Far left New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was angling for the top Dem spot on the House Oversight Committee but lost to Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia.
There have been rumblings around DC that Nancy Pelosi was working behind the scenes to tank AOC, despite the fact that she’s dealing with a broken hip.
FOX News reports:
AOC loses bid to be top Democrat on powerful House Oversight CommitteeProgressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was defeated in her bid to be the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, losing to Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia.Connolly, 74, bested the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez with 131 to 84 votes in what is seen as a blow for progressives who backed Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the progressive “Squad.””I thank my colleagues for their support and the confidence they’ve placed in me to lead House Democrats on the Oversight Committee,” Connolly said in a statement after being elected by the House Democratic Caucus.Connolly called out “the Republican playbook,” in which he accused Republicans of using “debunked conspiracy theories” and enabling “the worst abuses of the Trump Administration.”
Don’t you love how Democrats accuse Republicans of dealing in conspiracy theories after pushing the Russia collusion hoax for years?
Mediaite reported this tidbit on Pelosi:
Last week, Punchbowl News reported that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was “actively working to tank” Ocasio-Cortez’s candidacy and “making calls on behalf of” Connolly.“Pelosi has made her support for Connolly publicly known. But her behind-the-scenes maneuvering shows the amount of political capital Pelosi’s willing to put into the contest, which will be decided next week,” explained Punchbowl.
Either way, this was an embarrassing loss for Ocasio-Cortez.
The left is not happy about this.
From the New Republic:
In other democracies, the leadership of parties that have endured humiliating defeats like the one Democrats saw in November—or even just regular defeats—resign. That kicks off a process by which members determine a new, ideally more successful direction, represented by different people. But the Democratic Party isn’t really a “party” of the sort that exists in other democracies, with memberships and official constituencies, like unions, who have some say over how it’s governed. Members mostly make decisions based on their own interests rather than to drive some shared, democratically decided agenda forward.That’s part of what’s so depressing about the Oversight Committee ordeal for the couple dozen journalists and political junkies who pay attention to that sort of thing. Pelosi and the old guard’s continued opposition to younger talent seems breathtakingly counterproductive in the face of the Democratic Party’s numerous challenges right now.
Democrats can’t seem to get out of their own way.
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