AOC presidential candidate

How would voters describe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Intelligent, driven, hardworking, charismatic, glamorous, progressive, communicative, skilled orator, inspirational, visionary, caring, supportive. All could be applied to this talented New Yorker. Inequalities in her early life took her into politics. AOC is a powerful force within the Democratic Party and has the potential to reach high office.

Is it now time for political bettors to wager on her being a presidential candidate in 2024?


Early Promise

At the age of 29, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress. Her win over ten-term Joe Crowley in the 2018 midterm primary shocked the Democratic Party. She went on to win the November election with a convincing 78% majority over Republican Anthony Pappas.

After her victory, AOC said: “This is what is possible when every day people come together in the collective realization that all our actions, no matter how small or how large, are powerful, worthwhile and capable of lasting change.”

Ocasio-Cortez was reelected in 2020, defeating John Cummings.



The American Dream

AOC’s entry into politics at such a young age is a portrayal of the American Dream. Born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican-American parents, AOC shared the same struggles and inequalities that her voters experience in their daily lives.

Her rise from the streets of New York to the corridors of power is due to her continued connection to her roots. As her 2018 campaigning began, AOC was waitressing and bartending at Flats Fix in Manhattan’s Union Square. While the majority of Congress members are millionaires, AOC believes her life experiences have helped her in her political role. “(my background) makes me better at my job than 90 percent of Republicans, because I’ve actually worked for a living.”


The 14th District New York

AOC is also the first representative to fully reflect the demographics of the 14th District of New York. “Our district is 70 percent people of color, and we have never had a person of color represent us in American history.” Roughly 50 percent of the citizens in her district are immigrants. The average age of the population is 37.8.

Bettors should note that with her grass root connections, AOC has become a political and cultural force for many voters not just in New York but across the US.



What To Call Her?

To family and close friends, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is Sandy. Staff and colleagues like Representative Ayanna Pressley call her Alex. She is recognized nationally as AOC and as @AOC by her 12.8m Twitter followers.

Republican friend Tim Burchett calls her “Cortez.” “I don’t agree with a doggone thing she says,” Burchett says, “but I respect her right to represent her constituents just as much as she respects mine.”

Others aren’t so considerate. When AOC made a statement linking crime with poverty, Florida Republican Ted Yoho called her “crazy” “disgusting” and a “fucking bitch.”

The Trump administration’s family-separation policy caused a reaction of horror from AOC after she visited immigration detention centers. In an infamous racist Twitter attack, Trump told Ocasio-Cortez and her associates to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”

Love her or loathe her, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez provokes a reaction. For political bettors, AOC is a name to watch out for in the future.


Cortez In Congress

Since 2019, AOC has sponsored 45 pieces of legislation and cosponsored 814. Among them is her Loan Shark Prevention Act, which would cap credit card interest rates at 15%, and the Just Society, which would raise the federal poverty line. AOC has also put forward a Green New Deal resolution that would create millions of jobs repairing the nation’s infrastructure, reducing air and water pollution, and battle the associated economic, social, racial, and climate crises crippling the country.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s agenda in Washington demonstrates her drive and vision to bring about change. Political bettors should take note that at such a young age her career in politics has a long way to go.



Primary Inspirational Force

As a leading progressive, AOC is inspiring a new pack of young, progressive, working-class candidates of color to challenge incumbents in 2022. AOC is using her national presence and small-donor fundraising power to back numerous challengers in Democratic primaries.

In the Hispanic-dominated region of southern Texas, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported and campaigned for Democratic congressional candidates Greg Casar and Jessica Cisneros.

Casar went on to win 60% of the vote in the US House District 35. He is set to be one of the most progressive members of Congress ever to serve from Texas. While Jessica Cisneros (46.9%) will face nine-term incumbent Henry Cuellar (48.4%) in a May runoff in a bid to secure the Democratic nomination to run for US House District 28. After the election, she said: “Today, we proved just how powerful our movement is and are ready to keep fighting for the future we deserve.”

If AOC and her progressives colleagues have a positive impact in the 2022 midterms, it could build momentum for a 2024 presidential bid and increase activity at betting sites.


Presidential Candidate

Bernie Sanders is the national face of progressive Democratic politics, he has led the fight against poverty and inequality. AOC belongs to the same branch of the Party. She joined him on the campaign trail and announced to 25,000 at a rally in Queens, New York, her support to the cause.

Sanders said of AOC: “There are some politicians who are very good on policy, and there are some politicians who are good communicators, and there are some politicians that have a way about them that relates very well to ordinary people,” and concluded, “Alexandria has all three of those characteristics.”

Sanders consistently polled second, behind Biden, in most national polls during the 2020 presidential campaign. He had a loyal base of young, predominantly white, progressives, while numbers among young black, Hispanic, and first-time primary voters were increasing. Will Sanders at 78 now let AOC take center stage for the progressives? She has the profile and the charisma to carry the Sanders national voter base and she has the background to harness the minority vote. Ocasio-Cortez is a powerful Democratic force with a vision for the Party and America.

Many political bettors would wager that AOC will soon be unleashed on a national scale and run for president.


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Philip Carlson
Writer

Philip Carlson is a gambling industry analyst based in NYC. He covers political global political betting markets and sports-betting for Vegas-odds.com