Yes, She Is in Kansas: Ocasio-Cortez Makes Her National Campaign Debut
That could be a tough sell in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress in a decade. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Sanders were campaigning here and in Kansas City, Kan., on Friday in support of two candidates, Brent Welder and James Thompson, who are running progressive, grass-roots campaigns in districts Democrats consider winnable. She is also planning campaign stops in the coming days in Missouri and Michigan.
The trip to Kansas is a critical test for whether she and her Bronx-born brand of Democratic socialism resonate in the heartland — and whether she is overplaying her hand.
In the weeks since her primary victory, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has publicly endorsed a flurry of candidates across the country. On Twitter and in interviews with the media, she has championed a progressive policy agenda that includes Medicare for all, tuition-free public college, ending private prisons and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
While she has quickly become a political sensation, however, she has also revealed her inexperience. She provoked some outrage by referring to Israel’s “occupation” of Palestine, for instance, saying later that she was “not the expert on geopolitics on this issue.” She incorrectly said unemployment was low because “everyone has two jobs.” And on Saturday, in a move that risks alienating Democrats in the House even before she arrives on Capitol Hill, she plans to campaign in St. Louis with Cori Bush, who is running to unseat Representative William Lacy Clay, a popular nine-term Democrat and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Still, her appearance in Kansas alongside Mr. Sanders was the clearest indication yet that she views herself as one of progressivism’s next ambassadors — and that far-left Democrats, at least, see her as a key player in the party’s effort to retake the House.
“If there was a better way to say it’s the highest, the best, the number one event we’ve ever had, I would,” Mr. Thompson said in an interview the day before Friday’s rally. If candidates can show that even Kansas “can be changed running on progressive principles,” he added, “then it’s possible anywhere.”