Ocasio-Cortez: 'Rampant voter suppression' contributed to Sanders's loss in Michigan

[RandySF]

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday attributed some of Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) struggles in Michigan's Democratic primary election on Tuesday to “rampant voter suppression."

“Well, I think one thing that ... that isn’t being talked about is the rampant voter suppression in this country,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News's Bret Baier, citing long lines that young voters in college towns such as Ann Arbor had to face.

“Right there, in Ann Arbor, where we had that rally, those kids were waiting three hours in line to vote in Michigan," she explained.

Sanders, who scored an upset win in Michigan against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, was routed in the Wolverine State this time around by former Vice President Joe Biden. The former vice president won by 17 percentage points over the Vermont senator.




https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/487383-ocasio-cortez-rampant-voter-suppression-contributed-to-sanderss-loss-in

[msongs]

1. rampant choosing to wait til the last possible second to vote, in the case of MI nt

[RandySF]

2. And many of those students chose to register that day.

[virgogal]

9. I agree,more voters than usual is NOT voter suppression.

[TwilightZone]

3. She backed away from the claim already...and quickly.

Link to tweet

[nolawarlock]

19. And black voters voted for who overall? n/t

[Iliyah]

34. WTF? . . .

She said it on fake news (Murdoch), back tracking is sorta late for fake news audience and it makes another Republicans talking point with ads.

[lark]

39. I'm so glad she changed her statement, that is one amazing and brave young woman.

She seems to tell the truth, even when it's inconvenient, a remarkable talent in a young politician.

[BidenBacker]

4. Is there such a word as...

self-suppression?

[brush]

42. Self-promotion in this case,

[jrandom421]

46. "Help! Help!"

"I'm being repressed!'

[George II]

5. 83 counties in Michigan, he lost every one, but it was "voter suppression"! Always an excuse.

[BidenBacker]

7. So if I got this straight

20-something year olds couldn't stand in line for 2 hours to vote for Bernie but 60 and 70 year-olds could do so to vote for Biden?

See there? Vote for Joe and you'll not only live longer but be in better shape when you retire to boot!

[Clash City Rocker]

35. Good point

Also, Bernie supporters knew for some time who they would vote for, so couldn’t they have voted by mail?

[R B Garr]

10. The excuses look like a coordinated rollout at this

point, now with Bernie saying “older voters” aren’t as important as the young...and AOC saying the young couldn’t vote, so it’s all rigged against him.

[PatSeg]

11. Apparently only the Bernie voters though

Somehow, all the Biden voters got to cast a ballot. That damn "establishment" is so crafty!

[Aquaria]

6. Oh please.

Go away, you shameless self-promoter.

You need to focus on learning how to be a good legislator and serving your constituents, rather than picking Twitter fights with everyone and butting in where you don't belong.

If you were being a proper junior legislator, I shouldn't hear anything about you for at least two more terms, outside of whether or not you won re-election.

So tired of this pompous gadfly.

[William769]

8. What a *****!

Michigan college students form long lines for same-day registration in presidential primary

College-aged voters in Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo and East Lansing formed long lines in local clerks’ offices on Monday and Tuesday, taking advantage of Michigan’s first-ever election with same-day registration.

Emma Walters is registered in Saline, but was in line to change her registration to East Lansing so she could vote where she lives now. She got in line around 4 p.m. and was still waiting at 5 p.m.

Without same-day registration, she said, “I would have had to drive home, and that would have been a lot more difficult."

She plans to cast a ballot for Bernie Sanders, who is vying with Joe Biden and long-shot candidate Tulsi Gabbard in Michigan’s Democratic primary.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/03/michigan-college-students-form-long-lines-for-same-day-registration-in-presidential-primary.html

[Aquaria]

12. BS voters weren't the only ones affected by long lines

Those long lines affected Biden voters as well. It's not like anyone knew how anyone was going to vote when they got in line.

Biden voters are letting her know on that foolish tweet that they, too, had to put up with a bunch of crap to vote, so it wasn't exclusive to poor baby BS voters, just because a media outlet talked to one of them. That's why AOC backed off her claim to the more sensible complaint about voter suppression in general, rather than the outlandish claim that it was done to hurt her precious BS, when she had ZERO evidence to back up that claim. It was irresponsible and divisive to run her Twitter fingers off that way.

I expect someone who got a degree in science o know better.

[MichMan]

37. So, she couldn't have changed her registration weeks ago?

[peggysue2]

13. This is an insult to the real voter suppression that has been going on around the country

For years! That would be voter suppression involving primarily voters of color.

Please, if you can't do any better than this to explain a loss, a sizable loss at that, then you should pipe down and say:

SORRY.

[Clash City Rocker]

36. And most POC voted for Joe

So, if anything, voter suppression is probably helping Bernie.

[quakerboy]

14. While I am not buying voter suppression as a reason for Sanders losing

I would ask that we all consider this in context. When the general comes and we inevitably run into similar or worse problems, undoubtedly skewed in such ways that they harm the democratic vote and help Trumps voters, will we be as sanguine about those problems? Will we blow our credibility to complain about them by ignoring or dismissing them now?

[SergeStorms]

15. I'm really trying to like AOC....

I really, really am, but she has a way of getting her butt in jams from speaking first and thinking afterward. Maybe, just maybe, she ought to learn how to walk before she tries to run the 100 meter dash.

She could be the future face of the Democratic Party, but stuff like this is makes her look foolish, and we already have enough fools in positions of power in the DNC.

[comradebillyboy]

16. Does AOC think there should be special express lines

for Bernie voters so that they won't have to be inconvenienced?

[dalton99a]

23. Bingo.

[Skittles]

17. LOL

surely she is not that stupid

[helpisontheway]

18. Liar. Nt

[rzemanfl]

33. Bookmarking. n/t

[dalton99a]

20. What the fuck is she trying to say?

Damn

[LovingA2andMI]

21. AOC just INSULTED our DEMOCRATIC Governor and DEMOCRATIC Secretary of State...

We Will Remember This as our State and Government Officials is fighting to keep people alive with COVID-19.

[BidenBacker]

22. If you want 20-something year olds to stand in line for 2 or 3 hours

then change the "Voting Line Starts Here" signs to "Half Off Drinks Ahead".

[Gothmog]

24. sanders lost every county in Michigan

The GOP would have done anything it could do to help a weak and unelectable candidate like sanders win. The GOP is guilty of voter suppression but none of this was aimed at sanders or his supporters

[bucolic_frolic]

25. Let's try to push election integrity instead of feeding the RIGGED idea /nt

[beachbumbob]

26. lol, always an excuse when you lose BIG

[wyldwolf]

27. I'm contributing to her primary opponent as soon as I click "Post my reply!"

[bluedye33139]

29. This is stupid of her, but not disqualifying

I still think that she has a lot to contribute to her politics and I have seen so much growth and maturity in her as time has passed. I hope that this was just a throwaway phrase.

[wyldwolf]

32. promising to primary Democrats in red and swing districts is what's disqualifying

This latest idiocy is just confirmation.

[bluedye33139]

28. Oh my heck, this is unpleasant

For sure there were long lines in Ann Arbor and other districts. But I think that accusing the state government of Michigan of engaging in a criminal conspiracy requires evidence.

This is not a good look for the Sanders campaign.

[MFM008]

30. I think she is saying

Rampant voters voting against Sanders.
I was one.

[Siwsan]

31. So, if there was rampant suppression, shouldn't our numbers voting have gone down???

Instead of WAY up???? Are there people with some sort of special Sanders Voters Sensing ability who blocked them from getting to the polls?

I'm trying really hard to maintain my admiration for AOC.

[MichMan]

38. A bunch of procrastinators waiting to register on the last day

and then complaining everyone else is doing the same thing.

[Politicub]

40. Voter suppression is a nationwide problem where state leadership is in GOP hands n/t

[onetexan]

41. OK, AOC has gotten further down on my respectable scale

Girl, put a sock in it. We don't need you spreading unfounded rumors to excuse Bernie's poor showings in MI. Can't you see Biden has beaten Bernie in many states, and even in those he lost, he still has added delegates?

[Gothmog]

43. As someone who volunteers a great deal of time on voter protection efforts, AOC is wrong

I volunteer a great deal of time on voter protection. sanders supporters were not being targeted

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[MrScorpio]

44. Uhhh, nope.

Joe won outright.

[HarlanPepper]

45. It's amazing how my own personal view of AOC

Oscillates between grudging appreciation, to contempt.

She is very entitled. And doesn’t seem to know where she stands on things. The other night she congratulated Biden saying we need to be unified. Today, it’s “He’s stealiing the election!1!”

She’s an odd bird who nobody will ever confuse with a more talented public servant like Katie Porter. Haven’t heard a thing from AOC about the virus crisis, just more stumping and politicking for the socialist.