Centrist Democrats, or at least those attempting to appear that way, reportedly don’t want Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) remotely near their campaign events as we head into the final five weeks before Election Day.
uncertain
we → attempt → Day
“I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days,” progressive House candidate Sam Forstag told Axios when asked if Ocasio-Cortez would be welcomed back on the campaign trail after stumping for him before the primaries.
asserted
Cortez → intend → primaries
And just to make the distancing complete, the Forstag campaign scrubbed her endorsement from his campaign’s website.
asserted
campaign → make → website
“The polling is atrocious for her,” a senior Democratic strategist working in a key swing district told the publication.
asserted
strategist → work → publication
“She’s a lightning rod.”
asserted
She → ’ → ?
A recent CNN/SSRS poll has her sitting at 26% favorability nationally, with just 28% of those aged 18-34 supporting her.
asserted
% → have → her
Among independents, the number drops to 22% seeing her favorably.
asserted
number → drop → her
But winning the Democratic nomination may not need moderate or independent voters.
uncertain
winning → win → voters
The far-left socialist wing of the party has proven to have the money, momentum, and organization right now, while the establishment Democratic National Committee is millions underwater.
asserted
Committee → prove → money
We’ve seen this movie before: run hard to the left during the primaries, then pivot back to the middle during the general.
asserted
We → see → general
Ocasio-Cortez will have no problem with the former, but the latter of pivoting to the middle will be quite a challenge for someone who’s never remotely been there before.
asserted
who → have → someone
And this brings us to why Ocasio-Cortez could end up being the worst general election candidate offered up from the Democrats … perhaps ever.
uncertain
Cortez → bring → Democrats
Because until the party gains back power, blows up the filibuster, and abolishes the Electoral College, as many are promising to do, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, elections will come down to those same seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina.
asserted
elections → gain → states
One by one, Ocasio-Cortez’s positions on the most key issues in those seven states will be quickly exposed in a general election.
asserted
positions → expose → election
In Pennsylvania, for example, how will voters respond to this future GOP campaign ad featuring Ocasio-Cortez screaming during a rally outside the United Nations in 2023 about the need to end all fossil fuels?
asserted
Cortez → respond → fuels
“We are all here for one reason: to end fossil fuels around the planet!
asserted
We → end → planet
And the way we create urgency is to have people around the world in the streets!” she shouted.
asserted
she → create → streets
And for Ocasio-Cortez, who portrays herself as a climate change champion despite flying on private jets to her “Fight the Oligarchy” rallies with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), winning the Keystone State will be impossible.
asserted
winning → portray → State
Can a candidate who has gone all in on electric vehicles going to win there?
asserted
who → go → vehicles
Overall, gas engine vehicles have about 2,000 drivetrain parts to build.
asserted
vehicles → have → parts
Electric vehicles have just 17.
asserted
vehicles → have → 17
As a result, an EV takes about 40% less labor to build than a gas vehicle.
asserted
EV → take → vehicle
Overall, the auto industry is responsible for more than 700,000 jobs in Michigan alone when including supply chains and sales.
asserted
industry → include → chains
Ocasio-Cortez will likely attempt to moderate her views in a general election.
asserted
Cortez → attempt → election
But like Harris, it’s a good bet that no one sane and sober is going to buy that act.
asserted
one → ’ → act
In Wisconsin, Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” goal of setting net emissions to zero apparently involves cows.
asserted
goal → set → cows
“We set a goal to get to net zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast,” Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote when a draft of the Green New Deal was introduced.
asserted
draft → set → Deal
After some blowback, the draft was altered to read “emissions from cows” before being deleted altogether.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
asserted
we → alter → breakfast
Like, let’s keep it real.
asserted
’s → let → it
We have to take a look at everything,” she once told Showtime’s Desus & Mero.
asserted
she → have → Desus
Wisconsin agriculture makes up about 10% of the state population, or more than 350,000 jobs.
asserted
agriculture → make → population
And yes, it can be guaranteed that the attack ads will be coming fast and furious, complete with farting cows and footage of her making that statement around hamburgers.
asserted
her → guarantee → hamburgers
Let’s go to the southwest, where Arizona provided President Donald Trump with his biggest turnaround.
asserted
Arizona → let → turnaround
In 2020, he narrowly lost a state that hadn’t gone blue in a presidential election since 1996.
asserted
that → lose → 1996
In 2024, Trump won Arizona by more than 5 points, his largest margin of any of the seven swing states.
asserted
Trump → win → states
At a rally on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez made abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement her primary focus, and she blatantly lied about its role.
“ICE is coming after every man, woman, and child who is engaging in productive activity in the street regardless of your status,” she claimed on Sunday.
asserted
she → make → Sunday
But fear is the greatest motivator, and Ocasio-Cortez saying that ICE is just randomly arresting “every man, woman, and child who is engaging in productive activity” is the whopper to end all whoppers.
asserted
who → say → whoppers
Ultimately, Ocasio-Cortez believes in providing every man, woman, and child in this country with full citizenship and benefits.
asserted
Cortez → believe → citizenship
And in a state like Arizona, which was overrun by illegal immigrants during the Biden-Harris administration, this kind of reckless rhetoric will ensure a defeat even worse than the one Harris suffered two years ago.
asserted
Harris → overrun → one
By winning those four states alone, and given the fact that former toss-ups like Florida and Ohio are now solidly red, the Republican nominee will be the next president.
asserted
nominee → win → Florida
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
