03/23/2025
Personalities come and go in the endless pageant of American politics. More often than not, hacks with middling minds and mediocre personalities get hyped up by the press, only to be forgotten once it becomes clear they lack the talent to make a meaningful impact on the national stage.
Remember Scott Walker? Fred Thompson? Michele Bachmann? Each former darlings of the pundit class, all now reduced to fodder for Jeopardy! clue writers.
But there’s one politician who’s been on my mind lately—someone with more ability than I initially recognized. That person is the Bronx's very own Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
It seems to me that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is someone worth paying attention to. I'm not claiming that she's on a glide-path to the White House, but it seems quite possible that she will become a figure of much greater influence and consequence over time.
The reason is simple: there's a growing appetite for politicians who aren’t robots in suits. Most Democratic officials seem programmed to avoid saying anything remotely interesting or controversial. But it isn’t 1995 anymore. To be a successful public figure today, you must be an authentic person with authentic views. Most importantly, you need to communicate those views in a way that doesn’t seem cooked up by a team of McKinsey consultants.
Ask yourself, which up-and-coming Democratic politician meets these criteria? There's one glaring answer, and it’s AOC. Put simply, few other major figures in the party can hop on a livestream without triggering coma-inducing levels of cringe.
You may counter that the Manosphere's outsize impact on contemporary American politics would snuff out any shot she has of becoming a major force. But last I checked, women use the internet too. Why shouldn't there be a female equivalent to the testosterone-soaked content which has become such a potent cultural phenomenon? My guess is that, slowly but surely, such an alternative will emerge to balance out the bros.
The natural political figurehead for this new online Femosphere would be AOC. She’s attractive, anti-establishment, and would probably be quite comfortable on an episode of Call Her Daddy—or whatever women are watching online nowadays (I’ll admit this is not my area of expertise).
Sure, many people hate Ocasio-Cortez, but that's not a dealbreaker. If anything, it would be more worrying if she wasn't loathed by a meaningful segment of the population. After all, the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. Being a bit polarizing is practically a requirement for cutting through the noise in today's media environment.
I'd also point to her life before entering elected office. She was a waitress and bartender in New York City despite holding a degree in economics from Boston University, embodying the stereotype of a B.A.-wielding barista. That background may help her tap into the economic anxieties of ordinary people, particularly underemployed millennials who have become disillusioned with what their college diplomas have, or haven't, brought them.
Finally, much as I’d like to avoid the subject, we can't ignore the importance of AOC's physical allure. Even many conservative men harbor a repressed desire for being dominated by an object of their fancy. For this reason, AOC might have a surprising amount of crossover appeal (I mean this in more ways than one).
I can already hear some readers groaning. Why bring up looks at all? Would I do the same if this essay were about Gavin Newsom?
In fact, I do plan on writing about Governor Hair Gel someday, and when I do, I'll be sure to spend ample time discussing his appearance. But let's not kid ourselves. Sexual charisma is a powerful weapon available to female leaders. If you don't believe me, please read up on the role of feminine beauty in maintaining the cults of personality around Eva Peron in Argentina or Imelda Marcos in the Philippines.
To be clear, I'm not making a judgement about whether AOC’s ascent would be a good or bad thing. I'm simply offering an educated guess about where our politics might be headed, and her rise seems quite plausible to me. If this prospect sends a shiver down your leg, check to see whether the proximate cause is fear or titillation.
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