I think you’re stretching a little here. This was an election that was basically guaranteed to go to the Dem candidate and she ran a surprisingly successful insurgency in the primary.
Not really. Not even close.
I agree. The news is over-emphasizing this minor Freshman Congresscritter, making a mountain out of a molehill. (I guess no jumbo-jets have crashed lately.)
But it is absurd to go from “She’s a slightly underqualified Freshman Representative” to treating her as a dunce bartender whose election was a major boondoggle. My goodness! Some weeks ago I saw a Headline like “AOC shocks with her ignorance” and had to run the Youtube twice to get a clue what they were talking about! — nothing whatsoever except calling the occupation of Palestine an “occupation.”
She’s an energetic and inspiring fresh face and heaven knows we can use that now! I’m sure there are plenty on Capitol Hill with lower IQs than hers. Anway, is being one of 435 Reps really such a hard job? The most intellectual effort from most of them is how to maximize their bribes and perhaps she won’t join that ilk.
Speaking of possibly under-qualified inspiring fresh faces, I know nothing of Beto O’Rourke. Is he really ready for the Big Job?
Yeah, when the party that brought us Palin, Bachman, Gohmert, and the Trump Family talk about the supposed low intelligence of a Democratic Congress person, I’m going to take that with a huge grain of salt.
Beto is a third-term Congressman, and before that was an El Paso City councilman for six years, and had a 10 year career in business before that, including founding a still extant web design firm. Draw your own conclusions.
I think I’d have been perfectly fine with his experience when he chose to run for the House in 2012.
In that thread, you say you are thinking of “getting back into photography”. Do you think 22 yr old AOC was thinking of getting back into publishing urban based children’s books?
And what was "highly specialized " about your photography biz? Please don’t say weddings.
It would be a hijack I think to go to much back and forth with this over our differing impressions. I do want to make clear though that I am not saying what she will do, but only what I am concerned about given the impressions I am getting. Again, my impression includes that she has great potential given the same chance as normal new congresscritters to learn some before being put in the center ring.
But to address the two specific points above. What is the power of “voting in tandem” if not to make demands for your bloc’s votes? If “holding others hostage” sounds derogatory, sorry, use another phrase. But that is the power that the “Freedom Caucus” exerted, the threat to blow up the whole place, shut it all down at least, if they didn’t get their way, and that sort of power is what she references that a small cohesive group can exert when their few votes mean passage or failure.
The other point regards the placement of Sanders in your post. You may find that other progressives do not agree that their “revolution is Bernie Sanders’ group.” Not all who find progressive causes appealing look to him for leadership or perceive him as one or even like him. More importantly many who might be won over to at least some elements of progressive causes actively dislike him and being told that signing on to those causes means signing on to him as leader would repel them. The issues that matter to progressives are not dependent on a cult of personality and he has no ownership or command position over others. He may or may not run and he may or may not do well or fizzle fast. But issues being promoted by progressives in the party will be part of the coming cycle with or without him in the fray and with or without his say.
I concur.
…yep. When I was 16 I owned a film camera and took on average about 100 photos in the year. That was almost 30 years ago. I was really “getting back into it.” :rolleyes: I was a newbie. Huge difference between digital and film. Huge difference in the marketplace. Huge difference between 16 year old me and now-me. I now have nearly 300,000 images in my online archive: a far cry from the 100 photos I took in a year.
As to whether or not “AOC was thinking of getting back into publishing urban based children’s books” my answer to that would be “I really don’t care.” I started my first business back in around 2002. It ended in disaster. But that experience was important. I don’t hide from it. I don’t pretend that it didn’t happen.
Conference photography. I was the only specialized conference photographer in the country at the time. You can’t get more highly specialized than that. I deliberately didn’t go into weddings which was a highly saturated market that I didn’t want to compete in.
So there you go. I didn’t say “weddings.”
Lol. You are going to now pretend to be the reasonable Dem who doesn’t believe in personality politics after spending most of this thread freaking out on people who make the mildest of criticisms on AOC? Hilarious.
Well, I am honestly glad that it worked out for you. But let’s be real- your entire country is a fifth of the population of New York and unlike children’s book publishing, you didn’t have to compete with massive competitors already long up and running. I didn’t say every damn business venture is doomed to fail. I said THAT venture was doomed to fail.
You are free to be fearful of whatever you want but so far there is no evidence AOC is intending to try to do this.
I think the greater fear is Pelosi will tell AOC and other freshman like her to go sit in a corner, speak only when spoken too and toe the line like a good little trooper. Pelosi is no fan of AOC or other progressives.
Personally I think AOC will try to advocate for the issues she feels her voters put here there to advocate for. I also suspect she will not hold a gun to the head of democrats but will negotiate and accept incremental progress. I certainly hope she does not meekly sit on the side while Pelosi unilaterally decides what is and is not worth fighting for.
It is usual for a movement to have a figurehead. Right now that is mostly Sanders and maybe AOC is getting in on it too. They are the ones who get the press time. They are the ones who help advance the progressive agenda to the public at large. That does not mean they are the sole arbiters of what is and is not “progressive” and you don’t have to like them. For now there are precious few others getting attention to the progressive cause. How many other “progressives” in congress can you name? How many of them get substantial time in the media?
Well, you’ll never know if you had a good idea for a business venture unless you try, right?
…it was still a “highly specialized” business. The size of the market is irrelevant to that particular point.
Lets be real: as I already told you my first business failed. I had to compete with massive competitors already up and running. My first business venture was pretty much doomed to fail. I underestimated the market. I overestimated my skill. That happens when you are young. There is no shame to that.
But if it hadn’t have failed then maybe I wouldn’t be where I am today. Shit happens. Welcome to life. When my first business went under Ocasio-Cortez was 3 years old. She started the publishing business she was 23. It apparently didn’t go the way she intended. But why “drop that from her list of accomplishments?” I don’t pretend my business failure didn’t happen. Its part of who I am. AOC has already done more with her life than I will ever do. There is no reason to fudge her resume.
It’s not a matter of how specialized something is, it’s the size of the market and how many players are already in it. You got into a business with no competition, AOC started a business that had insane competition and specialized but that specialization was meaningless because almost no parent or kid gives a crap if their picture book is in an urban setting.
And I would drop that from her list of accomplishments because a) it was a total failure, b) it was a pretty dumb idea and c) I don’t think she put any of her own money into it - she just won a competition that gave her free office space.
This isn’t really meant as a “denigration” of her. It’s kind of a sweet idea. But it’s something that belongs on a College application not a professional resume.
…“highly specialized” are your words. If you meant to use other words then perhaps use other words.
What part of “I got into a business with insane competition that failed” are you failing to comprehend? The business that failed was “specialized” as well: but just like AOC’s business it failed to miss the mark. Shit happens. Sometimes you fuck things up. But you don’t pretend those fuck-ups didn’t happen.
…you’ve seen her professional resume? Would you care to share it with us here?
septimus brought it up as a sort of qualification that made her suitable for Congress.
…so it isn’t on her professional resume. One less thing for Ocasio-Cortez to be worried about then!