Bernie and AOC

 

Whether you supported Bernie Sanders or AOC in the past is largely irrelevant. What they are doing right now matters. They are giving voice to the frustration felt by Democrats across the country. They are providing an outlet to that frustration at rallies that bring people together.

--Thomas Mills, "The Resistance Is Rising" 

My household voted for Bernie Sanders in the North Carolina Democratic primary of 2016. Bernie won every single precinct in Watauga County in that primary, taking the whole county from Hillary Clinton by over 69% of the vote. I heard my share of "shame! You Socialist!" from certain quarters for supporting Bernie. Some Hillary supporters still bitterly blame Bernie for her defeat that fall.

Bernie's star, especially among the young and the unaffiliated, has diminished not at all, and though he's not going to run -- at 83 -- for president again, he's made himself the spearpoint of organized protest and a rallying point for all Democrats (especially those who need to get over their previous spite).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been a favorite object for mockery and satire among Republicans, but it just rolls off her. She has a joyful manner of shrugging off the slings and arrows, and she talks a plain language both familiar and electrifying. But some moderate-to-conservative Democrats, who are regularly spooked by thoughts that someone might think them "radical" or "extremely liberal" -- the perennial debilitating self-consciousness of old liberals who've lost touch with their ancient values -- those Democrats get the political "willies" at the thought of pushing AOC to the front of the stage.

Caution is not the tonic we need right now.