Kimberley Strassel: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- The secret Republican weapon for 2020

close

Video

Ocasio-Cortez unveils outline of 'Green New Deal'

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez says 'Green New Deal' does not have a price tag; Fox Business' Charles Payne weighs in.

The Republican Party has a secret weapon for 2020. It’s especially effective because it’s stealthy: The Democrats seem oblivious to its power. And the GOP needn’t lift a finger for it to work. All Republicans have to do is sit back and watch 29-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez . . . exist.

AOC, as she’s better known, today exists largely in front of the cameras. In a few months she’s gone from an unknown New York bartender to the democratic socialist darling of the left and its media hordes. Her megaphone is so loud that she rivals Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the face of the Democratic Party.

Republicans don’t know whether to applaud or laugh. Most do both.

GREEN NEW DEAL: OCASIO-CORTEZ AIMS TO MAKE AIR TRAVEL OBSOLETE, AID THOSE ‘UNWILLING’ TO WORK

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a freight train gaining speed by the day—and helping Republicans with every passing minute.

For them, what’s not to love? She’s set off a fratricidal war on the left, with her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, this week slamming the “radical conservatives” among the Democrats holding the party “hostage.” She’s made friends with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain’s Labour Party, who has been accused of anti-Semitism. She’s called the American system of wealth creation “immoral” and believes government has a duty to provide “economic security” to people who are “unwilling to work.” As a representative of New York, she’s making California look sensible.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On Thursday Ms. Ocasio-Cortez unveiled her vaunted Green New Deal, complete with the details of how Democrats plan to reach climate nirvana in a mere 10 years. It came in the form of a resolution, sponsored in the Senate by Massachusetts’ Edward Markey, on which AOC is determined to force a full House vote. That means every Democrat in Washington will get to go on the record in favor of abolishing air travel, outlawing steaks, forcing all American homeowners to retrofit their houses, putting every miner, oil rigger, livestock rancher and gas-station attendant out of a job, and spending trillions and trillions more tax money. Oh, also for government-run health care, which is somehow a prerequisite for a clean economy.

Keep reading Kimberley Strassel's column in the Wall Street Journal.