21st Century Congresswoman

The 2018 midterms ushered in a new generation of Congress with more diverse leaders. The Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, and countless new progressive lawmakers have been making waves on Capitol Hill.

However, one congresswoman rose as a symbol for the changing Congress: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who, at 29-years-old, is the youngest woman ever elected to the House.

Ocasio-Cortez currently represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens and the Bronx. She graduated from Boston University, and later worked as a bartender while organizing for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. She flew under the media’s radar for quite a while, until the June 26th primary, when she defeated ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley in a shocking upset. Crowley had been considered for Speaker of the House, but a young Democratic socialist woman of color who he had out-fundraised 22:1 defeated him.

After the primary, Ocasio-Cortez’s popularity extends far beyond her own constituents. She communicates daily life as a congresswoman to her 2.2M Instagram followers and 2.82M Twitter followers, advocating for radical new policy and shutting down her critics. A video of her first speech broke C-SPAN records for the most viewed video from a House member.

Ocasio-Cortez isn’t popular solely because of her radical politics, but because of how authentic she is on social media. On any given day, her Instagram story is full of pep talks, her skincare routine, political graphs, and tips on how to run a successful campaign. She feels like a real human being that the youth of America can seriously connect with and relate to. She breaks down the generational divide in politics, pulling a whole new audience into the mainstream conversation.

The legislative branch is meant to reflect the demographics of its constituents, but the House of Representatives strays far from reality. White men make up 60% of the House, compared to 38% of the total population. More than half of representatives are millionaires, compared to just barely 3% of the rest of the country. Ocasio-Cortez breaks away from congressional norms as a Latina woman who talks openly about her financial struggles and blue collar background.

Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t just talk in vague terms about her ideals. Instead, she uses her platform to push real policy initiatives into the news cycle. One recent example is a 70% marginal tax rate above $10M. She translated the legalese of Congress into everyday terms, and educated her base about its benefits and functionality. News media has oft been criticized for taking the focus off of real policy, but Ocasio-Cortez tricked the media into actually debating the tax.

Another way Ocasio-Cortez effectively communicates to the public is through her  numerous instagram livestreams, where she can be found, for example, answering political questions while making soup. She explains complex ideas in an intimate setting that people actually want to tune into. Her chats could be considered the modern version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside talks on the radio, where he explained his policy ideas informally to the public in an unprecedented manner.

Government often seems mysterious and too vast for the average constituent to comprehend, but Ocasio-Cortez translates the language. She brings government transparency to a whole new level, demystifying many processes of Congress.

With such a wide-reaching influence, it’s no wonder that her fellow representatives have attempted to follow in her steps. For example, Elizabeth Warren held a casual Instagram livestream in the style of Ocasio-Cortez. Warren is running for president in 2020, and it’s only natural that she wants to further connect with Americans. However, the generational gaps made all the difference and the stream was forgettable compared to Ocasio-Cortez’s. She has tried to help her colleagues, as she hosted a lesson on how to use Twitter effectively for members of Congress.

Besides using social media to raise awareness about policy, Ocasio-Cortez blends in other content one might expect to find from someone who isn’t a Representative. Recently, she posted a quite comprehensive and very helpful story about her daily skincare routine. This refusal to hide her humanity and the blend of her social media is a great appeal. Ocasio-Cortez also uses her platform to boost other voices. For instance, she hopped onto a marathon charity twitch stream of Donkey Kong 64 that helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for an organization that supports transgender kids.

Over the past decade, the United States has grown increasingly partisan, especially in government. It often feels like Democrats and Republicans will refuse to agree on anything, as evidenced by the recent government shutdown over a border wall that was really about fundamental differences in ideology. Many prominent politicians, and notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wax poetic over bipartisanship, and preach that it is essential for our government to function.

Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t always subscribe to the ideals of bipartisanship, in favor of pushing her far left ideals. She was the only House Democrat to vote against the final bill to reopen the government, because it contained funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She voted this way even while tweeting about how it was unjust to hold federal workers hostage. Plenty of Democrats also disagree with ICE, but many also believed it was unhelpful of her to bring it up at the moment when bipartisanship was crucial to ending the shutdown. Just before her swearing-in, she protested in Pelosi’s office for a new climate change committee that Pelosi had previously expressed great interest in creating.

The question remains over whether she can be too divisive and too radical, and many debate her close involvement with the often controversial Justice Democrats group. However, she attracted a following because of her pushing the boundaries. Much of her audience are young radicals like her, finding inspiration in her journey.

With relentless media attention, Ocasio-Cortez has her fair share of conservative critics latching onto her every word. However, she never lets them get the last laugh. She always fights back on her twitter with witty comebacks and strong, hard-hitting logic that can often turn a situation on its head. When critics were mocking Ocasio-Cortez over a video of her dancing in college, she retaliated with a video of her dancing in front of her congressional office that went viral. The caption: “I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous. Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too!”

The demographics and ideologies of the US are shifting constantly, and it is imperative that Congress shifts alongside them too to fully represent Americans. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the model example of a true 21st century congresswoman.

by MIRIAM ABRAMS