AOC got played because she was exposed as a paper tiger. Now she'll forever be a non-entity. But it's her fault. It would have been so easy to take this idea of a floor vote for Medicare for All, pressure Pelosi to do it and then make it a win-win for both AOC and Pelosi. AOC and the progressive block could have made speeches supporting Pelosi. Pelosi could have made a public statement saying she understood their position on the floor vote, advised them that votes might not be there, but would bring it up on the floor. One of the other gets from Pelosi could have been AOC's committee assignment which would have prevented Cuellar from taking it from her. Oops. Maybe AOC isn't the political genius she thought she was. On that note, why didn't AOC and the rest of the progressives in the House see that Pelosi's titanic failure and epic losses in the 2020 election gave them a once-in-a-lifetime leverage over Nancy Pelosi?
Here's the secret: AOC and the progressives can now remove Nancy Pelosi without consequence. Or, if Pelosi wants to remain, they can get their Medicare for All vote. Or they can exact revenge on Henry Cuellar, a man who supported George W. Bush and is an employee of the Koch Brothers' political team. The options are endless now that the right-wing Dems have declared war.
If AOC and a handful of progressives prevent Nancy Pelosi from being elected Speaker, Kevin McCarthy does not win. It goes back to conference until someone gets the needed majority. The GOP can't win unless some Dems vote for McCarthy.
AOC and four or five more progressives can easily prevent Hakeem Jeffries from becoming Speaker, too. They can block anyone they want until they decide some anodyne Illinois or Michigan would make a perfectly boring Speaker.
If AOC were a leader, she'd now be leading. But she's not gonna do it. I wish she would. But her time has passed. Jimmy Dore forced her to show weakness, and it killed her.
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