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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
A Democratic Party firebrand, Ocasio-Cortez (casually known as AOC), told her story to represent the worth of working people – their hardships, needs, and accomplishments. Now, not all speakers tell stories. We’ve all heard liberal speakers drone away with facts, figures, statistics, and quotations from expert college professors. Those speeches often make everyone yawn. It’s not that proving things is bad. Proving things is good. But if you want to touch people’s hearts, it’s hard to outdo a narrative.
As she told her story, Ocasio-Cortez’ wanted to show that the Democratic Party’s candidates stand for working Americans, while Donald Trump and the Republicans only care about the rich. “Donald Trump would sell this country for a dollar,” she said, “if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends.” To establish the Democrats’ contrast from Trump, she told her own story about how she scraped out a bare living by waiting on tables and serving drinks:
“Six years ago, I was taking omelet orders as a waitress in New York City. I didn’t have health insurance. My family was fighting off foreclosure and we were struggling with bills after my dad passed away unexpectedly from cancer.”She then tied her story to her first main point: conservative politicians ignore the needs of working Americans:
“Like millions of Americans, we were just looking for an honest shake and we were tired of a cynical politics that seem blind to the realities of working people.”This led Ocasio-Cortez to a broader theme: her family’s problems were due, at least in part, she said, to the structural problems in American politics – “cynical politics” – that make it too difficult for hard-working Americans to make a go of things. Conservative politics reinforce the needs of people who already have what they need. Rejecting that value, she said that to love America does not mean simply loving the rich: but also “to fight” for blue-collar workers who work hard for a living:
“To love this country is to fight for its people, all people, working people, everyday Americans like bartenders and factory workers, and fast-food cashiers who punch a clock and are on their feet all day in some of the toughest jobs out there.”
“Ever since I got elected, Republicans have attacked me by saying that I should go back to bartending. But let me tell you, I’m happy to, any day of the week because there is nothing wrong with working for a living.”The room thundered with applause and cheers.
At that point, the audience grasped the full meaning of why Ocasio-Cortez told the story of her own life and family. The crowd cheered because her story told a basic truth. The crowd cheered because she brought out a value that American politics too often ignores. The crowd cheered because her argument came from a story about a working American’s life. Voters don’t often vote for issues: they vote for values. Ocasio-Cortez’ story voiced a political value – the value of ordinary working Americans – and therein lay its power.
Earlier Post: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' First Congressional Speech Told a Story
Ocasio-Cortez did not tell her story to entertain people. Her story was neither a distraction nor a shallow icebreaker. Instead, her story proved her point. Her story proved her point more forcefully than any technical or economic argument that she could have presented. Her story stated value-laden economic issues in human terms. Few people are convinced when they find out that the unemployment rate is down to 4.3% when it peaked at 14.2% under Trump. Those are just numbers. They rarely convey emotional impact. No, it is stories that convince people.
Stories work. When you give speeches, tell stories.
Ocasio-Cortez did not tell her story to entertain people. Her story was neither a distraction nor a shallow icebreaker. Instead, her story proved her point. Her story proved her point more forcefully than any technical or economic argument that she could have presented. Her story stated value-laden economic issues in human terms. Few people are convinced when they find out that the unemployment rate is down to 4.3% when it peaked at 14.2% under Trump. Those are just numbers. They rarely convey emotional impact. No, it is stories that convince people.
Stories work. When you give speeches, tell stories.
by William D. Harpine
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P.S. Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress in January 2019, and quickly became a member of “The Squad,” an informal group of left-wing representatives. Although a few members of The Squad eventually succumbed to their own excesses and faced subsequent electoral defeat, Ocasio-Cortez has taken advantage of excellent staff work and learned to work with the congressional leadership, while sharply articulating left-wing causes. Although she still sometimes aggravates the leadership, there is probably no other Democrat who has aroused the level of vituperation that Republicans direct at her. That vituperation is proof enough that she makes her opponents uneasy.
P.S. Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress in January 2019, and quickly became a member of “The Squad,” an informal group of left-wing representatives. Although a few members of The Squad eventually succumbed to their own excesses and faced subsequent electoral defeat, Ocasio-Cortez has taken advantage of excellent staff work and learned to work with the congressional leadership, while sharply articulating left-wing causes. Although she still sometimes aggravates the leadership, there is probably no other Democrat who has aroused the level of vituperation that Republicans direct at her. That vituperation is proof enough that she makes her opponents uneasy.
Again, thanks to rev.com for providing transcripts of the convention speeches.
Copyright © 2024 by William D. Harpine
Image: Official congressional photo, public domain
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