was elected in November 鈥� one of a record number of women who entered Congress and helped flip the House to Democratic control 鈥� there was little doubt about her ability to commandeer the spotlight.聽聽
A question of leadership
What critics now are questioning is her leadership. Since taking office in January, nearly every decision she鈥檚 made has come under scrutiny, both from the right and the left. Conservatives love to hate her 鈥� for her clothes, her dancing, even her staff, which has faced accusations of obscuring PAC money during the campaign. Some have said outright that she鈥檚 , though she majored in economics and international relations at Boston University. Last week, after the deadly mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand, she 聽for tweeting that the NRA uses the phrase 鈥渢houghts and prayers鈥� from proposed policy changes in the aftermath of gun tragedies.聽聽
Even at home, support for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is by no means universal. Though she beat Mr. Crowley by 15 points, estimated turnout in that primary was between 11 and 13 percent, suggesting it was a vocal, energized minority that won her the nomination. Some voice concerns around her approach, which they worry could alienate potential allies in Congress.
Others squirm over the fact that she鈥檚 a vocal member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). At an Irish pub in the Queens neighborhood of Woodside, attempts to ask about the congresswoman were met with a salty 鈥淵ou mean ?鈥� No one cared to comment further.
Her biggest clash with establishment members of the party came over Amazon鈥檚 plan to build a second headquarters in Long Island City, a Queens neighborhood adjacent to her district. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was among the most prominent politicians opposing the deal, which had been brokered by state party leaders. When it fell through, the brunt of criticism 鈥� that the state had lost 25,000 jobs thanks to ignorance and bullheadedness 鈥� landed on her.聽聽
But the congresswoman鈥檚 core constituents say all this is exactly what they elected her to do. To them, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez shows a keen understanding of what the community needs, and doesn鈥檛 hesitate to use her national status to bring attention to it. That鈥檚 what her opposition to the Amazon deal was, they say: a plea that leaders deal with the community鈥檚 challenges 鈥� like overcrowded schools and crumbling infrastructure 鈥� rather than looking to a major corporation to supply Manhattanites with jobs and real estate moguls with high-end projects.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 care about the big real estate developers,鈥� says Mr. Lee, who鈥檚 also a member of the DSA. 鈥淲e care so strongly about the working class communities of color being able to live a decent life in this city. That鈥檚 what matters to us.鈥�
Political scientists say it鈥檚 too soon to definitively cast Ms. Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 emergence as part of a broader trend. But it is worth looking at the style of leadership she鈥檚 modeling in an evolving Democratic Party.聽聽
鈥淎t a time when we value institutions less, does that outsider perspective carry more weight?鈥� asks Sally Friedman, a professor at the University of Albany who focuses on political representation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an interesting question about Congress and what kind of Congress we鈥檙e going to have. Where do the institutional parts of it fit, and what鈥檚 from the outside?鈥�
For now, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez seems to have the kind of support at home that can withstand the battery of invectives flung her way. Her defenders talk about things like opportunity and changing the system. They say she鈥檚 showing that young people, women, communities of color, can take power into their own hands. That a healthy, vibrant democracy means giving a voice to those who鈥檝e been told for decades to wait their turn.聽
鈥淔olks are feeling more engaged because 鈥� with Ocasio, they feel like they鈥檙e being heard,鈥� says Julissa Bisono, a Latina activist who works with the Queens contingent of Make the Road New York, a nationwide community organization. 鈥淪he鈥檚 bringing all of our local issues to a big platform. We needed that.鈥�
Ms. Vatsal, the novelist, says that although she has more than a decade on Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, she鈥檚 found plenty to admire in the younger woman. 鈥淎s a woman of color, I always thought I was strong and outspoken. But seeing her 鈥� how she steadily stood her ground, it was really instructive,鈥� Ms. Vatsal says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 representative of a real 鈥� and we see that across the country 鈥� wave of women at high levels and low levels speaking up for themselves.鈥�
