Advertisement

Readers React: Liberals need to take a critical look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

New York congressional candidate Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez speaks in support of Kansas Democrat Brent Welder in Kansas City, Kan., on July 20.
New York congressional candidate Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez speaks in support of Kansas Democrat Brent Welder in Kansas City, Kan., on July 20.
(Luke Harbur / Associated Press)
Share

To the editor: I’m disappointed that the L.A. Times published a puff piece on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Democratic Socialists of America. Until two years ago, Ocasio-Cortez was registered to vote in affluent Westchester, N.Y. — not the Bronx — and her primary election win was secured by only 16,000 votes.

But what really bothers me is that Ocasio-Cortez campaigned in a Kansas congressional district against Sharice Davids — the progressive, insurgent, historic female candidate of color — in favor of a white, male, Bernie Sanders presidential campaign alum who only recently moved to the district.

Davids, who won her primary, could be the first openly gay Native American woman in Congress. Ocasio-Cortez’s side smeared her as “corporate” because Davids, a lawyer, had the nerve to work for an economic development corporation on an Indian reservation.

Advertisement

This is not fresh, revolutionary politics. This is the politics of cynicism. What matters is not what Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders say; it matters what they do.

Jo Perry, Studio City

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

Advertisement