The Growing Power of AOC
When Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, one of the first voices Democrats put forward was Nancy Pelosi, America’s first female Speaker of the House. The other was New York Congresswoman Alexandria Occasio-Cortez.
We see her a lot. The woman known by the initials AOC was on the Sunday shows again this week as the country speeds toward the most important election in a generation, discussing her support for — and policy differences with — Joe Biden. She’s a favorite target on Fox News. President Trump name-checked her in a debate just days ago.
While many in Congress have a high profile, what is unusual is that Occasio-Cortez was elected in 2018 and is still in her first term. She’s not a committee chair. In fact, she’s only 31 years old. To put that in perspective, AOC is just 13 years out of high school.
Yet her impact on the American electorate is beyond debate. The Celebrity Influence Poll I commissioned earlier this year shows that 43 percent of voters say she has influence on their voting decisions and 17 percent said she is “very important” to those decisions.
The poll showed that only Trump and Biden themselves, along with actors Tom Hanks and Dwayne Johnson, have more influence — and all of those guys have been around quite a bit longer.
She’s become an important voice for young people, who have been showing up to vote. As of last week, 3 million young people, ages 18–29, have already voted, including 2 million in 14 key electoral states, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
“In Florida, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, early votes cast by youth have already exceeded the 2016 margin of victory in each state,” the center reported.
What’s the appeal? AOC is a thoroughly modern candidate, and figures like her are a vital part of the future of the Democratic Party. She’s a woman. Her mother immigrated from Puerto Rico. AOC worked as a waitress and bartender out of college, jobs she maintained through most of her Congressional campaign as she helped her mother beat back foreclosure on the family home.
In short, she is very, very relatable.
While AOC — a self-proclaimed socialist — is more liberal than much of the current electorate, her views are more likely to mesh with the country’s changing demographics. She advocates for the Green New Deal, Medicare for All and to abolish both fracking and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those positions may play well in an America where voters are getting younger and far more diverse.
Millennials, who were ages 23 to 38 last year, have become the largest adult generation in the United States. Gen Z, who are turning 23 this year, will provide one in 10 eligible voters. Both generations will increase in influence in the years ahead.
Diversity is also increasing. Census projections show that America will no longer be a majority-white nation by 2045. Last year, more than half of those under 16 identified as racial or ethnic minorities, according to a report by the Brookings Institution.
“Racial and ethnic diversity will be an essential ingredient of America’s future,” the report said. “The mostly white baby boomer culture that defined the last half of the 20th century is giving way to a more multihued, multicultural nation.”
Candidates that appeal to these generations are more likely to look, and perhaps sound, like Occasio-Cortez than like Joe Biden or Donald Trump. Keep an eye on AOC. She may one day be a king maker.
Or, she may be the queen.
Cedric Muhammad, former general manager of the Wu-Tang Clan and political consultant, runs Hip-Hoppreneur, a firm that helps celebrities navigate the intersection of politics and pop culture.
