Late Friday night, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallies several hundred people for Bernie Sanders in Iowa City
With the Iowa caucuses approaching, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., campaigned for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., urging an IMU audience to help Sanders emerge on top Feb. 3.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. speaks to the audience during a campaign event for Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. on Friday, January 24, 2020. Although Sanders could not attend the event, Ocasio-Cortez spoke in his place. The Iowa caucuses, just under two weeks away, will take place on February 3.
January 25, 2020
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said radical change is necessary to adapt to issues such as wealth inequality and climate change while campaigning in Iowa for presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
The U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Trump kept Sanders in Washington 10 days out from the Iowa caucuses. Several hundred people gathered in Iowa City late into the evening Jan. 24 to hear prominent figures and campaign surrogates advocate for Sanders’ platform, and to hear Sanders share his message over the speaker system in the IMU through a live phone call.
“Do everything you possibly can recruiting your friends, coworkers, fellow students, out to caucus,” Sanders said in the phone call. “If we win Iowa … I think we’re going to win in Nevada, I think we’re going to win in California.”
Sanders hammered on his signature issues, calling for universal health care, canceling student-loan debt, and implementing the Green New Deal — a platform Ocasio-Cortez strongly advocates for in the U.S. House.
Ocasio-Cortez said moderate Democrats publicly deride policies such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and breaking up Immigration and Customs Enforcement as unrealistic, but she argued that opposition to those policies is motivated by a fear of losing elections.
“We should not be scared of what will happen if we try, we should be scared of what will happen if we don’t,” she said.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. greets the audience during a campaign event for Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. on Friday, January 24, 2020. Although Sanders could not attend the event, Ocasio-Cortez, spoke in his place. The Iowa caucuses, just under two weeks away, will take place on February 3.
The country needs unprecedented actions to remedy issues such as wealth inequality and homelessness, Ocasio-Cortez said. She noted that young people have lower life expectancies, poorer health and lower income projections than previous generations. Life expectancy in the United States has fallen for three consecutive years, due in part to an increase in drug overdoses and suicides.
“When people are starting to have illnesses of despair and addiction, what it says is that the logic of our society is fraying, and it means that we have to write a new story for ourselves,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Sanders was leading the most recent Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll with 20 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers choosing Sanders as their top candidate. However, with 13 percent of likely caucusgoers still undecided when the poll was conducted, the race is far from locked down.
The poll of 701 likely Democratic caucusgoers was conducted by Selzer and Co. Jan. 2 – 8, and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
“It could be canvassing every day, it could be talking to your neighbor, it could be texting your friend,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We all, no matter how small or large, we all have something to give.”
In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, the event featured Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker, Sanders campaign surrogate and civil-rights activist Phillip Agnew, filmmaker Michael Moore, and a performance from pop artist Mike Posner.
Sanders has recruited other popular musical acts for his rallies in Iowa in the coming week. Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend will play at rallies in Clive, Iowa and Cedar Rapids, respectively, this weekend.
The other three U.S. senators still seeking the Democratic presidential nomination — Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet — also sent a network of campaign surrogates through the state of Iowa to campaign for them while they attended the impeachment trial this week.
University of Iowa sophomore Maddy Penick, 19, attended the rally because she is a fan of Ocasio-Cortez.
Audience members cheer as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. walks on stage during a campaign event for Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. on Friday, January 24, 2020. Although Sanders could not attend the event, Ocasio-Cortez spoke in his place. The Iowa caucuses, just under two weeks away, will take place on February 3.
“It’s just really impressive how much she’s accomplished at such a young age — like, that’s amazing,” Penick said. “… And then obviously her platform and everything that she stands for, I really respect.”
Penick said she plans on caucusing, but hasn’t decided who to support yet. She said she was leaning toward caucusing for former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, but noted that Ocasio-Cortez’s argument for large-scale change had made her think more seriously about Sanders.
Douglas Narveson, 55, plans on supporting Sanders in the caucuses. He compared Sanders with Franklin Roosevelt, saying he embodied the philosophy of the “New Deal” Democrats of the 1940s.
“My whole lifetime, our government hasn’t had integrity. We need someone like Bernie for that,” he said. “Also, he’s for everybody. I believe American culture will work again when we take care of everybody.”