Democrats Not Headed Too Far Left, Says Ocasio-Cortez, 'We Are Bringing the Party Home'

Authored by commondreams.org and submitted by nnnarbz
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As part of a wave of reaction to comments made by former President Barack Obama who reportedly suggested to "liberal wealthy" party donors late last week that some Democrats were going "too far left," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying progressives are not pushing in some new, radical direction but rather trying to bring it back to where it came from.

"I want to be the party of the New Deal again," tweeted the freshman Democrat from New York on Saturday, referencing the era of progressive change under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt last century.

"The party of the Civil Rights Act, the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people. For that, many would call us radical," she said.

"We aren't 'pushing the party left,'" Ocasio-Cortez concluded, "we are bringing the party home."

The tweet also included a new campaign ad for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed in the Democratic presidential primary. The two recently campaigned together in Iowa where they championed the need for a Green New Deal and spent time with local residents in the early voting states.

I want to be the party of the New Deal again. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. Get our best delivered to your inbox. The party of the Civil Rights Act,

the one that electrified this nation and fights for all people. For that, many would call us radical.

But we aren’t “pushing the party left,”

we are bringing the party home.pic.twitter.com/wLeDaxCHkZ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2019

"This is about a people's movement in the United States," Ocasio-Cortez tells Iowans during a living-room meeting featured in the ad, "and this campaign is a part of that and electing Bernie Sanders is the beginning of a transformational movement in the direction of working people in America."

AgentInCommand on November 17th, 2019 at 23:14 UTC »

If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

-John F. Kennedy

KJS0ne on November 17th, 2019 at 23:05 UTC »

People forget JFK campaigned on Medicare for all. Before this whole neoliberal shift and corporate takeover, Democrats used to be centre left, not centrist (read centre right by world standards).

watersnark on November 17th, 2019 at 20:36 UTC »

Yes, government for the people by the people.