Young candidate’s fiery fundraisers
New York socialist has authenticity for audiences
From Barack Obama to Kamala Harris to current Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, San Francisco progressive funder Steve Phillips has championed a lot of top Democrats before it was trendy to do so.
So hours after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez roared through San Francisco for two fundraisers Tuesday, Phillips knew why the 28-year-old has become the left’s latest superstar.
It wasn’t just that she defeated 10-term Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in a New York City primary.
“What’s so compelling is that how unapologetic she is about progressive politics,” said Phillips, a former San Francisco school board member who was a co-sponsor of one of the fundraisers. It was the first time he’d met her.
Plus, Phillips said, Ocasio-Cortez embodies what the American electorate will look like in coming years: “She’s a person of color. A woman. Young. Unapologetic. And energetic. That’s the way to inspire a new generation.”
Many who attended Ocasio-Cortez’s sold-out fundraisers said they felt the same thing. At the second one, the line to enter the 800-person capacity Gray Area performance space on Mission Street stretched around 23rd Street. It was a younger, more racially diverse line than you’ll see at the typical political event.
Inside, it was loud and the vibe passionate — none of the strained enthusiasm found at the average rally. Many said they were excited for the rare opportunity to see a politician whose experiences were like theirs.
“She looks like us, she talks like us and she represents the values that we have,” said Rigoberto Marquez, an Oakland resident whose parents immigrated to the U.S. “You don’t see many people like that who are authentic like she is.”
Ah, being authentic. A lot of politi-
cians, particularly those reared in the YouTube generation, talk about sounding authentic. But few can actually do it with the ... authenticity ... of OcasioCortez. She’s the daughter of a Puerto Rican immigrant and speaks with the authority of someone whose life resonates with people of color, who make up 70 percent of her district.
That energy was evident soon after she bounded onto the stage in San Francisco and explained her newfound celebrity just like your buddy might over a beer.
“There is no, like, normal way to prepare as a human being for what is happening,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Literally, a couple of months ago, I was bartending in Union Square” — the one in Manhattan.
Moments later, the room hushed when she got serious. She explained how too many people are earning less than living wages and are burdened by “unconscionable” amounts of debt. Only those who inherit money can afford to live in many cities, she noted.
“We are convinced that we are more marginalized and alone than we are,” OcasioCortez said. “We are ashamed into not talking about twenty, thirty, fifty, one hundred thousand-dollar student loan debts. We are ashamed to say that we can barely afford our rent. We are ashamed to say that we don’t have health insurance because we can’t afford it.
“And that lack of talking about it contributes to a lack of power,” she said. “So we’re going to talk about it. Because too many Americans make less than $30,000 or $40,000 a year.
“And in the wealthiest society in the history of humanity, we can have good things,” she said.
The duality of her authenticity is that Ocasio-Cortez has bungled some recent interviews with off-the-cuff remarks.
On PBS’ “Firing Line” last month, she said “unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their family.”
After analyzing that statement, the nonpartisan fact checkers at Politifact wrote: “Even taking into account rhetorical excess, her statement is off in multiple ways.” They rated it, “Pants on Fire.”
Fans like Cecilia Reus shrug off such mistakes as the forgivable errors of inexperience.
“It doesn’t bother me, no,” Reus said as she stood in the second row Tuesday. “She is very authentic. And when she makes a mistake, she goes back and corrects it. I’m not looking for perfection from a politician. I’m looking for someone with compassion. Who cares about people.”
Others noted that OcasioCortez’s life experience could teach Bay Area liberals a lesson or two about representing their community.
“In San Francisco and Oakland, we typify the elitism of the liberal left,” said Lateefah Simon, a BART board member and fundraiser co-host. Many of the people running for office here are Ivy League-educated, well-connected and monied.
Ocasio-Cortez “is saying, ‘Oh, no no no. You’re not going to run our communities,’ ” Simon said. “‘We have a mass base of power that we can tap into.’ ”
In tapping into that base Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez didn’t mention two hot-button words: “Trump” and “socialism.”
She says it’s important for Democrats to explain what they’re for, as opposed to who they’re against — i.e., President Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez calls herself a democratic socialist — as does another hero of the left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — but she didn’t bring it up Tuesday. She didn’t really have to. Plenty of speakers who preceded her on the stage Tuesday did, in part because the event was co-sponsored by the San Francisco Progressive Alliance, a coalition that includes the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Tagging someone as a socialist just doesn’t mean as much to anyone who remembers when the Berlin Wall was standing.
“We’ve got to let go of these Soviet-era images,” Marquez said.
To Phillips, the democratic socialist label is another reason for progressives to be excited about Ocasio-Cortez.
“She is not afraid,” he said, “to defend herself or her progressive beliefs.”