Fellow Democrats, recognize how dangerous is an ambitious AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the most polarizing and divisive figures in modern American politics.

Despite having served in Congress for only four years, the self-described Democratic Socialist recently indicated she could seek “higher office” in 2024, likely referring to New York’s US Senate seat.

As Ocasio-Cortez contemplates a primary challenge against Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand — which, if successful, would be a springboard for a future presidential run — it is important for the Democratic Party to recognize how dangerously outside the mainstream she is.

What is perhaps most troubling about AOC is her willingness to disregard constitutional principles when they do not conform to her political or ideological agenda.

Ocasio-Cortez urged the Biden administration this month to ignore a federal judge’s ruling banning the abortion pill mifepristone.

Regardless of whether one identifies as pro-choice, pro-life or somewhere in between, her suggestion should alarm all Americans.

In the most basic sense, it is the judiciary’s role to interpret the law, the legislature’s role to make the law and the executive branch’s role to enforce the law.

The stability of American democracy depends on an adherence to this separation of powers; a dereliction of duty by any of the three branches of government, which is precisely what Ocasio-Cortez pushed, would trigger a constitutional crisis.

We both are proudly pro-choice and fundamentally disagree with the Texas judge’s decision.

But it is disturbing for a prominent member of Congress, who took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, to suggest the executive branch should flout a judicial-branch ruling based on a political disagreement.

Ocasio-Cortez often defends her indefensible positions by claiming she occupies moral high ground — this is also a farce.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating the far-left firebrand for receiving what the Office of Congressional Ethics says are likely “impermissible gifts” when she attended the 2021 Met Gala.

AOC did not pay for the infamous “Tax the Rich” dress she wore until congressional investigators reached out to her with questions. Along with the dress and $30,000 event ticket, she was also gifted a handbag, shoes, jewelry, hair and makeup services and limo transportation.

Not only is it morally hypocritical for Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described socialist, to attend a lavish, elite event hosted by a major-media conglomerate on someone else’s dime — it is also illegal if, as the ethics report suggests, she did not pay back the thousands of dollars’ worth of goods and services she was given.

Besides Ocasio-Cortez’s disregard for the Constitution and her lack of principles, her positions on a range of issues — including those associated with the “Tax the Rich” motto she flaunted in the Met Gala dress — are completely out of line with where the Democratic Party stands today. Labeling AOC a Democrat is even misleading — she is a socialist, plain and simple.

Speaking at a rally this month in “The People’s Republic of Astoria” — a term Ocasio-Cortez uses to describe her district, with its tendency to elect socialists — mostly to officials associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, she made clear she puts her far-left vision ahead of all else and certainly does not support the broader goals of the Democratic Party or the Biden administration.

AOC called for a proposal that would essentially be a first step toward socializing New York’s housing market. It would put such strict limits on rent increases for market-rate apartments, it’d be virtually unprofitable to own rental housing.

Recall she was largely responsible for killing Amazon’s plan to build a second headquarters in Queens, adding 25,000 good jobs to the city and all the ancillary business it would bring.

She also criticized Democratic Mayor Eric Adams for raising NYPD salaries — though police pay hasn’t gone up in seven years — and suggested the mayor was “defunding safety” in favor of a “militarized” NYPD. 

If it were up to this vocal supporter of the “Defund the Police” movement, law enforcement wouldn’t even exist.

This all comes while New York is still striving to return to its pre-pandemic glory, as many businesses and residents fled to Republican-controlled states with less crime, lower taxes and fewer government regulations when COVID-19 hit.

If implemented in part or in full, Ocasio-Cortez’s vision would set our state and our party back irreparably.

On foreign policy, another DSA position Ocasio-Cortez champions is the Palestinian cause or more aptly the demonization of Israel.

She has erroneously labeled Israel an “apartheid state” and is a loud proponent of cutting US military aid to the country, the only true democracy in the Middle East.

AOC’s criticisms of Israel go far beyond reprimanding its current government. She has questioned the right of the Jewish state to exist and echoed common anti-Semitic tropes of Jewish Americans having dual loyalty and using money to control the media and government. 

As two Jewish Americans who remember when support for Israel was widespread in the Democratic Party — indeed, Democratic President Harry Truman granted diplomatic recognition to the Jewish state of Israel in 1948 — the prospect of Ocasio-Cortez in a higher position of power, like the US Senate, is bone-chilling.

While Gillibrand remains a formidable incumbent with an impressive $4 million war chest, Ocasio-Cortez is already sitting on $5.4 million and would have national fundraising capabilities that arguably surpass the sitting senator’s.

Before AOC even gets her campaign underway, leaders in The Democratic Party must acknowledge she is both undemocratic and un-Democratic.

Elevating her to the US Senate, or any higher office, would set true Democratic causes back for generations.

Douglas Schoen was a senior adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign, a White House adviser (1994-2000) and an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2000 US Senate campaign. Andrew Stein, a Democrat, served as New York City Council president, 1986-94.