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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
Although Trump appears to be working at making Ilhan Omar the face of the Squad, up till now the best-known member has been Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is the Democrats' Sarah Palin or even (Got forbid!) our Donald Trump? My answer to that would be no.
AOC has in common with Sarah Palin that she is a woman, young(ish), pretty(ish), charismatic and populist. She has in common with Donald Trump that she is a very Twitter-savvy publicity hound. Republicans would doubtless point out that AOC differs from Palin in that she has not juggled holding office with being a mother of five, and has not taken on the responsibilities of raising a Down's baby instead of having an abortion. This counts in Palin's favor personally, but is outweighed in public life by two factors. One is that she was not prepared for the level of vitriol that running for nationally known office bring, which is certainly understandable, but basically disqualifying. AOC, by contrast, appears to have gone into this with her eyes wide open, and to cherish controversy and have a very thick skin.
The other is that Palin's populist style, like so many other Republicans' is to tout ignorance as proof of virtue. Ordinary Americans don't know about policy and don't want some snobby elitist who does and gosh darnit, I don't know about policy either, so I'm perfect for the office. AOC's populism goes more to talking about her work as a bartender and how much she learned at it. This highlights a basic difference between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans are more interested in striking heroic poses than the minutia of policy details and tend to see concern with such minutia as elitist. Democrats have a significant wonk base that insists on knowledge as a prerequisite for office.
And, in fact, AOC has shown herself to be more than just a pretty face, or a media-savvy publicity hound. Certainly, she brings a valuable skill to Washington -- the skill at compacting complex ideas down into a 280-character tweet, and the skill at always going on the offense or counter-offense on Twitter and never the defense. But she has impressed people across the political spectrum with her skill at questioning witnesses before hearings and getting to actual information, rather than mere grandstanding. Her questioning of Michael Cohen has been widely praised, and her questioning of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been praised across the political spectrum. Nor is she purely partisan. Her urging of Powell to focus on the economy regardless of who is in the White House shows a public spirit Republicans notably did not show during the Obama presidency. And she is joining forces with Ted Cruz on two issues -- a ban on members of Congress serving as lobbyists, and making birth control pills available over the counter. And they appear to be working together to craft serious legislation on both these subjects.
Nor is she just a panderer. She has taken the wildly unpopular position of backing a Congressional pay raise and more pay for staffers. None of this makes AOC a policy wonk. It simply means that she is sharp, well-staffed, and eager to learn. More accurately, one could say that she is an apprentice wonk, and an apprentice drafter of important legislation.
But one area where AOC signally fails is on understanding politics as the art of the possible. And that is what brings her into conflict with Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi and AOC are both from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, but AOC is a crusader, shunning compromise and refusing to settle for less. Pelosi is a politician's politician, an expert in the sordid work of sausage making that AOC shuns as beneath her dignity. AOC wants what she wants and that is it. Pelosi wants to keep in mind Democrats from more centrist districts and not endanger their chances of reelection.
Which leads me to the next question. Are AOC and her "Squad" of firebrands the Democratic equivalent of the Freedom Caucus?
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