Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warns against assumptions about candidate 'viability'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) Skyped into the Sundance Film Festival this weekend for the premiere of Knock Down the House, a documentary on the 2018 campaigns of four Democratic candidates for Congress, of whom Ocasio-Cortez was the only one to win election.

In addition to weighing in on the film itself, Ocasio-Cortez warned against accepting common assumptions about candidate viability. "One of the things that all four of us faced in our run was this idea that we had to combat very early on that a lot of other candidates don't have to combat ... is this idea of viability," she said. "From day one, people did not give us the chance that they sometimes give to other candidates on day one, and a lot of that has to do with our preconceived notions of who looks like a person that can win a congressional race or where that person comes from."

She also urged a long-term perspective on political change which avoids myopic attention to current battles and players. "This is not just about the president of the United States," Ocasio-Cortez argued. "He could be gone tomorrow and that [would] not change the systemic injustices that led to his election."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up