AOC tries to broaden her appeal within a Democratic base spoiling for a fight

DENVER (AP) — Bernie Sanders stepped onto a stage in downtown Denver, surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering supporters in what he described as the biggest rally he had ever addressed. The Vermont senator put his hand on the shoulder of the woman who had introduced him, a signal for her to stay on stage.

"She has become an inspiration to millions of young people," Sanders said of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recounting her biography from a girl who helped her mother clean houses and later became a bartender before emerging as political insurgent who ousted a powerful New York Democrat in a U.S. House primary.

The crowd began a chant of her well-known moniker: “AOC! AOC!”

In a leaderless Democratic Party out of power in Washington, Ocasio-Cortez has a message and a connection with a segment of liberals feeling disenchanted with both parties. Now, in her fourth term, the 35-year-old congresswoman is working to broaden her appeal beyond her progressive, anti-establishment roots.

Hitting the road last week with Sanders for his “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies, she is addressing people who disagree with her and reframing the divide in the Democratic Party not as progressive versus moderate, but as those going after Republican President Donald Trump and those being more cautious.

“No matter who you voted for in the past, no matter if you know all the right words to say, no matter your race, religion, gender identity or status,” Ocasio-Cortez said to thousands in a rally at Arizona State University. “No matter even if you disagree with me on a few things. If you are willing to fight for someone you don’t know, you are welcome here.”

Her instinct to brawl is well-matched to the restlessness of the Democratic base, much of which sees top party officials like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer as not confrontational enough.

“We’re lacking leadership right now, and we really just need someone to take the reins and tell us what to do,” said Kristen Hanson, a 41-year-old small business owner from Phoenix, whose search for a call to action brought her to see Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. “I’m not in politics, but I would be very happy to follow a leader who I believe in.”

But that instinct also irritates some elected Democrats.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, whose profile is also rising after her November victory in a state Trump won, was challenged recently by a constituent to more aggressively confront Trump like Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat who is becoming one of her party's key messengers.

Slotkin said she had to be “more than just an activist” and noted that those lawmakers represent heavily Democratic areas.

“All of those things require me to be more than just an AOC,” she said. “I can’t do what she does because we live in a purple state and I’m a pragmatist.”

AOC tours with Sanders

Sanders, one of the few political leaders with the resources to plan large rallies and the appeal to pack them, has stepped into the Democratic leadership vacuum with appearances across the country. Ocasio-Cortez joined him this past week for five events in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.

In Denver, the crowd was so immense that people climbed onto statues and sat on the broad steps of buildings across the street to watch. In Tempe, Arizona, outside Phoenix, thousands of people who could not get inside the arena crowded a plaza outside or watched from a parking garage.

In speeches lasting about 25 minutes, Ocasio-Cortez blended the denunciations of economic inequality that have been central to her brand with an offering that “we are not powerless in this moment.”

About two-thirds of Democrats have a favorable opinion of Ocasio-Cortez and just 5% view her unfavorably, according to Gallup polling from January. But the broader public is more divided. Among all adults, about 4 in 10 had a negative view of Ocasio-Cortez while about 3 in 10 had a positive view.

In her home state, about 4 in 10 New York voters in the November election viewed her favorably while about the same share had an unfavorable opinion, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the 2024 electorate.

Ocasio-Cortez confronted head-on the perception that she is a radical by being magnanimous toward other Democratic factions. She did not walk away from her progressive views but signaled openness to disagreement, saying her movement “is not about partisan labels or purity tests," but rather solidarity with the working class.

At each stop, she spoke supportively of local Democrats in Congress, even those who do not align with her ideologically.

“We need more people like them with the courage to brawl for the working class,” she said in Arizona, praising colleagues who voted against a Republican spending bill.

She did poke at former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but infuriated progressives for working with Republicans and blocking Democratic priorities such as raising the minimum wage. Sinema became an independent but declined to run for a second term.

“One thing I love about Arizonans is that you all have shown that if a U.S. senator isn't fighting hard enough for you, you're not afraid to replace her with one who will,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The budget fight creates enduring Democratic anger

The decision by 10 Senate Democrats, led by party leader Schumer, to allow a Republican-led spending bill to advance infuriated the Democratic base, which saw it as capitulation to Trump. (Slotkin, the Michigan senator, voted against advancing the bill.)

Schumer argued the spending bill was "terrible" but a government shutdown — had the measure not passed — would have given Trump the power to make even more cuts as his administration slashes agencies and hundreds of thousands of federal jobs. House Democrats disagreed with him in a rare show of public dissent and several liberal groups are pushing Schumer to resign.

Ocasio-Cortez gave voice to that anger in her speeches. Her plea for “a Democratic Party that fights harder for us” drew the biggest applause of her speeches in Denver and Tempe.

Dane Burgos, 28, snapped a selfie with Ocasio-Cortez as she left the Denver rally. “I was mainly here for Bernie, because he’s the OG, but AOC – it’s clear she’s the heir apparent,” Burgos said.

Armando Valdez, a two-time Sanders voter and Navy veteran who gets his medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, is especially alarmed at the Trump administration’s proposed cuts.

He feels like he knows Sanders well, but is eager to hear what Ocasio-Cortez has to say.

Sanders is, too. Just not as a solo act yet.

The 83-year-old has said he's not running for president a third time. But asked after his Tempe rally whether he sees any promising leaders rising up, he did not give his support to Ocasio-Cortez or anyone else.

“There are dozens and dozens of really strong progressives out there who are I think going to be the future political leaders of our country,” Sanders told reporters.

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Cooper reported from Tempe, Arizona. Associated Press writers Linley Sanders in Washington and Isabella Volmert in Flint, Michigan, contributed to this report.