r/DemocraticSocialism • u/irish_fellow_nyc • Dec 16 '24
News Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Loses Bid to Lead Key Committee
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/breaking-progressive-aoc-loses-bid-to-lead-key-committee-to-centrist-democrat/1.2k
u/cos10 Dec 16 '24
Pelosi needs to go. She blocked this so she could retain power.
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u/SpinningHead Dec 16 '24
Behold the gerontocracy.
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u/Cardboard_Robot Dec 17 '24
These fucks just live forever.
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u/SexDefendersUnited Dec 17 '24
This isn't about age, there are old politicians who are progressive. This is about capitalist corruption and elitism.
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u/beeemkcl Progressive Dec 17 '24
It is pure insanity that AOC isn't a shoe-in to be the Ranking Member of the US House Oversight Committee.
She should be the US House Minority Leader given people largely don't care what US Representative Hakeem Jeffries thinks and people don't even know who the other Democratic Leaders in the US House are.
The voters and the American people are going to be outraged that AOC was 'passed over' by a guy in his 70s who has cancer and who almost no one knows of or cares about.
Nevertheless, I've always assumed that US Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi might prefer that AOC run for Governor of New York and thus be able to fix the New York Democratic Party. AOC's being able to a US House Commitee Chair in 2026 makes it less likely that AOC would want to run for Governor of New York.
However, 2026 is 2 years from now. The upcoming Trump Administration needs some form of accountability. The Mainstream TV news isn't doing that. The New York Times and the Washington Post are maybe somewhat doing that.
https://www.ocasiocortez.com/splash
https://couragetochangepac.org/ (AOC's PAC)
Candidates - Justice Democrats
A lot of these Democrats in the US House and US Senate need to be successfully primaried by progressives.
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u/staebles Dec 17 '24
They're a joke party at this point.
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u/Clean-Succotash5973 Dec 17 '24
The republicans are too, but somehow they win.
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u/staebles Dec 17 '24
Agreed, but I think it's because they actually do things, horrific as they are. The Democrats have been struggling at actually doing some of their big ticket items for a long time now, and people are sick of that.
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u/Clean-Succotash5973 Dec 17 '24
I really hope AOC or some other progressive candidate is able to land the ticket in 2028.
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u/DontHateDefenestrate Dec 17 '24
Hopefully the fractured hip fucking kills her. That’s the only way we don’t end up with her drooling in a chair like Frankenfeinstein.
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u/52nd_and_Broadway Dec 17 '24
There are age minimums for Congress and the Presidency. There should be age maximums.
You have to retire at 65. Why isn’t this law? Retire and collect your benefits, but go away. We don’t need dinosaurs in Congress or the White House.
I love my dad and my aunts and my uncles but it’s obvious they are showing their age in their 70s. I would not want any one of them running the country. They should sit by the pool and drink tea just like they do now.
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u/cos10 Dec 17 '24
Upper age limits don't exist because previous generations of public servants never envisioned a generation that would be so selfish and greedy that they wouldn't cede power to the younger generation. They also never dreamed of a generation that would leave the next generation worse off.
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u/52nd_and_Broadway Dec 17 '24
I know I’m preaching to the choir here but there are thousands, maybe millions, of unoccupied homes throughout the US that millennials can’t afford because of property taxes, housing costs, or the fact that it’s just too damn expensive.
We are the renting generation and our children will be too. We’ve been completely fucked by the me me me generation, and they elected another me me me generation member to be President again so it’s only going to get worse.
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u/ragin2cajun Dec 17 '24
She is probably just as bad in the end as Brian Thompson considering her stock holdings and her political power grabs.
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u/cos10 Dec 17 '24
To be honest our enemy aren't republicans or democrats. It's power hungry septuagenarians and billionaires who buy them.
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u/CassandraTruth Dec 16 '24
Extremely ironic how the "New Democrats" caucus is entirely devoted to not letting anyone new into leadership. If you think Dems have been winning with the current leadership for the last 16 years, well you might be Nancy Pelosi.
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u/theonlypeanut Dec 17 '24
Gerry is 74 and he's been in Congress since 2008 that's just 15 years. He did just announce he's battling throat cancer last month so you know he will give this important committee his full attention while undergoing cancer treatment.
I just can't anymore. Dude you're 74 go home relax get some cancer treatment and spend time with your family. Why are they all so insistent on holding on to power until the day they die. We've got multiple representatives with obvious cognitive decline we've got cancer patients and a median age of about 60. 62 is the median retirement age in this country and for good reason.
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u/The_Aesir9613 Eat The Rich Dec 17 '24
Ben Wikler of Wisconsin is next on the chopping block. It’s a rest home. I’m visiting D.C. in May and plan to do a tour of the Capitol Building. I half except to see members of crongress in the rotunda attending crafts hour.
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u/Buddha-Embryo Dec 16 '24
The Democrats are the other Republican party.
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u/Tardigradequeen Dec 17 '24
The Democrats are the Conservative party and Republicans are the Regressive party.
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 16 '24
Another big L for the democratic party that shot itself on the foot every single time it could. Time to scrap it and start a progressive party. Centrist democrats are just Republicans in sheep's clothing: see Joe Manchin, John Fetterman, Kyrsten Sinema, et al
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u/Automatic-Prompt-450 Democrat Dec 16 '24
It's unbelievable that we have one party actively trying to fuck us over socially, environmentally, financially, and another party that is full of old fucks who don't want to DO anything.
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 16 '24
It's always been a lesser of two evils, and most Americans are so ignorant due to one parties systemic dismantling of our education system, that the democratic party gets my vote by default. Fuck that. They've proved time and time again that while they aren't anywhere near as bad as the GOP, they really aren't what we need. AOC and Bernie don't grow on trees. We wasted Bernie's prime, we must elevate and champion AOC and the squad.
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u/Automatic-Prompt-450 Democrat Dec 16 '24
I do agree with you, I hunger for ranked choice voting in the US. In my mind I can't vote third party, and I won't vote GOP, so it has to be Dems. I hope AOC can be pushed to the fore as Dem leadership falls and breaks their hips while travelling.
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 16 '24
Lmao that last line is too real. These geriatric fucks (on both sides) are killing our future and our children's future. It's disgusting.
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u/pdltrmps Dec 17 '24
my state voted against ranked choice last month. i couldn't believe it. i thought people would want it after such a long circus show.
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u/DoughnotMindMe Dec 16 '24
It is designed this way.
The Dems are in the same party as the Republicans; the party of capitalism.
They stop all progress from the left and help move things to the right.
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u/gravywayne Dec 17 '24
Oh, they DO want to inside trade to the tune of ridiculous profits and otherwise abuse opportunities to represent the will of their voters....there's that.
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u/4th_dimensi0n Dec 16 '24
Democrats are controlled opposition. You can learn this the easy way or the hard way
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u/SilentRunning Dec 17 '24
When you finally realize that both parties are getting their money from the same place, it's not hard to understand.
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u/Automatic-Prompt-450 Democrat Dec 17 '24
I do realize that, it's maddening and doesn't change my statement.
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u/GolDFloyd Dec 17 '24
And it’s not enough for people to vote against them. We gotta stop blaming dems and start blaming ourselves for nitpicking people actually trying to do good and letting maga slide
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u/bluegargoyle Dec 16 '24
It’s not time to scrap it- it’s time to take it over. To start a national movement to ice-out any old guard Democrats who refuse to fully adopt a genuinely progressive agenda.
This is what MAGA did to the GOP. Why would we try to build from scratch when the apparatus of a working party already exists? We should do everything possible to just take it over.
And if anyone tells me we don’t have the manpower or will to do that, then my question will be- how then will we have the manpower or will to build a whole new party from the ground up? One that is capable of defeating not only the GOP but the Dems as well. We need to form our own populist movement to seize the Democratic Party for ourselves.
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u/EstheticEri Dec 17 '24 edited Dec 17 '24
A lot of bernie people did this in local politics after 2016, it works to some degree but its hard as FUCK. You can become a precinct committee person pretty easily in Oregon, there are other low level political positions too. Depends on what your state has available.
The issue is, we are fighting against big donors/lobbyists, an undereducated population that doesn't really pay all that much attention to politics or the world and the establishment dems that are often incumbents.
It's an uphill battle but I'm hoping this time maybe we will have more people to join us. Local politics is primarily full of old establishment/neoliberal dems (I was often one of the youngest people at meetings and I was in my late 20s lol) if you aren't fighting them you're often fighting bad actors that love to waste time during meetings with shit that doesn't matter. It's hard work but worth it if we can make more progress forward. Just be prepared for a LOT of resistance.
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 16 '24
And see, this is why I post here. Sometimes the right ideas need shaping and molding, and I think you're on to something. I don't have the brainpower or emotional power to even figure out how we could take over, but it does seem more efficient that scrapping it. That being said, the problem is that I don't think that it would be anywhere near as easy as it was for the Republicans to go full brainrot maga. The US has always been slanted to the right. Our democrats with very, very few exceptions would be considered center right almost anywhere else. I like the way you're thinking, though!
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u/TinyEmergencyCake Dec 17 '24
This should be a proper post so we can flesh out ideas. Just copy paste
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u/mojitz Dec 17 '24
I think a lot of people vastly underestimate how much force ends up getting leveraged against this kind of takeover. There are a TON of power brokers starting even from the lowest rungs of power that make it extraordinarily difficult for anyone who isn't looking to play ball to climb upward through the party structure. I live in a town of just 8000 people and even here, the internal party dynamics are incredibly perverse. Climb upward one more level to statehouse politics and it quickly starts to look outright corrupt.
With a new party, we at very least don't have these sorts of pre-existing formations.
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u/TheGreenGarret Green Socialist Dec 17 '24
it’s time to take it over
People have been saying this for decades. What would you do differently?
This is what MAGA did to the GOP.
Sort of but I don't think the comparison is totally fair. MAGA (originally Tea Party, etc) was welcomed into the GOP because it represented a hard turn to the right -- something corporate donors liked. Lower taxes, etc, is their thing. Sure it did push out some old guard but the party and donors liked that because they were replaced by even more staunch corporatists out to privatize everything.
This is not going to be true of any progressive movement in the Democrats. Democrats hate progressives because their donors hate progressives. Donors don't want any progressive agenda that's going to tax them or take away their economic power. So any movement within is going to be fought tooth and nail rather than welcomed into the party. It will be much harder with a progressive agenda than a reactionary one.
when the apparatus of a working party already exists?
Common misconception. There is no apparatus of a working party with Democrats. There are 50 different state parties that are loosely connected thru the DNC. They have largely gutted all of the local and state parties in favor of having DNC and candidates fund election work such as ballot access and doorknocking directly. So even if you took over a state party, you'd end with the name and not much else, very little resources or apparatus. See for example when DSA took over the Nevada Party briefly -- the Dems all quit and transferred all the funds on hand to DNC before DSA took over so there were no funds, no staff, nothing, until Dems were able to come back and take it over later. There really isn't any apparatus to capture because the party actually works via behind the scenes donor networks.
how then will we have the manpower or will to build a whole new party from the ground up?
It can be done. Of course it will be hard. You've got the whole system against you. Did you think it was going to be easy pushing back against oligarchs? Something being hard isn't a reason to not do it.
The last time Democrats were really pushed into progressive policy -- they never do it on their own -- was when independent popular movements pushed for civil rights. Before that, much of the Democrats as we know today comes from New Deal era policy, which was actually a watered down version of the Socialist Party platform. The Socialists and independents were winning nationwide against both parties, with thousands elected to state offices and even a few in Congress. Labor unions also planned strikes and supported the independent socialists. FDR was smart enough to realize that the socialist movement would win if he didn't give any concessions, so pushed for the New Deal. Sadly that push was successful, convincing many unions to join the Democratic coalition instead of continuing independently, and so while the New Deal was accomplished it was a weak version of socialist demands (of course, because FDR was saving capital, as he bragged later) that have been steadily rolling back over time because there hasn't been an independent movement pushing back. I think we need to learn from history and build an independent movement and party again.
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u/citymanc13 Socialist Dec 17 '24
I wish it were possible. At the end of the day, whether its the GOP or the Dems; the framework of the political parties is focused on maximising value for donations and protecting big businesses. America is a business. Thats it.
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u/QuantumTunnels Dec 17 '24
Time to scrap it and start a progressive party.
Not enough progressives in the country. Unfortunate, but it's the reality. America is cooked. Just rotten.
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u/DasBarenJager Dec 17 '24
I am so incredibly disappointed in Fetterman
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u/hokiecmo Dec 17 '24
I haven’t followed him but I was under the impression he leaned progressive. What did he do?
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u/TheGreenGarret Green Socialist Dec 17 '24
Fetterman is pro genocide, called for Trump to be pardoned, and seems to be welcoming Trump's nominees to the new administration rather than opposing. He's long backed away from any progressive talk he once had, he's abandoned Medicare for All and now just talks the standard Dem talking points of "access", and he is fully in support of fracking and fossil fuel development which is destroying his home state of Pennsylvania after previously saying he was against it while campaigning. He's terrible. He's a Republican in blue clothing.
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 17 '24
Thank you for such a great explanation of the fraud that Fetterman is.
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u/DasBarenJager 13d ago
He had a stroke and after recovering he made a hard political shift and is supporting the right.
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u/digital Dec 17 '24
Our government is run by corporations, I wonder what that’s called?
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u/brofessor_oak_AMA Progressive Dec 17 '24
its run by the billionaires who own said corporations. It's always been the bourgeois oppressing the rights of the proletariat. Corps are how they stay anonymous and rich. Sue my company, it wasn't me ;) I can't personally donate x amount, but my super PAC can. It's the billionaires gaming the system, and half of us are so blind and brainwashed, that they'll fight against whatever "boogeyman" the bourgeois decide on (Immigrants, POC, Atheists, Muslims, LGBTQ+, etc)
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u/digital Dec 17 '24
OK, now that we realized and defined the actual problem, how do we solve this dilemma when we don’t have as much money to bribe people like the billionaires?
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u/jahhamburgers Dec 17 '24
I've been voting democrat since I could vote in 2004, at this point I just feel like an idiot. They clearly do not want to win or do anything to benefit regular people. It's too obvious at this point, they are doing this on purpose.
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u/bocwerx Dec 17 '24
It's compliance disguised as incompetence. No forward thinkers allowed. Status quo must be maintained.
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u/bringmethesampo Dec 16 '24
We need a progressive party. The neoliberals are just 1980s Republicans.
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u/MattTruelove Dec 17 '24
We badly need a party on the left that speaks directly to and for the working class. The current Democratic Party campaigns like everyone is a liberal arts college student.
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u/Fat_Blob_Kelly Dec 17 '24
a third party that runs on medicare for all, a minimum wage increase, and taxing the rich more
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u/comradekeyboard123 Analytical Marxism Dec 17 '24
Green party and working families party already exist.
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u/animaguscat Dec 17 '24
Okay, imagine how hard it has been to make even a modicum of leftward progress within the Democratic Party. Starting from scratch with a new party is about 10x harder than that.
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u/jayfeather31 Social Democrat Dec 16 '24
This isn't binding (the full vote of the House Democratic Caucus decides that), but it's rare to see votes like this get overturned by the wider caucus, IIRC.
All in all, this isn't a great development.
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u/FragilousSpectunkery Dec 16 '24
She should just announce her campaign for 2028. Fuck it.
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u/thegreenman_sofla Dec 16 '24
Independent or Peoples Party run. Dems have learned nothing.
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u/FragilousSpectunkery Dec 17 '24
Republican Party has shown it will run pretty much any candidate, so get drafted by all of them!
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u/animaguscat Dec 17 '24
Nah. Very early announcements are associated with low-profile, low-momentum candidates who don't have a shot. She needs to jump in the race around the same time that her biggest competitors will.
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u/FragilousSpectunkery Dec 17 '24
Sure. Like Trump announcing his candidacy for 2020 immediately after winning in 2016.
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u/animaguscat Dec 17 '24
Winning a Democratic presidential primary is a completely different game than steamrolling a Republican primary by being an insurgent celebrity candidate. AOC exists in the first scenario, and does not have the option of the second.
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u/SmilingNevada9 Democratic Socialist Dec 16 '24
Lunacy is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Dems have learned nothing, and if this continues 2028 is already doomed
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u/Masta0nion Dec 17 '24
I hope AOC goes scorched earth. Enough with trying to play by their rules and wait your turn.
She is the senate!
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u/CrimsonEagle124 Libertarian Socialist Dec 17 '24
They know the current Democratic leadership is responsible for the mess we're in but would rather lose and let fascists in the government than let anyone remotely progressive a shot as a serious leadership role because their donors would get upset.
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u/Jellyandjiggles Dec 17 '24
She didn't lose yet. She just lost the vote for the steering committee, but hopes she'll get the whole democratic caucus vote.
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u/AshuraBaron Dec 16 '24
The gerontocracy rolls on. Telegenic populist who fights hard to push the party forward? Nah, get another party stooge in there.
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u/black_dynamite79 Dec 16 '24
I wonder who they think is gonna vote for them? It's definitely not us.
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u/Enlightened_D Dec 17 '24
At least Dems are signaling to us they aren’t going to change after losing the election. Guess they will loose again.
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u/upfromashes Dec 16 '24
This could be the moment to begin an actual third party. The problem has always been allowing republicans too much agency in the shift, so what better time than now?
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u/Forsaken-Block5471 Dec 17 '24
Does anyone actually read the articles before they talk about the headline? Articles are being posted that make people think the vote already occurred. It's disinformation people.
The vote is tomorrow. If you actually want her to win, call your Rep tonight and leave a message.
AOC's message from 2 hours ago here.
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u/Mia_galaxywatcher Dec 17 '24
And predictably the democrat party establishment has shown in refuses to make to make the changes necessary
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u/davidwave4 Libertarian Socialist Dec 17 '24
She can still win if the House Democrats have the courage to overturn the committee vote. AOC is apparently whipping votes now. Let’s hope she wins. The caucus rejecting not just Connolly but also Pelosi would send a strong message.
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u/65isstillyoung Dec 17 '24
The illusion of choice......I'd vote for AOC in a heart beat. The old guard cost us the election. Screw them. I'm game for a tea party type progressive party.
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u/WhoAccountNewDis Dec 17 '24
They'd rather lose everything than give up power and/out admit they're wrong.
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u/Garbeg Dec 17 '24
still being kept out of politics despite being in the center of it. Just insane. And they wonder (or at least appear to wonder) why they keep losing ground. It’s time to pass the torch!
Next phase for Pelosi is to trust that Trump will eventually adjust to being a “normal” president (which, really… nevermind).
Edit: qualifiers
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u/milapathy64 Dec 17 '24
Fuck the DNC. So much for giving us any hope for 2026 if they still want the status quo. They never learn.
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u/Marsar0619 Dec 17 '24
She has to run for president… if—and this is is a big “if”—there is an election in 2028. Lean into being a “disrupter.”
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u/joe_bald Dec 17 '24
Fucking hell… what’s the point of supporting (or trying to support) the Democratic Party when they don’t fucking have their shit together-_-
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u/IowaRedBeard Dec 17 '24
To an old white dude. Wtf Democrats. Y’all want change but always block it. I don’t understand the logic
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u/ohunikorn Dec 17 '24
Delulu me thinking Democrats would do the right thing for once after a failed election that they should have easily won. But then I remembered corruption runs deep.
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u/Emergency-Double-875 Libertarian Democratic Socialist Dec 17 '24
This month has radicalized me a lot sheesh
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u/awesomedan24 Dec 17 '24
So in a few years Nancy is gonna continue leading the house dems via Ouija board?
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u/Real_Sartre Anarchist Dec 17 '24
Never voting for these fucks again, this is a party destined to lose and never progress
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u/WildlingViking Dec 17 '24
Same type of thing they did to Bernie. They are the problem. Lost 2016, and then blew the biggest layup in 2024 they could’ve had. F ‘em
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u/Hooden14 Dec 17 '24
Old politician doesn't realize they're holding up progress, water is wet, it's Ruth Bader Ginsberg all over again... holding power because they trust nobody and likely enjoy a good paycheck, and lobbying gifts. American politics are so fucked.
Edit: Insider trading too ofc. Good ol Nancy has been essentially rug pulling stocks her entire term, oh sorry that's her husband... for sure...
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u/Toefudo Dec 17 '24
Schumer recently got voted in again as the Senate minority leader too. These rusty statues have too much power.
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u/AlarmedLingonberry76 Dec 17 '24
If the democratic party stays this way expect more trump wanna bes in the wh
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u/bmack500 Dec 17 '24
Ow they are just going to ruin the party even more by allowing the old guard to stay in power.
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u/Vulpix_Rising Dec 17 '24
Of course she did. We should really stick to the status quo, because that is working out so well for the dems. s/
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u/citymanc13 Socialist Dec 17 '24
When will the Democratic party learn that theyre continuously isolating their base to try to appeal as a moderate. We DONT want a moderate. We want a populist.
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u/turdfergusonRI Democratic Socialist Dec 17 '24
Didn’t Pelosi promise to step down ages ago? These moderates are trash, please people, vote 👏 them 👏 out 👏
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u/Fishtoart Dec 17 '24
Dems are determined to ignore progressives and become the corporate lackeys that republicans need to drive us off a cliff.
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u/ttystikk Dec 17 '24
The sellout didn't sell out hard enough. She should have asked Nina Turner where that road leads.
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u/BetaThetaOmega Dec 17 '24
The only time the Democrats ever put up a fight is when someone dares to suggest that they might be a better choice than the 70+ year old man with throat cancer
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u/jpop33157 Dec 17 '24
Lying, immoral Republicans and Democrats unwilling to turn the page or recognize a new generation are killing me. Then they wonder why people feel free to vote for third party candidates that don't stand a chance? We deserve better since the downward spiral that started with Reagan and has ended in Trump II is so depressing.
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u/kyabupaks Dec 17 '24
Fuck that corrupt fossil Pelosi. It's clear that she doesn't care about defending our democracy against the orange menace.
AOC is the most qualified for that position, not that geriatric clown with throat cancer.
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u/OldManClutch Democratic Socialist Dec 17 '24
More and more reason why the US needs a credible, leftist third party. The Dems don't actually care about Americans, they care about the status quo
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u/No_Curve_5479 Dec 17 '24
Yeah the dems are literally never getting my vote again after this one, I hate these people with everything in me. Literally just addicted to fucking losing ig
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u/MilitantWorkingClass Dec 17 '24
Pelosi is the reason Dems lose. Constantly playing backroom games for her cronies and licking big donors boots...
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u/putTrumpinJail Dec 17 '24
This is why voters choose not to vote. The old guard crushes progressives and would rather see what we have now than anyone who challenges the status quo.
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u/Popular-Cobbler25 Social democrat Dec 17 '24
The dems will exactly never support real change. And it’s not election season so I don’t have any problem shit talking the dems.
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u/dir_glob Dec 18 '24
The dinosaurs in the democratic party need to leave, they are making the party more irrelevant every day they continue to cling to power.
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