Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Made Her Convention Debut Last Night

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a brief speech – less than two minutes – last night at the online Democratic National Convention. Some people griped that she deserved a longer time, but for such an inexperienced politician to get speaking time at all is an honor. She nominated Bernie Sanders for the presidency, a procedural move that was required by the convention rules. Although Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez both now support Joe Biden, the Convention was required to place Sanders' name in nomination because he had more than 1,000 pledged delegates, and Sanders requested Ocasio-Cortez to speak for him. 

Ocasio-Cortez' straightforward purpose was to reinforce the liberal wing’s agenda. Toward that end, she repeated language similar to what Bernie Sanders said in his convention speech. Her opening included a Spanish word, presumably to insist to her listeners that the Democratic Party stands for inclusiveness: 

“Good evening, ​bienvenidos​, and thank you to everyone here today endeavoring towards a better, more just future for our country and our world.”

She then flowed out a lengthy, jargon-filled sentence that summarized the liberal agenda. “Guaranteed healthcare” and guaranteed higher education are basic to Sanders’ agenda:

 “In fidelity and gratitude to a mass people's movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia, and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many, and who organized an historic, grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.”

Ocasio-Cortez’ complaint about “the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many” echoes standard Democratic Party agenda items. Even so, her language was more vivid than what we usually hear: “unsustainable brutality,” and “explosive inequalities.” 

Like Sanders, she spoke in language most accessible to a highly-educated audience. Unlike most politicians, however, she presented herself with a simple, conversational delivery style, using plenty of expressive vocal variety. She adapted better than most to the online format. This is no surprise, given her reputation for excellence in social media. 

Earlier Post: Did Bernie Sanders Speak over People's Heads? 

Many of the speakers at this virtual convention spoke from their homes, using normal household objects as backdrops. In contrast, Ocasio-Cortez spoke in front of an array of American flags. In part, the flags sent a nonverbal message that she stood for the United States. This is important, considering her opponents’ tendency to accuse her of being un-American. It also conveyed her message that the United States is inclusive, and that the flag does not just belong to White people. 

Earlier Post: Ocasio-Cortez' Short Speech in Congress Turned the Tables

I'm sure that the Democratic leadership does not want to lose its notoriously fickle liberal wing that supports Bernie Sanders. In this speech, Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t really trying to persuade people; she just laid out an agenda. The speech itself was obviously prerecorded and carefully vetted. The leadership may have been worried that she would uncork, but I don’t think she gave them anything to worry about. And her very presence on the online platform shows the liberal wing that they still have a voice in the party.

Earlier Posts about DNC Convention Speeches:

Kristin Urquiza's Speech about Her Father's Death from COVID-19

Bernie Sanders' Ideological Speech

AOC Turned the Tables on Republicans in Less Than a Minute During the Coronavirus Relief Bill Debate

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

During today’s debate in the House of Representatives about a coronavirus relief package, Democratic firebrand Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a 30-second speech attacking the Republican position. Sometimes good things happen under time restraints. Well, she actually spoke for almost 50 seconds, but who’s counting? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had accused Democrats of lacking urgency in passing the bill. Ocasio-Cortez turned McConnell’s attack on its head.

Ocasio-Cortez began by establishing her ethos: “On behalf of my constituents in the Bronx and Queens, New York’s 14^th Congressional District, the most impacted district in America.” Her thesis brought home the  coronavirus pandemic's human cost: “calling people, losing their families every day." She then quickly (what choice did she have? In only 30 seconds?) absolutely denied that the Republicans felt any urgency: “It is a joke when Republicans say that they have urgency around this bill. The only folks that they have urgency around are folks like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack.” That referred to the seeming glitch that allowed large chain restaurants to get a disproportionate share of the last "small business" bailout. “Those,” she insisted, “are the people getting assistance in this bill.”

Ocasio-Cortez insisted that, “you are not trying fix this bill for moms and pops.” Focusing instead on what she saw as a key issue, which was to fund hospitals and public health, she concluded: “And yet to fight to fund hospitals, fighting to fund testing, that is what we’re fighting for in this bill.” She stated that the Republican position was “unconscionable.” She said that if they wanted to treat the pandemic as urgent, “they should legislate like rent was due on May 1.” That powerful metaphor struck hard because rent relief is one of the Democrats’ priorities during the pandemic shutdown.

Ocasio-Cortez’ delivery might have been over-the-top for a congressional speech: she spoke rapidly and became louder and faster as her brief talk went on, waving her arms wildly. Still, I can’t blame her. Trying to rise above piles of controversy, bizarre conspiracy theories, and federal government lethargy, she instinctively recognized that no one would hear an ordinary speech. Her style must have worked: her brief appearance in Congress today became a featured clip on C-SPAN and it’s all over social media. Her short talk made the news. Ocasio-Cortez found a way to rise above the din. Her 30-second (50-second?) talk is probably the only thing people will remember from today’s congressional debate.

Lessons to learn? Every good debater knows how effective it is to turn the tables on your opponent, that is, to turn your opponents’ own argument against them. Republican leaders had insisted that the bill was urgent. But how urgent could it be to them, Ocasio-Cortez asked, if they were helping big business without adequately funding hospitals and public health testing? We see that energetic speakers get noticed. We see how a speaker can establish her standing with a couple of razor-sharp sentences right at the outset. We see that a short, well-prepared but extemporaneous speech can accomplish more than a long, tedious, rambling exposition. The biggest lesson that Ocasio-Cortez taught us is how important it is for a speaker to hit straight to an issue’s heart.

Typically making no effort to deal with Ocasio-Cortez’ arguments, conservative response on social media seems to rely on personal attacks like “@AOC is a puppet. No brains, all party” and “Where did she go to school ? I want to make sure, I don’t send my kids there !!!! They vote, I’m sure more people want to go back than not ! @aoc wins today’s Duntz Cap !!!” I assume that the writer meant “Dunce Cap.”  When you reduce your opponents to illiterate ad hominem arguments, you know that you’re making progress. 

Urgency indeed...

P.S. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez graduated with honors from my brother’s alma mater, Boston University, with a double major in economics and international relations. And, it is, in fact a prestigious, rigorous, church-related university. It reflects poorly on our nation that successful women need to face so much abuse in the political arena.

Query: Conservatives love to call Ocasio-Cortez, who obviously has one of the sharpest intellects in Congress, an idiot or a lunatic. And yet the Republican President of the United States just suggested  that we might cure the coronavirus by shining ultraviolet light inside people and injecting patients with chemical disinfectants. So who is the idiot or lunatic here?