Current Events > AOC: I'm not ready to be Speaker but Pelosi and Schumer need to go

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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/530464-ocasio-cortez-im-not-ready-to-be-speaker-but-pelosi-and-schumer-need-to-go

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she is not ready to be Speaker but lamented that the Democratic Party desperately needs new leadership and that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) need to go. In an interview with The Intercept's podcast, the progressive hero and firebrand said that Democrats have failed to create a succession plan once Pelosi and her generation of longtime leaders many of them now in their 80s step aside. Pelosi has indicated that this upcoming two-year term will be her last as Speaker. I do think that we need new leadership in the Democratic Party the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there's very little option for succession, said Ocasio-Cortez, who is 31. It's easy for someone to say, Oh well, you know, why don't you run? but the House is extraordinarily complex, and I'm not ready. It can't be me. I know that I couldn't do that job."

Even conservative members of the party who think Nancy Pelosi is far too liberal for them don't necessarily have any viable alternatives, which is why whenever there's a challenge, it kind of collapses, she continued. And that is, I think, the result of just many years of power being concentrated in leadership with lack of real grooming of a next generation of leadership. Ocasio-Cortezs remarks were an indirect jab at House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New York Democrat and a Congressional Black Caucus member whom many Democratic colleagues have pointed to as a natural heir to Pelosi once she leaves. Another possible successor is incoming Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.). Pelosis caucus unanimously nominated her last month to serve another two years as Speaker after she ran unopposed. But its not absolutely certain she can win the Speakers gavel in a House floor vote on Jan. 3. Because House Democrats unexpectedly lost more than a dozen seats in the November election, their majority is now down to just single digits, meaning a handful of Democratic defections could deny Pelosi of another term leading the party.



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Id love for AOC to be Speaker.

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Nancy Pelosi is often a lightning rod for criticism, but I feel like Schumer is 100x worse than her.

I would like to see a leadership change but they need to actually put someone forward to contest it. Who wants Tim Ryan?

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maybe no one is being "groomed for succession" because that's not how democracy works

these people all have a weird inclination towards authoritarianism

Anteaterking posted...

Nancy Pelosi is often a lightning rod for criticism, but I feel like Schumer is 100x worse than her.

I would like to see a leadership change but they need to actually put someone forward to contest it. Who wants Tim Ryan?

Tim Ryan would probably be better by virtue of being weaker.

Schumer's #2 is boring and the typical white Corporate Democrat male.

How many years till Booker or Marker Warner or someone with charisma is the Dem's leader?
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ElatedVenusaur posted...

Tim Ryan would probably be better by virtue of being weaker.

Better for what though?

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Nancy Pelosi is pretty cool. She's why we have obamacare

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She's right, they do need to go. Can't believe I actually agree with AOC.

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Schiff?

Broseph_Stalin posted...

maybe no one is being "groomed for succession" because that's not how democracy works

these people all have a weird inclination towards authoritarianism

Wut? Maybe it's a bad turn of phrase, but she's remarking on the lack of a bridge between the old guard and the new. That's the story of the boomer generation, work until you die and leave nothing for the future. The generation that grew through the 60's should have been creating a path forward for the next, which is where Gen X got left behind and how disconnected the older generation is from millenials.

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AOC can forget about not being "ready" to be Speaker - she's way too left. If you thought Pelosi was universally hated by the GOP, you ain't seen a Speaker AOC yet.

I agree that Pelosi and Schumer need to leave, but I don't think the leadership needs to be some fringe leftwing candidate.

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VTBM posted...

She's right, they do need to go. Can't believe I actually agree with AOC.

Even Fox & Friends praised her for those comments. Typically, they have an irrational bias against her.
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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

AOC can forget about not being "ready" to be Speaker - she's way too left. If you thought Pelosi was universally hated by the GOP, you ain't seen a Speaker AOC yet.

AOC is already universally hated by the GOP.

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Pelosi and Schumer have never done anything good for anybody. They are the establishment, they are neck deep in the corrupt D.C. swamp

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AOC isn't holding back and I love it

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She doesn't miss

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lol at AOC thinking she'll ever be Speaker.

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When she right she right. And I'm not even a fan.

The old guard will not leave. Almost guaranteed. And they'll actively work to keep young blood out.

We'll just have to wait for them to die.

Sad but true

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TendoDRM posted...

lol at AOC thinking she'll ever be Speaker.

Cant wait to bring this post up in a couple decades when we're making threads about Speaker Cortez

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Gwynevere posted...

Cant wait to bring this post up in a couple decades when we're making threads about Speaker Cortez

I certainly hope to be proven wrong.

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I'm not convinced the US will make it that long TBH

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