AOC Calls Out Wall Street CEOs Trying to Unseat Her In Upcoming Primary

[riversedge]

AOC Calls Out Wall Street CEOs Trying to Unseat Her In Upcoming Primary


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/aoc-calls-out-wall-street-ceos-trying-to-unseat-her-in-upcoming-primary/ar-BB15MPUe

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit out at Wall Street investors for donating to her most prominent primary challenger, who is looking to unseat the progressive firebrand in the June 23 contest.



Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, 53, has won the backing of the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce and multiple powerful Wall Street figures—including Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, according to The Financial Times—in her effort to defeat the 30-year-old freshman congresswoman.

Ocasio-Cortez warned her supporters Sunday they "CANNOT take this seat for granted," in a Facebook post urging people to vote. "Wall Street is pouring millions of dollars to unseat me in this Tuesday's election," Ocasio-Cortez said of the primary. "That's what happens when you put people before profit."

Caruso-Cabrera has gathered some $2 million in funding since announcing her campaign to unseat Ocasio-Cortez, who since entering the House of Representatives in 2019 has become one of the most prominent progressive politicians in Washington. This has also made her a prime target for Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

..................

She is trying to peel away moderate Democratic and independent voters who might be uncomfortable with Ocasio-Cortez's more progressive proposals, including the Green New Deal, higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and her support for the movement to "defund" the police in the wake of George Floyd's killing........................................



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/aoc-calls-out-wall-street-ceos-trying-to-unseat-her-in-upcoming-primary/ar-BB15MPUe
Chuck Schumer et al. standing in front of a building: Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks alongside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a press conference in the Corona neighbourhood of Queens on April 14, 2020 in New York City. ©

[Me.]

1. I'm Sure She's Not Worried

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has spent more money than any House Democrat seeking reelection this year, building a massive political team and an even bigger money machine.

An analysis of the freshman firebrand's prodigious spending shows Ocasio-Cortez has nearly 40 staffers on her campaign, with 30 having been hired in 2020 — a staff size more typical of a top-tier Senate campaign than a congresswoman seeking reelection in a safely progressive seat.

Ocasio-Cortez had spent $6.3 million through June 3, according to her latest FEC report, sixth overall among House candidates.Just two years after she pulled off a stunning upset over a veteran lawmaker, Ocasio-Cortez has become a magnet for small-dollar donors. She has raised more than $10.5 million, about 80 percent of which came from donors giving under $200, the FEC reports show.

That mammoth haul makes her the fifth-most prodigious fundraiser of the cycle so far, behind only House GOP whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213637064

[NurseJackie]

2. Donations from her constituents?

[Me.]

3. Can't Say

[NurseJackie]

5. My guess would be that much of it comes from outside "fans"...

... rather than her constituents. (I wonder if the FEC information would be that granular.) I get the impression that her constituents are feeling a bit neglected and abandoned and that would explain why she's being primaried. It's difficult to predict the future, but as always, time will tell.

[Trumpocalypse]

6. Do you know any of her constituents?

[lapucelle]

7. 85% of her money comes from out-of-state,

and I do know a few of her constituents.



https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/geography/alexandria-ocasio-cortez?cid=N00041162&cycle=2020

[NurseJackie]

8. I figured the info was out there somewhere.

But, as it turns out... if she's having trouble raising money from her constituents, then she may also have trouble getting them to vote for her as well. You never know, but things have a way of surprising you. As we've seen before many small donors don't always represent the same number of individual votes.

[Me.]

11. Well After All

No one thought she'd win that seat in the first place, so who knows. It would be ironic.

[Hortensis]

14. 15% of the megahaul is from NY state, not her tiny district.

You wouldn't expect more than a tiny fraction of the Big Money raked in to be donated by even a very fond constituency. It'd be interesting to know how the donations of those who can vote for her compare to whatever normal would be.

There's some humor in her warning her local supporters they can't be complacent.

[George II]

15. Exactly - NY State has about 20 million people, NY-14 has only about 700,000 people.

A miniscule % of the total contributions have come from 14th District.

[George II]

13. California accounts for more than 30% of the total....

....remember the derisive talk about "Hollywood Elites"?

[NurseJackie]

16. Interesting.

[George II]

17. And billionaire hedge fund manager money is in that total, too.

[NurseJackie]

18. Not just a lowly millionaire?

Fascinating.

[George II]

19. If it's the "lowly millionaire" I think you refer to, he has yet to contribute to ANY candidate.

[NurseJackie]

20. He had not crossed my mind...

... but I'm not surprised.

[Me.]

10. You Know

I think I read somewhere that you're right. Yes, her constituents are not happy campers but I wonder if the woman who is running against her is who they really want.

[empedocles]

4. Hmmm. NYC politics can get pretty complicated

[Blue_true]

9. The Goldman Chairman and Steve Swartzerman (big Trump donor)

are very unlikely her constituents, but they are giving big to her opponent. I would love to see another progressive for that district, but Carusso-Cabrera is not progressive at all.

I think that Wall Street titans getting involved helps AOC big with people that can actually cast votes in the primary. We will know tomorrow.

[George II]

12. Does she realize that her mentor has more than $1M invested on Wall Street? Also, apparently...

....billionaire hedge fund manager money is okay as long as it's contributed to her campaign.

[George II]

21. Keep in mind, "in state" refers to ALL of New York State, not the 14th Congressional District.

[R B Garr]

22. Let me guess...massive out of state donations don't

need to be identified and called out?

And having $8 million more than your opponent’s $2 million really means you are the underdog because...Wall Street?? Something like that.

[PTWB]

23. Her opponent, funded by Wall Street, is a right winger who switched parties

Just to challenge her.

Shockingly, AOC’s Republican-turned-Democrat, ultra right wing conservative opponent, is actually receiving considerable support from folks on this very forum.

They’re either blind to what is happening (unlikely) or they choose to give that house seat to a Republican because they’re so racist / misogynistic that they just can’t stand to see a female person of color with strong opinions, like AOC, hold a position of power.


Folks, AOC is a threat to wealth and patriarchy and even some people on our side of the aisle are trying to stop her.

[George II]

25. MCC is a Democrat, much like several other candidates who are newly converted Democrats.

Do you have an issue with someone running in a Democratic primary? If so, why this one and not the others?

[PTWB]

28. Oh, speak of the devil! Here's one now!

I do have an issue with an ultra-right wing conservative Republican switching parties to run in the Democratic primary against one of the strongest, most effective Democratic representatives currently in the house.

How could any true Democrat NOT have a problem with that?

I mean, imagine if Donald Trump switched parties. Could you support him if he was a Democrat, given what you know about him?

Anyone curious about how evil Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is should have a look at her record. She's been a registered Republican, is a right-wing extremist and has recently authored a book in which she calls for the elimination of Medicare and Social Security. Quite ODD that George II, and several others, are so vehemently supportive of her run against AOC.

[George II]

75. "...one of the strongest, most effective Democratic representatives currently in the house..."

Can you be more specific?

[TheFarseer]

37. I've never heard of a Democrat

That wants to get rid of Social Security and Medicare and abolish the Department of Commerce, Energy, Labor and Education as MCC laid out in her book. She can run if she wants to but I think you're out of your mind to vote for or support her. If you're on the same team as Wall Strret hedge fund managers, I think you need to take a serious look at what you are doing.

[George II]

73. What do you think of candidates who accept money from Wall Street hedge fund managers?

[TheFarseer]

81. If you're about to try and convince me

that AOC or Bernie Sanders is actually on the side of Wall Street, I think you should pause and think about how stupid that would be and how obviously not true that would be. They support higher taxes on the rich and pretty much everything Wall Street is against and MCC supports less government.

[George II]

83. Accepting billionaire hedge fund manager money is okay?

[TheFarseer]

87. I see you went to the Sean Hannity school of debate

Where I have to answer your question but you don’t need to address any of my points. That’s OK. Do I think accepting campaign contributions from business interests(Wall Street) automatically makes you a bad person or makes you “in their pocket”? Of course not. But when you’ve got someone funded by Wall Street AND more importantly advocating far right positions like getting rid of Social Security, Medicare and the Dept of Education, it’s extremely fair to ask what Wall Street is trying to buy with their campaign contributions. My question to you is, what are you stumping for a candidate that is advocating far right positions on Democratic Underground?

[George II]

88. I wasn't talking about "business interests", I was talking about "billionaire hedge fund manager"...

...how do you differentiate that from "funded by Wall Street" (which is illegal, by the way)? It's interesting the different take people have on campaign funding for one candidate vs. another.

I'm not "stumping" for MCC, I'm just expressing my opinion on the primary, an opinion I've discussed with people I know who live and will vote in the 14th District today.

If you did any research on on MCC's positions on the issues you mention you'd see that they are different than you portray. If they were as you say I probably wouldn't look at her the way I do.

On the other hand, I certainly feel AT THIS TIME that she's better for the 14th District than the incumbent, who in one of her first votes last year voted against funding the government; essentially voting against thousands of her constituents and the largest employer in her District. Her rationale behind that vote was that it contained funding for ICE, which in fact it didn't. Had that funding bill failed thousands of workers at the largest employer in the district would have been laid off, along with hundreds of support workers in the district.

She also, a couple of weeks ago, voted against another stimulus package for Americans - the only Democrat who voted against it (she sided with four republicans who voted against it, too) The vote was 388-5, the 5 being her and four republicans.

It's votes like that and the fact that she seems more concerned about other parts of the country than her own district that has turned off many of the residents of the 14th.

She probably will win today, but hopefully the vote will cause her to be more attuned to her constituents.

[TheFarseer]

91. I'm not sure the point you're making about

Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers. Is the top employer you’re talking about a hospital? There’s a lot in that bill and a lot of it is pork (I know this first hand) and corporate giveaways. Much of it is also good and needed funds. I can really see voting either way on it.

MCC does not have a positions section on her website so I can’t be sure what she is for now, but I can say she was for things that I vehemently oppose ten years ago. I watched *some* of the debate and most of what MCC was saying was hacky stuff like “she just wants to be a star and she’s never in her district” and so on. If you want to debate whether Amazon should be in the Bronx, that’s a legit debate but to pretend there are no downsides like Gentrification and that Amazon will definitely deliver on the jobs is super naive.

[betsuni]

84. Democrats support higher taxes on the rich and regulating Wall Street.

Barack Obama broke a record for fundraising from Wall Street in 2008 and then regulated Wall Street with the help of Elizabeth Warren. They actually got things done.

[R B Garr]

26. AOC has $10 million to her opponents $2 million,

so this Wall Street distraction is rather bogus.

Maybe it might be as simple as AOC’s votes. That’s the most likely thing that people are looking at in her district if they are even paying attention to the primary.

[PTWB]

27. How do you feel about a right wing, ultra-conservative Republican switching parties

and running in AOC's primary against her? Because that's what has happened here.

Just why do you think that is?

[R B Garr]

29. Los Angeles Times had an article about this and said

her opponent, a registered Democrat, was running on two issues: her votes on jobs and the Coronavirus relief. Seems reasonable.

It’s ironic there is this much angst over an incumbent being challenged, considering that is something AOC has been involved with.

[PTWB]

31. Have you done your own research?

She's an ultra-right wing conservative Republican who just switched to run in AOC's primary. She's recently written a book that advocated getting rid of Medicare and Social Security.

That seems REASONABLE TO YOU?

For shame.

[R B Garr]

32. Every politician is judged on their votes.

That book is ten years old, not “recently”. The rest can be assumed to be just as misleading, sorry.

[PTWB]

33. 10 years isn't recent to you?

My God how far you people will go to excuse a right winger trying to sabotage a strong Democrat. I'm legitimately frightened that our party is being infiltrated by racist right wingers and here we have people backing them up.

What have you got against AOC? She's an incredibly strong, effective Democrat. She's a woman of color. She's one of the most inspiring representatives we have working for us today. And you're going to roll over and make excuses to try to let a registered Republican primary her.

Is it that she speaks truth to power? Is it that she's a woman of color who has risen to a position of power that makes you uncomfortable? I'm not trying to be accusatory - I'm trying to understand why you'd do something like this.

I hope you do some soul searching.

[R B Garr]

34. Such irony considering what was said about my party

by so-called Independents who have switched parties just recently like two years ago, and with horrific results that we are paying for today.

Maybe we could get the same type of urgent introspection about the damage of that..? But I won’t hold my breath.

Further irony that third party voting has been promoted by some of the Independents’ staff members.

Such irony all the way around.

[PTWB]

36. Ahh I see

You’re one of “those” who thinks you’re making some point by supporting an ultra right wing conservative Republican social security abolisher because you’re upset left-leaning independents occasionally run as Democrats.

For anyone not up to speed, this is where we are:

George and RB Garr are vehemently opposed to left leaning independents who share our values running as a Democrats.

George and RB Garr are strongly supportive of ultra right wing conservatives who shares none of our values rubs as a Democrat. (George won’t even deny that he would support Donald Trump if he ran as a Democrat).

They think they’re being clever by trying to draw a parallels between these two scenarios but unfortunately all they’re doing is exposing themselves and what they truly believe.

I bet we all know why they’re REALLY opposed to AOC. Women of color in positions of power seem to have this effect on a certain subset of the population.

[R B Garr]

38. Your hyperbole is getting out of hand and it's

very dishonest, sorry.

She’s a politician. She has votes now to judge. There is much hypocrisy in her criticisms of Democrats and it’s noticed. It’s the hypocrisy.

[PTWB]

39. What hyperbole?

You’re the one trying to make excuses for a radical right wing conservative looking to abolish social security and Medicare simply because you don’t like AOC.

Your words my man. Do some soul searching.

[R B Garr]

41. The hyperbole of your exaggerations and how

dishonest they are.

[PTWB]

45. Oh, so you don't support MCC?

Thanks for correcting the record.

[R B Garr]

46. LOL

[PTWB]

47. Hey, at least you admit your mistakes.

That's better than some!

[R B Garr]

50. I'm too busy watching you exaggerate.

[PTWB]

51. You claim exaggeration but can't point to anything factually untrue

[R B Garr]

52. Another exaggeration to call your exaggerations

“factual”.

[PTWB]

53. Still waiting on you to quote something that is factually untrue

Tick tock

[R B Garr]

54. More exaggerations, but a nice switch from

the paragraphs of name calling.

[PTWB]

55. Name calling? Now you're imagining things.

Waiting for factually untrue quote...

[R B Garr]

56. Another exaggeration to call your opinions "factual"

[PTWB]

57. You're the one claiming I'm exaggerating things

Yet you can’t quite anything that isn’t true. What does that make you...? Hmm...

[R B Garr]

58. More exaggerations that your opinions are "factual"

[PTWB]

59. I have some advice for you.

Don’t worry, I won’t charge you for it! When you make a claim you ought to be able to back it up. When you get called out, and you cannot back it up, you should not double down again and again.

I know a certain orange politician who makes claims and is unable to provide receipts when called out. I certainly wouldn’t want to emulate him. But you do you, man.

[R B Garr]

60. LOL, you are hilarious. You are the one making

exaggerated claims. Why would I take any of your exaggerations and hyperbole seriously, lol.

Your self flattery is quite silly, but you do you, as well.

[PTWB]

61. You said I was exaggerating.

I asked if you were able to quote one factually untrue statement... and you couldn’t.

[R B Garr]

62. More exaggeration that you think you are making

“factual statements”.

[PTWB]

63. Still waiting...

I wonder what it feels like to make a claim, get asked for receipts and be unable to provide them?

🎣

[R B Garr]

64. You are the one making claims, exaggerating and hyperbolic.

Who would take them seriously.

[PTWB]

65. Still waiting...

Now I know how Hillary Clinton felt when Donald Trump said “no you’re the puppet!”

Still waiting...

[R B Garr]

66. You certainly aren't waiting.

More hyperbole.

[PTWB]

68. Still waiting...

I’m still here waiting on you to quote something factually untrue that I said. Since you claimed I was exaggerating it should be easy for you to do.

Still waiting...

[R B Garr]

69. More exaggeration that you think you made

“factual statements”.

[PTWB]

70. Still waiting...

Still waiting for just one quote ... just one! Can he do it, ladies and gentlemen? Stay tuned!

[R B Garr]

71. That's funny you think you are making "factual

statements.” You’re just mad that the hypocrisy is being called out.

[PTWB]

72. Still waiting...

I made plenty of factual statements. Statements like MCC has been a registered republican who recently advocated for abolishing social security and Medicare.

The hypocrisy is definitely being called out, you’re right about that!! LOL!!

So how about that quote... can you even come close? You haven’t even come up with anything yet! I am soooooo disappointed

[George II]

74. R B Garr is not a man.

[DenverJared]

42. Labeling someone as right wing is all you got?

At least Michelle Caruso-Cabrera (also a woman of color) will work with Nancy Pelosi and not join protesters in front of the speaker's office.

Caruso-Cabrera's business acumen will prevent a solid deal with Amazon creating 50,000 jobs and pumping billions in NY-14's economy disappearing and going somewhere else.

[PTWB]

44. Would you support Donald Trump if he pretended to be a Democrat?

Like you’re supporting MCC - someone who recently wrote a book advocating for abolishing Medicare and social security.

[R B Garr]

49. Yes, I told that poster of the LATimes article

about MCC having two issues: jobs and her coronavirus votes, but that was too logical.

[Lancero]

79. We've long since decided that. Vote blue, no matter who, no?

Past party affiliation is rather irrelevant so long as they're currently a Democrat.

If it looks like she has a better chance than AOC against the Republican nominee, well... Vote Blue, anything they did in the past - Be it voting history, or party history - is just a purity test that does nothing but help the Republicans win.

...Honestly, these are the events that cause a party to experience a core shift - You know, by modern standards, X Republican would be considered a Democrat? It'll happen eventually, might take a few generations for it to fully occur, but our decedents will be saying that by (their) modern standards X Democrat would be a Republican.

Ok, probably not. Given how slow our country (Shit, the planet as a whole) is to embrace more nature-friendly lifestyles, I'm honestly expecting that our species will be killed off by climate change come the 50's.

[George II]

24. They do, but only if they're over $200 in aggregate. Opensecrets has a way of digging in and....

...determining where the money comes from. I don't have the time or discipline to check it myself, but I trust them.

The question remains, what is expected when people in California contribute almost $2.5M to a campaign in Queens/Bronx?

[R B Garr]

30. Interesting. I would like to see some accountability

on this out of state money. Thanks for the info, George.

[manhattan123]

35. It's puzzling how some people on this board...

...seem to dislike AOC as much as Trump or anyone on Fox or Wall Street does.

You can almost guarantee you will see the same few screen names attacking her whenever there's a thread about her.

What's that about? Serious question, I'm just really curious. Why do they dislike her so much?

[jcgoldie]

67. Better question

...how do they call themselves Democrats when ideology means nothing to them. Right wing conservative with a D... yeap thats okie dokie!

[demmiblue]

89. Well, to be fair from what I have seen in the past, several of the most rabid haters...

can't call themselves Democrats because they don't even live in this country.

I don't always agree with AOC (a lot of the time, but not all the time), but she is a hella lot better than her opponent. Plus, I like how she engages the young folks.

[DenverJared]

40. The standard boogey man of the far left

Wall Street CEOs who can give no more than $2800 each.

We'll soon start hearing about millionaires and billionaires ... until AOC publishes a book that is.

At least Wall Street is in the neighborhood of NY-14 while AOC is getting contributions from California, Washington and other states.

[mountain grammy]

48. Why aren't all replies appearing on this page?

[demmiblue]

76. I only see 4. n/t

[robbob]

82. Have you blocked a lot of people?

There’s a rather circular argument between 2-4 people that takes up a good 75% of this thread...

[mountain grammy]

86. Thanks. Yes that explains it

[betsuni]

77. Why are people in this thread saying that Caruso-Cabrera is an "ultra-right-winger" when

the article says she's pro-life, pro-same-sex-marriage, and pro-immigrant?

Why are people in this thread saying she "just" changed parties to run against AOC in this primary when the article says she changed parties in 2015?

Why are people in this thread saying her book is "recent" when it was published ten years ago?

Why are people in this thread making a big deal about AOC being a woman of color when her opponent is too? Don't they know that?

Why is "Wall Street is out to get me" a thing? Silly.

Why is fundraising 100% corrupting for some Democrats and not for others?

Why is a voting record 100% "this is disqualifying" and not for others?

[NurseJackie]

78. There's an obvious and mindless hatred of Caruso-Cabrera that makes zero sense...

There's an obvious and mindless hatred of Caruso-Cabrera that makes zero sense. So much vitriol and venom that's spewed at her, and the absurd accusations simply do no comport with the facts. (It makes me chuckle to see all the consternation about how "an incumbent Democrat shouldn't be primaried" ... how ironic, eh?) In any case, it's my personal opinion that AOC may be in trouble. No matter where the money comes from, one thing that's always true is that those out of state donors can't vote for her. It will be her constituents who decide if she's represented them well, and if she's been there for them, if she's been available for them, if they've had easy access to her, etc. The voters will examine her major legislative accomplishments (if any) in the process of making their decision.

[betsuni]

80. Yes, suddenly being primaried is bad? Holding feet to the fire is bad now?

I thought that was a good thing!

[melman]

92. Nobody has said these things

[Danascot]

85. Robert Reich on AOCs opponent

Link to tweet

[demmiblue]

90. Uh oh, Robert Reich (national treasure), under the bus in 3, 2, 1. n/t