Alexandria Ocasio and the New Stars in U.S. Congress

The band of young politicians representing the incoming class elected to the U.S. Congress in the 2018 elections have raised high hopes of seeing a different American politics in future.

To bring a change, the former staffers and supporters of former U.S. presidential candidate Barnie Sanders formed the American political action committee to elect new congressional representatives. In the Spring of 2016 there were 12,000 application for what they called the Brand New Congress and 12 of them came our victorious.

Among them is 29-year-old newly elected socialist Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who pledged among other things to improve and expand medicare for all, a federal job guarantee for a living wage, childcare and paid leave, reduce prison population, protect and expand social security, tuition-free public college and vocational schools, housing right for all and abolition of ICE.

The pledges were so popular in some of the constituencies that candidate like Ocasio Cortez on last November 6 defeated Republican Anthony Pappas in the deep blue district. In the primary, Ocasio Cortez defeated long time representative Joseph Crowley. Joe Crowley had spent $3.4 million in the Democratic Primary while Ocasio Cortez was initially struggling to raise funds. The funds for the new candidate started pouring in after the primary election and she was able to raise as much as two million dollars.

The present congress is exceptional in many ways. There are more than three dozen democrats who have been elected to the House for the first time. Of them, 23 of the members are Hispanic, Native Americans and people of color.

As for Ocasio, she had remained in the limelight in news as well as in the social media, since her ‘unusual victory’. The question has already come up that whether she would be able to foster and maintain the aspirations or is it that the media is flattering?

Media asking her the possibility of running for Presidential election even before the House started its business and despite knowing the constitutional bar for age, was asking a bit too much. Although her response was very matured and smart enough to steal the spotlight, she should be on guard.

As the Brand New Congress vowed to represent people and not politics, her work should build her foundation. Hope the liberal insurgent Ocasio Cortez plays her cards right and keeps a mark as a congresswoman in the Brand New Congress.