Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

The Republican Freedom Caucus Could Learn From AOC

Cooperation with the party’s mainstream works a lot better than picking fights with the leadership.

March 28, 2019 at 7:13 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

Playing ball with the leadership.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

The verdict is in: Three months into her term, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the forerunner of an emerging House Freedom Caucus of the left, no matter how many people have speculated that would be the case.

Conservatives are quite correct to dislike, or at least oppose, AOC. Her policy preferences aren’t just different from theirs; she is an honest-to-goodness leftist, which sets her apart from most mainstream liberal Democrats in Congress.