Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has taken one more step to alienate herself from her fellow Democrats and the party itself.
Earlier this week, AOC announced that she will not be paying her party dues, making it even more apparent that she is trying to create a new wing of the Democrat Party.
No Dues for Me
The “dues” paid to the DCCC is more or less a melting pot fund that helps all candidates within the party.
AOC will not be putting a penny into that war chest, as she would prefer to donate to fringe party members that fall in line with her own beliefs.
She stated, “For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues.”
She then ripped off reasons why, including, “One, I don’t agree with the policy around blacklisting groups that help progressive candidates.
“I think we need to evolve as a party and make room for that.”
She was referencing certain groups that put a challenger up against an incumbent within the party.
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez stated, “I want to help frontline members by putting that money straight into their pocket.”
Swimming Upstream
AOC’s move is not going unnoticed within the party.
For instance, she recently helped secure Marie Newmann $18,000 in donations, a challenger to the seat held by Rep. Dan Lipinksi (D-IL).
Additionally, she dropped $5,000 from her own campaign coffers to give to Newmann.
AOC is also trying to unseat Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) by raising roughly $35,000 for uber-progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros.
Cuellar stated, “Certainly, these are new times, which is something that we certainly don’t agree with.”
He further stated, “To have people try to purify the caucus because they don’t agree with them – 100 percent, I certainly don’t agree with that.”
Rep. Meeks, a fellow New York Democrat also does not like what he is seeing from AOC.
Meeks stated, “DCCC dues are about supporting others because you want to be part of the team.
“The goal is to be in the majority.
“And the goal is, when you are on a team I would think, to respect individuals whose districts are different than yours.”
He added, “I would hope in the spirit of teamwork that we don’t see any further incursions with other members.
“I would hope at least it stops there.”
This could be a short-lived dream for AOC because most of her fundraising dollars are coming from sources outside of her district.
AOC right now is more celebrity than representative, and the voters in her district are already growing tired of her Hollywood mentality.
Furthermore, as this continues, AOC is going to find herself with less and less support within the party, especially after this election when the Bernie Sanders fascination finally wears off.
She can have whatever national profile she wants, but she still needs the people of her district to pull the handle for her.
AOC may win re-election this time around, but it would not be shocking if she finds herself with a challenger from within her own party soon if she does not start producing for the people she is actually supposed to represent.