An interesting bit of news popped up right in time for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) big reveal for the “details” of her Green New Deal that leads me to believe that party leadership is about to go to war with the growing radical wing of the Democratic party, and all in the name of the 2020 presidential race.
As AOC’s big moment arrived, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Californistan) seems to be sending the message that while the media may be frenzying over the Democrat freshman’s “Green New Deal,” the leadership is not impressed. In fact, they’re so not impressed that AOC’s flagship environmental legislation won’t earn her a position on the committee she covets most.
According to The Hill, Pelosi named Democrat committee members to the new Climate panel including Reps. Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Suzanne Bonamici (Ore.), Julia Brownley (Calif.), Sean Casten (Ill.), Jared Huffman (Calif.), Mike Levin (Calif.), A. Donald McEachin (Va.) and Joseph Neguse (Colo.).
Noticeably absent is Ocasio-Cortez.
Secondly, Pelosi essentially brushed off the Green New Deal by mispronouncing the bill’s name.
It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Pelosi told Politico on Wednesday. “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it right?”
Pelosi is an old guard Democrat, likely watching as a new and more radical section of the party spreads its influence. She’s also seeing the oncoming 2020 presidential elections and that a third of Democrats are ready and willing to jump ship in order to support a moderate like former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in the face of anyone but Joe Biden.
As radical and ridiculous as Pelosi is, this definitely isn’t her first rodeo, and she’s going to need to rein the party in as the battle for the White House and a relatively unified Republican party approaches. She knows that Ocasio-Cortez and her “Justice Democrats” are threatening to cause an upset inside the party as 2020 approaches by forcing out tried and true Democrats in favor of more radicals like themselves.
Though the words from Pelosi about Ocasio-Cortez’s “green dream” seemed like a throwaway line, they were a definite shot across Ocasio-Cortez’s bow and message to other Democrats.
The message looks like Pelosi is indicating that she isn’t impressed, and those media celebrations of someone won’t result in favorable positions. It seems she’s saying that this pipe-dream radicalism isn’t going to get any notice from the people who make the decisions in the Democratic party.
It could be something as simple as Pelosi attempting to distance herself from what is obviously a very foolish and untenable plan, but dismissiveness with which she delivered her words, and to a plan cooked up by the House Democrat’s most popular member, no less, tells me that she’s not just shrugging at a plan, she’s shrugging at the person behind the plan.
The very same person that threatened to “run train” on the Democrat agenda, and is currently in hot water with the black and Hispanic caucuses for her threats to oust a few of their members from Congress.
If Pelosi wants a unified party, sending the message that this nonsense had better stop is a solid plan, and starting by smacking the most popular girl in the room and putting her in line would be a solid place to start.
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