Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is Redefining American Politics

Opinion

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The 2018 congressional elections brought in a new wave of diverse representatives that are already shaking up the political climate and redefining American politics. With new ideologies and multi-ethnic backgrounds, the current set of U.S. representatives is comprised of policy makers with contrasting personalities.

Witty and passionate newcomer Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is part of this open-minded myriad of congressional members. She is a Democratic representative for the 14th congressional district in New York City. Ocasio-Cortez is a self proclaimed Democratic Socialist who is a well known advocate of Free Medicare for all, federal jobs guarantee, and is strongly in favor of free tuition at public universities and other educational reforms. She is taking liberal views established by former Democrats and is revamping up the political party. Ocasio-Cortez was formerly associated with political organizations such as Move On and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which promoted campaigning and organizing grassroot donations from non-Political Action Committee groups which is similarly an essential aspect of Ocasio-Cortez’s political agenda.

Her brashness and forthcoming nature when discussing issues she is passionate about is inspiring and a breath of fresh air as opposed to traditional more narrow minded, unchanging, and uninspired politicians. Always strong in her stance, Ocasio-Cortez is a model politician who inspires, especially regarding how descriptive she has outlined her health care plan and her education reforms. Though she is often scrutinized for her innovative and more modern way of thinking, her ability to keep a level head when she is taunted by both sides shows her resilience as well as her wit.

Recently on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez defended her stance on the importance of journalists through scrutiny from false media representation and repressive actions from some politicians. She responded in the wake of many employee cutbacks at organizations like Huffpost and Yahoo.

Healthy democracy requires high quality journalism” and that “without a wide range of independent outlets and the revenue to sustain them, our democracy will continue to crumble.” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Jan. 26.

Her advocacy for the freedom of the press is urgent and shows just how well she knows her cause.

Journalism will only die if we choose not to fight for it — and if journalism dies, our democracy will too.” she tweeted later that day.

Ocasio-Cortez’s faith in journalism is what sets her apart from other politicians. With her insistence on discussing and highlighting the freedom of the press, she has also turned the tables and focused on the importance of diverse journalists. By doing so, she is also boosting minority groups of all ethnicities and demonstrating the Democratic party as a governmental representation of the people rather than the pure elitist establishment. This is one of her best qualities. Ocasio Cortez is able to give a voice to the voiceless, both with her views on journalism and democracy working hand in hand, as well as her policymaking.

Her persuasive message exemplifies her character as both a hard-working person and as a politician. Though she deems journalism key to a proper democracy, she has also criticized news outlets, saying that many popular and widespread news channels are not as inclusive as they should be.This [White House] administration has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet CBS News hasn’t assigned a single black journalist to cover the 2020 election,” said Ocasio-Cortez in a recent tweet. Her use of this social media platform to spread the word about injustices she believes should be emphasized is exactly what politicians should be doing.

With her progressive views comes political backlash, yet she fights oppression from her detractors. Her power is in her ability to deflect criticism and to fight back for what she believes. Advocating for journalism is only one of the important things she has done so far, and it sets a precedent for all the great she has yet to accomplish.