# AOC has a formidable primary challenger in journalist Maria Caruso-Cabrera **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 5, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148 "2020-04-05T20:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/101 "2020-04-12T19:15:46Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > There is not a single Republican congressperson from New York City. There aren’t that many from the whole state. Five, I think. I wasn’t very clear. When I said 50/50 that did not mean a Dem/Rep split. I meant a Biden/Sanders split. The rank and file Democrat is not a DSA/Sanders supporter as was recently proven. If Joe Crowley won in Bronx/Queens then MCC can. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/102 "2020-04-12T19:23:20Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > I wasn’t very clear. > > When I said 50/50 that did not mean a Dem/Rep split. I meant a Biden/Sanders split. The rank and file Democrat is not a DSA/Sanders supporter as was recently proven. > > If Joe Crowley won in Bronx/Queens then MCC can. I see. Sorry, I misunderstood. I think you’re right about rank-and-file Democrats not being Sanders/DSA supporters (although Sanders, in each of his runs for the Democratic nomination, got a suprising number of votes). That said, I think Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s staggeringly high name recognition (for a first-term Congress person), personal charisma, and fund-raising ability will more than offset her very progressive political positions (which, in any case, will be acceptable to a certain non-trivial percentage of voters in that district). I don’t think Ms. Caruso-Cabrera has a shot at victory. Of course, that’s what Joe Crowley (who I’m not sorry to see gone) thought about AOC. There are very few sure things in politics. ---
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/103 "2020-04-12T19:31:47Z")
AOC has loads of charisma. I will give her that. Her personal attributes will probably save her despite some poor choices. Nancy Pelosi could teach her a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/104 "2020-04-12T20:22:55Z")
> [@tafinucane](#): > > I think her constituents are smart enough to know a bad deal when they see one, or at the very least are self-serving enough to realize it doesn’t benefit them–even indirectly. > > I find it hypocritical that you mock paying for social welfare, but don’t object to the corporate subsidy. My opinion as a local resident. Most of the hate over the loss of the Amazon deal seemed to be directed towards the local state senator, Mike Giannaris. There were a lot of people not very happy with her at the time, for sure, but I never saw anyone planning a campaign to oust her. OTOH, there was a huge organized push to find a candidate and primary Giannaris. I participated in some of the really early efforts but dropped it since I was in the process of moving out of state. These efforts were led by people in the Long Island City area, where the anger over losing the deal was the strongest, as they would’ve reaped more benefits. This area includes only a smallish portion of AOC’s district. Outside of that area, opinions over the Amazon deal were more mixed and it probably didn’t hurt her that much. It may have even helped. I’m not a fan of hers and I was one of the residents that was highly in favor of the Amazon deal. I still find her talent impressive, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/105 "2020-04-12T21:13:55Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > MCC is pro-choice, pro-immigrant, and pro gay rights. How does that fit in the Republican Party?. Did I say Republican? Conservative =/= Republican. As you’ve described her, Caruso-Cabrera is Libertarian. How does that fit in the Democratic Party? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/106 "2020-04-13T17:27:09Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Did I say Republican? Conservative =/= Republican. As you’ve described her, Caruso-Cabrera is Libertarian. How does that fit in the Democratic Party? Depends on the flavor of libertarian. There is plenty of room for socially liberal/fiscally conservative libertarians in the Democratic basket if she happens to be that particular flavor of libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/107 "2020-04-15T04:48:16Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > AOC has loads of charisma. I will give her that. Her personal attributes will probably save her despite some poor choices. > > Nancy Pelosi could teach her a lot. I think the goal of AOC is to never, ever, become like Pelosi. Congress has a way of taking boy/girl scouts that arrive all idealistic and turning them into the the good little drones that congressional leadership likes. Progressives like AOC want no part of that. Will she succumb? I hope not. We’ll see but if she becomes a Pelosi drone then she’s sold out. She would be far from the first or the last but she would be one of the more disappointing sellouts if that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/108 "2020-04-16T00:24:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I think the goal of AOC is to never, ever, become like Pelosi. And that is her problem. Pelosi actually knows what a budget is and how difficult it is to raise taxes. Obamacare cost taxpayers a tiny $90 billion a year and all hell broke loose to get that passed. AOC, Bernie, and Liz toss around $50 trillion (MFA) and $100 trillion (Green New Deal) programs like money is flown in on cargo planes like they do in Venezuela. They have no idea what a trillion dollars represents. It’s like they ignore all the zeros after the “1”. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/109 "2020-04-16T06:34:52Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > And that is her problem. Pelosi actually knows what a budget is and how difficult it is to raise taxes. Obamacare cost taxpayers a tiny $90 billion a year and all hell broke loose to get that passed. > > AOC, Bernie, and Liz toss around $50 trillion (MFA) and $100 trillion (Green New Deal) programs like money is flown in on cargo planes like they do in Venezuela. They have no idea what a trillion dollars represents. It’s like they ignore all the zeros after the “1”. And yet the government just sent you (and everyone else in the country) $1200 in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the massive bailouts of businesses and the wealthy which got 80% of the recent bailout that happened in a snap. Why not throw in $1.5 trillion in tax cuts Trump gave the wealthy a year or two ago? How about a $21 billion increase for the military last year? Yet you do not blink at those expenditures. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/110 "2020-04-16T08:59:45Z")
I tried looking up the Democratic primary Congressional challenger in my district just now using Google News, and came up with essentially nothing. No actual news outlet, no media presence. She has a campaign page on Facebook but with only about 200 followers. I would not have known her name had I not searched for a while. She resembles AOC so closely, except for being practically invisible. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/111 "2020-04-18T17:23:17Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I tried looking up the Democratic primary Congressional challenger in my district just now using Google News, and came up with essentially nothing. No actual news outlet, no media presence. She has a campaign page on Facebook but with only about 200 followers. I would not have known her name had I not searched for a while. She resembles AOC so closely, except for being practically invisible. And of course, [except for what she stands for](https://theintercept.com/2020/04/15/aoc-primary-challenger-cabruso-cabrera-wall-street/): she wrote a book in 2010 titled, “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government,” where she lays it all out. > [@](#): > > In the book, Caruso-Cabrera calls Medicare and Social Security “the country’s biggest pyramid schemes,” and wrote that she would end both programs in favor of a privatized voucher system…[and she criticized] the Obama administration’s attempts to crack down on wealthy individuals who had taken advantage of [secret bank accounts in] offshore tax havens. > > “Freedom and democracy are best secured when banking secrecy and tax havens exist,” Caruso-Cabrera wrote. All AOC has to do is make sure that quote is plastered all over her district. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/112 "2020-04-19T02:18:20Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And of course, [except for what she stands for](https://theintercept.com/2020/04/15/aoc-primary-challenger-cabruso-cabrera-wall-street/): she wrote a book in 2010 titled, “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government,” where she lays it all out. > > All AOC has to do is make sure that quote is plastered all over her district. Oh, her. She is the subject of the thread, after all. I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer. I was referring to the primary in my district, not AOC’s. Because the discussion had turned to whether to support more primary insurgents from the left like AOC, and I said there’s one in my district, even though almost no one has ever heard of her. Caruso-Cabrera is challenging AOC from the right, but she has shown no sign of actually winning the primary, has she? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/113 "2020-06-24T03:14:21Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > Ocasio-Cortez …looking like that “formidable”, in hindsight. > ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/114 "2020-06-24T06:39:58Z")
Congratulations to Alexandria. Meanwhile in my district, the incumbent Gerry Connolly easily won the Democratic primary against Zainab Mohsini, who I thought had the makings of another AOC. Well, not this time. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/115 "2020-06-24T18:18:31Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > .@AOC just crushed her primary opponent with 69.69% Nice. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148/116 "2020-06-24T22:04:06Z")
[According to BallotPedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez), she earned 72.4% of the vote. Her nearest competitor, Caruso-Cabrera came in at 19.5%. Annoyingly enough, that Caruso-Cabrera slug also appears to be registered on the General Election ballot. Talk about being dishonest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aoc-has-a-formidable-primary-challenger-in-journalist-maria-caruso-cabrera/851148.md?page=5)