That’s the headline(sans the question mark). It seems like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is rising in some presidential pick polls, and leading in at least one. That’s right, the woman that became the youngest female member of Congress (ever), that beat a 10 term incumbent for her seat, is now a possibility for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. How is this possible?

AOC was first elected in 2018 and I recall, after seeing more than a few puff pieces about her on television, write a little bit in these pages about her. I thought it was good that she actually went door-to-door in her district to get people to vote for her (that’s the story, anyway). Se even had the shoes she wore out to prove it! Not the I regularly vote Democrat *or republican for that matter) but I found her backstory interesting and like TV, was interested in how she beat a virtually unbeatable incumbent. I thought there might be big things in store for her and I was right because every twist and turn of her tenure in Washington D.C. has been carried by the media.

That’s right, she is a creation of the same ones that are now going oh, no! to the possibility of her being on the ticket at all in 2028. Of course, that time is still far away in real terms but politically it’s right around the corner (it’s right around the corner the day after the last election, actually) and there are those that handicap the outcome of elections based on who may or may not be the anointed one of each party and in recent election years, how a 3rd party candidate may or may not affect the outcome for one of the leading parties or the other.

And I don’t think it’s going to affect her that she’s done absolutely nothing in her 3 terms in Congress to date. She has no authored or even co-authored legislation that’s ever even been up for a vote and the only issue she’s been known for (negatively?) is her forcing Amazon to reconsider creating its East Coast headquarters in her district, providing up to 25,000 very high paying jobs over 10 years. Those jobs ended up going to Virginia, in a suburb of D.C.

Bi I don’t think any of this matters because people are tired of the same old establishment that has been lying to it for their entire lives. Trump was an anomaly. AOC may be another. No one thought Trump, after coming down the golden escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy, would ever have a chance. I certainly didn’t. And look where we are today.