Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might just be on her way to becoming the face of her party, if a new CNN poll showing growing enthusiasm among Democrats for the progressive firebrand from the Bronx is any indication.
When Democrats were asked which leader “best represents the core values” of the party, AOC was the top response, 10 percent, the poll found. Vice President Harris trailed behind at 9 percent, Senator Sanders pulled 8 percent, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries landed at 6 percent.
The poll isn’t merely a popularity contest—the burst of support comes at a time when frustration in the Democratic Party is boiling over. Senator Schumer recently teamed up with Republicans to pass the GOP’s controversial spending bill, sparking a wave of outrage across the Democratic spectrum. Enough, in fact, that Mr. Schumer has cancelled a planned book tour this week because of concerns about angry Democratic activists disrupting the event.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez didn’t hold back, calling Mr. Schumer’s move “a tremendous mistake” and suggesting it felt like “a huge slap in the face” to Democrats everywhere.
“A majority of this party is fed up with these kinds of betrayals. And it’s not just progressive Democrats — it’s across the board,” she told reporters last week. She fired further shots on social media, asking voters and activists to intensify pressure on Senate Democrats and urging them to block what she referred to as a “chaotic” resolution.
The CNN poll comes as another survey from NBC News finds the Democratic Party has reached an all-time low in popularity. Just more than a quarter of registered voters (27 percent) say they have positive views of the party—the party’s lowest rating in NBC News polling since 1990. Just 7 percent say those views are “very” positive.
“With these numbers, the Democratic Party is not in need of a rebrand. It needs to be rebooted,” Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey along with GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, told NBC.
Ever since President Trump was elected, Democrats have been whispering the name of AOC as a possible presidential candidate in 2028. She also may take a different tack, with progressives encouraging her to consider a direct challenge to Mr. Schumer in the next Senate primary in New York.
For the time being, however, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is targeting the GOP. “No one joins Congress to rubber-stamp a Republican bill,” she said during a recent CNN appearance, condemning some lawmakers’ reluctance to return to session for a potential party-line showdown. “I mean, are we afraid of work? Let’s be serious here.”
House Democrats, led by Mr. Jeffries, voted nearly unanimously against the Republican proposal, even in Trump-aligned districts. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez praised Mr. Jeffries’ leadership, saying, “The House stood united. It’s time to see the Senate step up and show the same strength.”
Critics dismiss AOC as a phenomenon confined to borough politics, but recent polls and national interest in her activism tell a slightly different story. Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt went as far as to compare her political rise to the Tea Party’s dominance in reshaping the Republican Party during Obama’s presidency.
“If the Democratic Party sees itself at a crossroads, AOC embodies the loudest base of what’s next,” Isenstadt said on CNN during Sunday’s episode of Inside Politics. “And while not everyone’s ready to follow, it seems clear more Democrats are asking whether they should.”
The congresswoman’s ambitions aren’t just limited to legislative fights or appealing to the party faithful. Even as Congress took up the divisive funding battle, AOC was already being spotted on key national platforms.
Alongside progressive icon Bernie Sanders, she’s headlining key stops on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour on Monday. The two are rallying crowds in Denver, taking direct aim at the corporate influence they say has poisoned America’s democracy.
“People are horrified by what’s happening in Washington,” Mr. Sanders wrote on Instagram, attaching a photo of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez standing beside him.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
