_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is making moves that signal a potential 2028 presidential run, even as she insists that her interest lies solely with policy change.
Throughout May, AOC launched what looks like a national tour, visiting Philadelphia, Montgomery, Atlanta, and Montana to rally voters. She has spoken at historic venues such as Ebenezer Baptist Church and endorsed candidates across the country — many of whom have gone on to win.
While the 36-year-old Democratic Socialist maintains she hasn't decided whether to run, Democratic operatives expect she could raise $100 million from small-dollar donors and mobilize the highly coveted Bernie Sanders base if she enters the race.
_THE FACTS_
A recent poll of 800 Democratic primary voters found Kamala Harris leading a hypothetical 2028 field with 25 percent support, while Ocasio-Cortez polled fourth at 9 percent.
However, an AtlasIntel poll conducted in early May showed different results, placing Ocasio-Cortez first at 26 percent.
In May alone, AOC rallied voters in Philadelphia, spoke at a “voting-rights” rally in Montgomery, and addressed the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
She is increasingly sounding like a national candidate, declaring in Philadelphia that MAGA is “the last dying breath of the Confederacy.”
She also met with Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter at the King Center and traveled to Montana to campaign for congressional candidate Sam Forstag.
In April, she attended the Power Rising Summit in Chicago, an event founded by influential Democratic operative Leah Daughtry that focuses on organizing black women leaders.
When asked about running for higher office, Ocasio-Cortez responded: "My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go. But single-payer healthcare is forever."
Democratic operatives expect that she could easily raise $100 million just from small-dollar donors if she runs.
_OUR TAKE_
In politics, you need to strike while the iron is hot. And right now, everything is going AOC’s way.
The Democratic establishment is in disarray, as we saw with the DNC’s unfinished and confused 2024 autopsy, in which the Party’s establishment candidate — Kamala Harris — was wholly unpopular and suffered an embarrassing defeat to Donald Trump. And although Ocasio-Cortez holds far-left beliefs as a socialist, she has strong ties to the party's mainstream elements and has not treated them as enemies.
This means AOC, as the new champion of the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, could also receive the blessing of the establishment wing. Democrats will be fired up in 2028 for radical change after Trump. Elections are often about energy and momentum, and if AOC can summon the Obama 2008 energy, she may just ride the wave to a nomination.
