Dems Reportedly Eyeing Elevating AOC To Leadership Position As She Continues to Raise Her Profile

As Democrats continue their efforts to counter the Trump administration, voters have been wondering, who is leading the party? It now seems like one contender, New York Representative and progressive superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is standing out among the crowd.

AOC, as she is most commonly known, has turned herself into a pragmatic in her six years in Congress. When she first rose to prominence, fellow Democrats were skeptical of her given her progressive views. Now, she has made herself an ally of the party and a key player on Capitol Hill with her unique communication skills to the younger generations.

The Democrat lawmaker has enjoyed immense notoriety throughout her tenure in Congress. Being an outspoken member of "the squad," she has used social media to send her message to voters and has not been shy to criticize her party's mistakes. That is why, there is a reportedly growing desire to elevate Ocasio-Cortez, 35, within the party in some way, a new report from NBC News shows.

"She's got boundless promise as the party leader in our country. But the question is who will have the language to express to America where we need to go," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "That's a tall order for anybody, but I would say she's definitely a contender. I don't know that anybody else seems to be a more obvious young candidate for that position."

Similarly, a moderate House Democrat told NBC News that, despite not being a "big supporter" of Ocasio-Cortez, they privately voted for her to be the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee when she unsuccessfully ran for the post last year. The moderate Democratic lawmaker said the reason is that "she is one of the top-tier communicators" in the party and the Oversight Committee job is primarily a "messaging and marketing" role.

But the young progressive's activism is not only being heard in Washington. In fact, the lawmaker is set to headline town hall events in Western states with Sen. Bernie Sanders beginning Thursday, as fellow progressives outline a strategy for a "populist revolt" to fight back against Trump and his allies.

Sanders's rallies across the Midwest have drawn huge crowds, with thousands of supporters in small towns and rural parts of the country gathering to hear his message on lifting the working class.

"One of the aspects of this tour is to try to rally people to get engaged in the political process and run as independents outside of the Democratic Party," Sanders told The New York Times. "There's a lot of great leadership all over this country at the grass-roots level. We've got to bring that forward. And if we do that, we can defeat Trumpism and we can transform the political situation in America."

But despite AOC's growing popularity, there are still some Democrats in Washington who are weary of her and her movement.

"Her politics are just too far left for this party," a chair of a state party that sends a large number of delegates to Democratic presidential conventions told NBC News of Ocasio-Cortez as a potential national candidate. "I don't agree with most of her policy positions, but she's showing a fight, which a lot of people are looking for their members of Congress to do, and they're just not seeing it."

For now, it seems that AOC is not interested in running for higher office. Her closest advisers reject the premise that Sanders is handling the baton to her as the titular leader of the progressive movement. They also insist she isn't plotting to challenge Chuck Schumer for his Senate seat in 2028, mount a run for governor of New York in 2026 or start organizing a bid for the White House. But they also aren't ruling anything out.

"There is no 10-year plan," said a close Ocasio-Cortez adviser. "She is going to be who she is. She is the last person to think about how a decision is going to impact her down the road, which candidly can be a little frustrating to those of us who are advising her."

"She can move quickly and authentically in a way few other elected leaders can," the adviser added. "If she jumps into anything, it will be because she truly believes she can make real change."

Originally published on Latin Times