Joe Crowley got lazy about his primary in New York's 14th Congressional district, there's no doubt about it. The surprise of the night back on June 26 was Crowley going down in flames to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Bernie Bro-ette who had been pretty much ignored by everyone.
Which meant that Bernie World instantly elevated her to sainthood. And although Bernie hadn't bothered to endorse her in her own race, she quickly accepted the tag. She started racking up frequent-flier miles, campaigning for Bernie-ish candidates around the country as the new progressive darling.
Well, this week her contenders didn't do so well. Brent Welder in Kansas and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan tanked to more "establishment" folks.
We cats are not displeased about this. While we welcome all comers to the party and dislike Democrats cat-fighting with one another, we would like AOC to rethink her flight schedules. She should stay home and worry about her own Congressional campaign.
It's not that we expect NY-14 to flip red. But it would be a wise move for these reasons:
- Joe Crowley didn't think he was going to lose, either. So much danger lurks in taking things for granted.
- AOC is risking giving her future constituents the impression she doesn't care about them.
- She is maybe not quite the star she thinks she is — at least, not yet. A sense of entitlement isn't attractive.
- In contrast, humility is. First, AOC should go home and make sure that her campaign operation is doing the work it needs to. (If she wants to help progressive candidates, she can just lend her name to fundraising appeals.) And then when she gets to Congress, she should buckle down, learn the ropes and work her ass off.
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