SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden eats ice cream at the The Cone Shoppe while campaigning on April 30, 2019 in Monticello, Iowa. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
'I Think He's Not the Pragmatic Choice': AOC Joins Other Critics of Biden Ahead of Democratic Debate
"Presidential campaigns make mistakes, but Biden's campaign doesn't seem to do anything else."
Jun 26, 2019
Progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, continued to hammer former Vice President Joe Biden on his record and electability as the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary prepares to take the debate stage for the first time Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez, the popular freshman congresswoman from The Bronx, said in an interview with Vogue published Wednesday that the popular view of Biden's electability stems from a desire to reach a mythical supporter of President Donald Trump, a "dude in a diner" that the party appears ready to do anything to court.
"If you pick the perfect candidate like Joe Biden to win that guy in the diner, the cost will make you lose because you will depress turnout as well," said Ocasio-Cortez. "And that's exactly what happened to 2016. We picked the logically fitting candidate, but that candidate did not inspire the turnout that we needed."
The comments weren't a huge surprise coming from the left-leaning congresswoman, who identifies as a democratic socialist and has engaged in spats with centrist think tank Third Way in recent days. And she's hardly the only progressive criticizing Biden and the Democratic Party's allegiance to the former vice president.
Nathan Robinson, writing in The Guardian on Sunday, took aim at Biden's fetishization of bipartisanship and common ground.
"Appeals to unity are always dishonest, however, because they are always selective," wrote Robinson. "Can you unify the fossil fuel companies whose profits depend on destruction with the people who will actually suffer the consequences? It always turns out that somebody is excluded from consideration."
At HuffPost, Zach Carter pointed out that the former vice president is making one misstep after another. With gaffe upon gaffe, Carter wrote, "Biden just isn't very good at politics."
"Presidential campaigns make mistakes" wrote Carter, "but Biden's campaign doesn't seem to do anything else."
In her comments to Vogue, Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that she doesn't buy the narrative around Biden at all.
"I think that he's not a pragmatic choice," she said. "That's my frustration with politics today, that they're willing to give up every single person in America just for that dude in a diner."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, continued to hammer former Vice President Joe Biden on his record and electability as the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary prepares to take the debate stage for the first time Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez, the popular freshman congresswoman from The Bronx, said in an interview with Vogue published Wednesday that the popular view of Biden's electability stems from a desire to reach a mythical supporter of President Donald Trump, a "dude in a diner" that the party appears ready to do anything to court.
"If you pick the perfect candidate like Joe Biden to win that guy in the diner, the cost will make you lose because you will depress turnout as well," said Ocasio-Cortez. "And that's exactly what happened to 2016. We picked the logically fitting candidate, but that candidate did not inspire the turnout that we needed."
The comments weren't a huge surprise coming from the left-leaning congresswoman, who identifies as a democratic socialist and has engaged in spats with centrist think tank Third Way in recent days. And she's hardly the only progressive criticizing Biden and the Democratic Party's allegiance to the former vice president.
Nathan Robinson, writing in The Guardian on Sunday, took aim at Biden's fetishization of bipartisanship and common ground.
"Appeals to unity are always dishonest, however, because they are always selective," wrote Robinson. "Can you unify the fossil fuel companies whose profits depend on destruction with the people who will actually suffer the consequences? It always turns out that somebody is excluded from consideration."
At HuffPost, Zach Carter pointed out that the former vice president is making one misstep after another. With gaffe upon gaffe, Carter wrote, "Biden just isn't very good at politics."
"Presidential campaigns make mistakes" wrote Carter, "but Biden's campaign doesn't seem to do anything else."
In her comments to Vogue, Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that she doesn't buy the narrative around Biden at all.
"I think that he's not a pragmatic choice," she said. "That's my frustration with politics today, that they're willing to give up every single person in America just for that dude in a diner."
Progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, continued to hammer former Vice President Joe Biden on his record and electability as the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary prepares to take the debate stage for the first time Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez, the popular freshman congresswoman from The Bronx, said in an interview with Vogue published Wednesday that the popular view of Biden's electability stems from a desire to reach a mythical supporter of President Donald Trump, a "dude in a diner" that the party appears ready to do anything to court.
"If you pick the perfect candidate like Joe Biden to win that guy in the diner, the cost will make you lose because you will depress turnout as well," said Ocasio-Cortez. "And that's exactly what happened to 2016. We picked the logically fitting candidate, but that candidate did not inspire the turnout that we needed."
The comments weren't a huge surprise coming from the left-leaning congresswoman, who identifies as a democratic socialist and has engaged in spats with centrist think tank Third Way in recent days. And she's hardly the only progressive criticizing Biden and the Democratic Party's allegiance to the former vice president.
Nathan Robinson, writing in The Guardian on Sunday, took aim at Biden's fetishization of bipartisanship and common ground.
"Appeals to unity are always dishonest, however, because they are always selective," wrote Robinson. "Can you unify the fossil fuel companies whose profits depend on destruction with the people who will actually suffer the consequences? It always turns out that somebody is excluded from consideration."
At HuffPost, Zach Carter pointed out that the former vice president is making one misstep after another. With gaffe upon gaffe, Carter wrote, "Biden just isn't very good at politics."
"Presidential campaigns make mistakes" wrote Carter, "but Biden's campaign doesn't seem to do anything else."
In her comments to Vogue, Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that she doesn't buy the narrative around Biden at all.
"I think that he's not a pragmatic choice," she said. "That's my frustration with politics today, that they're willing to give up every single person in America just for that dude in a diner."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.