AOC may have shifted to the center, but the Democrats aren’t ready for change

The evolution of AOC

They may have lost the presidency, the House, and the Senate, but when it comes to avoiding introspection, the Democrats are completely undefeated. You’d have thought that after the disastrous presidential election, the Democrats might have taken some time to figure out what went wrong. You’d have thought they might have decided to try and refresh the party – make it more relevant to disenchanted voters. You’d have thought they might have realized that they needed to shake things up.

Well, you’d have thought wrong. As the recent drama with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shows, it’s business as usual with the Democratic establishment. Instead of trying to present a fresh new face to the world, they’re continuing to be a party of geriatric multimillionaires who are more concerned about pomp and procedure than actually winning elections.

A recap for those who didn’t follow: earlier this month, 35-year-old AOC launched her bid to become the lead Democrat on the House oversight committee – a crucial minority leadership position. She was competing against 74-year-old Gerry Connolly, a longtime representative from Virginia who was next in line for the job. Connolly, by the way, has esophagus cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. Still, his allies have made it very clear they think he has the energy for the job. “Gerry’s a young 74, cancer notwithstanding,” said Virginia Democrat Don Beyer.

The race between AOC and Connolly was broadly seen as not just representing a competition between two people but two different futures for the Democratic party. AOC represented a generational shift: a fresh young face and energetic communicator who represents a more anti-establishment spirit. Connolly was business as usual for the Democrats. For a while, it seemed like AOC had a real shot at winning, but then 84-year-old Nancy Pelosi, recovering in hospital from hip-replacement surgery, reportedly made a bunch of phone calls and urged people to back Connolly. On Tuesday, he won by a vote of 131-84.

“I think my colleagues were measuring their votes by who’s got experience, who is seasoned, who can be trusted, who’s capable and who’s got a record of productivity and I think that prevailed,” Connolly told reporters after the vote. And I think the Democrats seem to have absolutely no desire to change.

That isn’t true of AOC, by the way. The representative has changed remarkably during her time in power. She started in office in 2019 as a progressive firebrand but drifted increasingly to the center in a seeming attempt to appease the party leaders and advance her career. “AOC Is Just a Regular Old Democrat Now,” New York Magazine proclaimed last year after she endorsed Joe Biden for a second term. Gradually, she seems to have abandoned everything she once stood for. In an attempt to secure her leadership bid, Axios reported, she’d even promised to end her support for primary challengers to fellow House Democrats.

Her metamorphosis hasn’t gone unnoticed. “The view of her is evolving,” the representative Glenn Ivey told Axios. “She seems to have changed her approach to legislating, and I think she’s figured out how to rock the boat without tipping it over.” At this stage, however, AOC might be realizing that despite selling out a lot of her supporters, the Democratic establishment still aren’t prepared to let her steer the ship. Maybe when she’s in her 80s it’ll finally be her turn.

While AOC may not be the progressive force she once was, having her as the lead Democrat on the House oversight committee would still have represented a shift for the Democratic party. Elevating her into a leadership position would have signaled a new start. Instead, it looks like the Democrats are committed to repeating the same old strategies, with the same aging politicians, in the hope that, this time, they might work.

No women will lead House committees for first time in two decades

“The last time there was not at least one woman leading a standing committee in the House was the 109th Congress, from 2005 until 2006,” reports ABC.

Dominique Pelicot sentenced to 20 years in prison

“Women around the world have followed the case, discussed it, thought about it,” writes Rebecca Solnit in the Guardian. “But have men? Until men engage earnestly and honestly with the pervasiveness of sexual assault and the aspects of the culture that celebrate and normalise it, not enough will change.”

Structural sexism is a risk factor for memory decline among women

Women born in the most sexist US states experienced faster memory decline as they aged compared with women born in the least sexist states, a new study from researchers at Columbia University has found. “Our findings suggest that addressing social inequities may be a powerful way to lower the burden of Alzheimer’s among women,” the study leader noted.

Elon Musk heroically slashes funding for pediatric cancer research

Did anyone in the US actually elect Musk to office? Nope, but he seems to think he’s the president now and is already meddling in policy. The billionaire just got involved with Congress’s spending bill deliberations and is now getting blamed for the fact that a new spending bill has removed $190m in funding for a bipartisan child cancer research program. Can’t have money going to sick kids when it could be going towards tax breaks for the rich, can we?

Bible removed from Texas school district due to law banning ‘sexually explicit’ content

It’s not the first time that something like this has happened. Last year, a Utah school district removed the King James bible from school libraries for containing “vulgarity or violence”.

How women are starting to be heard on femicide in Ivory Coast

Nearly 200 women and girls marched through the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam earlier this month, in the culmination of 16 days of activism to denounce femicide in the west African country.

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of acts of genocide in Gaza

The campaign group has said that “since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians’ access to the adequate amount of water required for survival in the Gaza Strip”. The HRW executive director, Tirana Hassan, has called this “a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease that is nothing short of the crime against humanity of extermination, and an act of genocide”.

Greg Abbott’s new billboard campaign warns migrants they’ll get raped

A few years ago, the Texas governor declared that he was going to “eliminate rape”. Obviously, he did not manage to do this. In fact, a study published in January found there have been an estimated 26,300 pregnancies as a result of rape in Texas, the highest of any state with a total abortion ban. Abbott’s new plan is to weaponize rape to deter immigrants: he’s just launched a billboard campaign which warns migrants that their daughters and wives could be raped by sex traffickers if they come to the United States.

The week in pawtriarchy

There’s a shocking dearth of uplifting cute animal news this week, I’m afraid. Rather it turns out that squirrels in California are now displaying carnivorous behaviour and decapitating their prey. And, while the Golden state is now full of killer squirrels, there are a bunch of “really big” monkeys roaming around Florida. It’s feeling more and more like we’re in the series finale of America and the writers have decided to go all out.