AOC outdraws presidential candidates at Austin's South by Southwest -- and slams moderates as 'meh'

[DonViejo]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outdraws presidential candidates at Austin’s South by Southwest — and slams moderates as ‘meh’

PUBLISHED 7 MIN AGO
NBC NEWS

Alex Seitz-Wald

AUSTIN, Texas — A freshman congresswoman drew bigger crowds at South by Southwest than any presidential candidate, and no one was surprised because it was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The annual festival of music, film and tech has gotten political this year, with more than a half-dozen declared and potential 2020 candidates of all political stripes making the pilgrimage to this mecca for upwardly mobile young techies and hipsters. But Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old left-wing Democrat from New York, was the star of the political track, attracting more interest Saturday than two senators— Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar — a former governor, a mayor and the former CEO of Starbucks.

More 2020 candidates are set to speak Sunday, but in smaller venues than the massive ballroom that Ocasio-Cortez filled to the brim, which didn’t come close to accommodating everyone who wanted to get in.

In her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez torched political moderation, which she equated with worshiping mediocrity, defended democratic socialism and took a question from Bill Nye, better known as The Science Guy.

“Moderate is not a stance. It’s just an attitude towards life of, like, ‘meh,‘” she said, shrugging her shoulders for emphasis. “We’ve become so cynical, that we view ‘meh,’ or ‘eh’ — we view cynicism as an intellectually superior attitude, and we view ambition as youthful naivete when ... the greatest things we have ever accomplished as a society have been ambitious acts of visions.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/10/aoc-outdraws-presidential-candidates-decries-moderates-as-meh.html

[Loki Liesmith]

1. Meh

[kennetha]

2. She cannot be redeemed!

[tonedevil]

11. She has no need of redemption. /nt

[stonecutter357]

3. time for a new Auto-trash by Keyword !

[Buckeyeblue]

4. I like her to a degree

I like that she challenges the democratic establishment. If they can't answer her questions, then I think there is a problem. Just reading the summary of her speech, it sounds as if she is lumping skeptics and moderates together, which I think is intellectually flawed. Being able to see, understand and come up with a middle ground on an issue is not skepticism. It's called being pragmatic.

But I think as she gets more experience in Congress, she'll grow more pragmatic. Sometimes compromising and getting a small victory is better than no victory at all. The exception to that, for me, is human rights. There is no middle ground.

[Lucky Luciano]

5. She probably agrees with you, but might have a different definition of human rights.

e.g. healthcare is a human right

[Buckeyeblue]

13. Healthcare is tricky

I think it is a human right. The tricky part is how do you deliver it? I think our current process of tying in health insurance with our jobs is not a good way. It's very limiting and forces people to stay in shitty jobs under the threat of losing their coverage.

More and more, I think Medicare for all might be the best option. At least to start with. If people want their employers coverage, go for it. Otherwise, you can choose the Medicare option. I would also remove the mandate that employers offer healthcare.

[pangaia]

6. I think I understand what she means....

And I understand how one could be offended, or put off, by her criticism of 'moderates.'

At the same time, without even speaking directly about politics,-- think music, architecture, medicine, science, choreography, -- it is usually those with a "vision,' absolute integrity, who create the lasting 'work,' or change for the better....

Compromise is the same.. compromising waters down the ideal to the..' doable,' which is perhaps.. the 'meh.'

Then there is the other side of the coin that compromise, at least in politics, is often/sometimes, the only way to accomplish something... humm..... maybe..

Perhaps AOC doesn't always express her opinions the way some would like, but if one gets past the 'automatic' knee jerk reaction....... I think she pretty much 'gets it.'

And I am 75, whatever that means. !!!

[WhiteTara]

12. I agree.

[UTUSN]

7. & (not in link) she also dissed FDR, yet says

"When you see someone who is fearful," she said the best thing to do is "be the person who is courageous."

[SharonClark]

8. Her arrogance and self-righteousness are mindnumbing.

[patricia92243]

9. I have not kept up - what has she done that everyone is against her? I have read a couple of

quotes and she sounds spot on. There has to be something???

Also, what does "meh" mean?

[former9thward]

10. "Meh" is supposed to be a hipster way of saying "Who cares?"