AOC Seeks To Broaden Her Appeal As She Starts Positioning Herself To Lead The Democratic Party

As Democrats look for future party leadership to guide them in the coming years, New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is standing out among her peers, trying to broaden her base and looking to draw in liberal voters who feel disenchanted with both parties.

AOC, as the Bronx Democrat is commonly known, recently stopped by several of Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Fighting Oligarchy" Tour, including his visit to Denver, which he described as the biggest rally he had ever addressed.

The lawmaker argued to the thousands of attendees about the need to reframe the divide in the Democratic Party not as progressive versus moderate, but as those going after Republican President Donald Trump and those being more cautious.

"No matter who you voted for in the past, no matter if you know all the right words to say, no matter your race, religion, gender identity or status," Ocasio-Cortez said at a different rally at Arizona State University. "No matter even if you disagree with me on a few things. If you are willing to fight for someone you don't know, you are welcome here."

Sanders, one of the few political leaders with the resources to plan large rallies and the appeal to pack them, has stepped into the Democratic leadership vacuum with appearances across the country. As she joined him in several stops in the tour, which target primarily Republican towns, Ocasio-Cortez indirectly took jabs at the current state of the Democratic Party, asserting that they are not fighting for the working class.

"This isn't just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us, too," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told the fired-up crowd gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada. "But what that means is that we as a community must choose and vote for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class."

While Ocasio-Cortez did not mention any Democratic leaders by name, the crowd broke out into multiple "Primary Chuck" chants— a reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who backed down from a funding fight with Trump last week. The move enraged the base and prompted some of Ocasio-Cortez's House colleagues to encourage her to mount a primary challenge to Schumer, her fellow New Yorker, in 2028.

Ocasio-Cortez is somewhat of a controversial figure within her party. She rose to prominence during the first Trump administration for being a member of the "Squad" a progressive group of women who campaigned for the House in efforts to curb Republicans' power.

About two-thirds of Democrats have a favorable opinion of her and just 5% view her unfavorably, according to Gallup polling from January. In her home state, about 4 in 10 New York voters in the November election viewed her favorably while about the same share had an unfavorable opinion, according to AP VoteCast.

Throughout her tenure, she has not been shy of critiquing the party, yet in recent years, she has become a pragmatist, advocating for Vice President Kamala Harris in her 2024 presidential bid, and even appearing in a prime-time slot at the Democratic National Convention.

The recent moves to increasingly appease the party, yet also remaining at the left side of the political spectrum have energized calls for her to run for a higher office, or seek party leadership at some capacity.

"She's got boundless promise as the party leader in our country. But the question is who will have the language to express to America where we need to go," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). "That's a tall order for anybody, but I would say she's definitely a contender. I don't know that anybody else seems to be a more obvious young candidate for that position."

Other Democrats, however, are still weary of her, painting her as too progressive to appeal to a broad coalition of Americans.

"Her politics are just too far left for this party," a chair of a state party that sends a large number of delegates to Democratic presidential conventions told NBC News of Ocasio-Cortez as a potential national candidate. "I don't agree with most of her policy positions, but she's showing a fight, which a lot of people are looking for their members of Congress to do, and they're just not seeing it."