#Repost @theintercept ・・・
For Democrats in the House, in the Senate, and on the presidential campaign trail, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s win in the Democratic Party primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District House seat signals that things have changed. Maria Urbina, political director for the Indivisible Project, which rose up after the 2016 presidential election to challenge Donald Trump, put it bluntly: “A new political era is dawning — and the rusting and reluctant political establishment will wake up or be woken,” she said.⠀
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The media may focus on Ocasio-Cortez’s Hispanic identity as it attempts to come to terms with incumbent Joe Crowley’s loss, but during her campaign, she always took pains to link class and race as inextricable elements of identity. The difference between her and Crowley was largely about how each was powered, she argued, and what that meant for who they would listen to. ⠀
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“This race is about people versus money,” she said in her viral campaign ad. “We’ve got people. They’ve got money.”⠀
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Power is as much an illusion as a reality. A politician with millions in the bank and the support of every local Democratic Party chair may be exposed as just a guy with a few rich friends. Politicians are nothing if not savvy about survival, and they have read the meaning of Tuesday night’s upset. They can lock down every big donor and every key endorsement and they can still be beaten, because people still vote — and there is still some democracy left.⠀
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Photo: @andreskudacki for The Intercept⠀⠀
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#politics #election #democrats #newyork
