Frustrated with talks about President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to recruit centrists to his cabinet, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday called on her followers to tweet in their idea of a cabinet “dream team” more in keeping with the progressives’ ambitions.
Fantasy sports: presidential admin edition.
Who’s in your dream cabinet? ⬇️
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC)
A user calling herself Time For Change suggested Pete Buttigieg – Sec. of State (because of his diplomatic credentials as mayor of South Bend, Indiana – DI); Sally Yates – AG; Elizabeth Warren – Sec. of Treasury (which should work fine if you’re looking to redistribute the Treasury – DI); Sec. of Education – Dr. Jill Biden (she noted: but I know that’s not really feasible. It’s also illegal because of the anti-nepotism law – DI). Director of National Intelligence – Adam Schiff; Sec. of Labor – Bernie Sanders (as long as you keep him away from the State Dept. what do we care – DI); and EPA Administrator – Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.
And those suggestions were still within what we here on planet Earth call understandable. There was much worse. Such as Twitter user K.C. Sinclair who urged: “Put Ilhan Omar in charge of Homeland Security,” Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) as Attorney General, and Ayana Pressley (D-Mass.) at Health and Human Services.
The Democratic party is facing a challenge almost as great as defeating President Donald Trump: defeating the Squad, or at least getting it to tone down its attempts to ride the party down a slippery slope to an implosion. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va) who had just squeaked through a harrowing fight for her political life at the polls, last Thursday attacked AOC and the girls in a language you don’t expect from a fine southern lady from Richmond:
“We need to not ever use the word ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again … We lost good members because of that,” she said, adding, “If we are classifying Tuesday as a success … we will get [expletive] torn apart in 2022.”
Last spring, after it became clear that their champion, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would not receive the Democratic party’s nomination, the progressives, led by AOC, decided on a truce, essentially agreeing that unseating Trump was the real issue, and if Joe Biden can do it (as the polls were predicting), then they’d support him. Now, after Biden had won, the same progressives are no longer satisfied with that, and they want to be rewarded for their generosity, as well as for the hard work their followers had invested in winning.
In fact, observers—not necessarily friendly ones, are convinced AOC is the new Nancy Pelosi, just without the title. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca) told Axios on Monday that “she runs the floor. That wing of the party, the socialist wing of the party, they are the new power of the Democratic Party. He suggested AOC has to approve every legislation before the members vote on it, or it’s a no go.
Perhaps. It is true, however, that last October AOC told CNN she was planning to support the “most progressive” candidate for House Speaker – which could include a certain Congresswoman from the Bronx, who knows.
But AOC has been catching flack from inside her tent, too. Like Twitter user Jennifer Coleman, an army veteran, who lashed out at her late Tuesday night: “Mike Pompeo just said there will be a smooth transition, to a 2nd Trump term. WHERE IS YOUR TWEET about that?? (sic.) Me. Me. AOC. Girl, where are your priorities? You fight more MODERATE DNC (sic.) than Republicans. That’s WHY your catch heat (sic.).”
Coleman pushed on: “And don’t go running to Speaker Pelosi in tears saying, ‘Oh, I’m being attacked.’ Here you are on TWITTER trying to make a point about your beef with MODERATE Democrats. Remember, it’s the BASE and not representatives who have a problem with ‘DEFUNDING THE POLICE.’ WE LOST SEATS!”
And finally: “The utter SELFISHNESS of some Progressive congress members. They KNOW how hard it is in the South. Purple districts. Most progressives are in SAFE BLUE DISTRICTS and have the nerve to sum up our challenges to digital online campaign. It’s not the method it’s the MESSAGE. I’m [expletive].”
Attagirl.
This kind of civil war used to be routine in the Democratic party. Corbin Trent, Ocasio-Cortez’s former press secretary, told Business Insider. In the words of the immortal Will Rogers, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”
Or, as a former AOC press secretary, a guy by the name of Corbin Trent, told Business Insider: “I hope the truce, to the extent there was one, is over, and I hope we start firing on all cylinders and firing shots across the bow.” he then clarified that the centrist Democrats “are as much our enemy.”