AOC: "...concerted effort from the Democratic side to unseat me..."

[walkingman]

72. We are both Democrats and convinced we must win.

I am speaking for myself and only myself - it is my opinion.

I am almost 72 and have also been progressive all of my life and have never wobbled at all.

"And who WERE all these liberal progressive Democrats who really did make America great in the last century"

Who were they? They were people like you and I and in reality many people that no longer belong to the Democratic Party.

Our society changed dramatically in the 70's and does not even resemble the party prior to then. The same thing applies to the GOP. There are no longer Rockefeller or Eisenhower Republicans. From 1972 to 1988 the Democrats lost four of five presidential elections. Carter in '76 being the only Democrat elected during that period and the last Dem to win the South. Then we got the Reagan era which began the demise of our Representative Democracy. Then Clinton was elected in '92 (a moderate at best) and with his approval of NAFTA we lost many of the "Progressives" and many supporters in organized labor. In '94 we lost both houses....Contract with America and the rise of the right-wing religious/political movement....then the impeachment of Clinton led to the family values crap till just a few years ago.

The 2000 judicial loss by Gore is maybe our greatest tragedy of the modern era - it result was the election of maybe the worst POTUS in modern political history resulting in the destabilization of the Middle East, a banking crisis that almost brought us into another depression. The result being our first African American President, Barack Obama. A great president (Carter and Obama my favorites) who would more than likely would have never been elected without the terrible "W" Presidency. And then we got Trump - how and why I will never understand. I was not a Hillary fan, mainly because I thought her foreign policy was terrible as has been the US policy since at least WWII. But I have always voted for the Democratic candidate since 1968 in every election. I understand it is a binary choice.

I like AOC. She has charisma, is outspoken, and I think represents her constituency well. I don't think she represents all Democrats nor does she claim to but she does have some good ideas and has the conviction and courage to speak out for them.

There is no doubt in my mind that we have only one legitimate political party these days and it is not hard to see that. For us to win it requires UNITY which means that we allow our members to voice their opinions and ideas and then unite for the common good. I worry about so many people just don't vote if they don't get their way - that's dumb. I personally ready for our first woman POTUS and she needs to be a Democrat.

Peace and Love ☮