It’s a long long way to November of 2028, so don’t count AOC out …
… despite her abominable performance at the Munich Security Conference, her first big appearance on a foreign policy stage. From Ace, who does not pull his punches:
If you took the day off yesterday, unlike me, you may have missed the story that Donkey-Chompers [AOC] went to the Munich Security Conference because she’s running for president and someone told her she had to show her “foreign policy chops” and so she read an issue of The Nation on the plane and figured she was all set.
She was not in fact all set. She embarrassed herself horribly — more horribly than usual, if you can believe that — and may have permanently damaged her ambition of becoming a Senator, let alone President of the United States. …
* She asserted that the next president must impose a “wealth tax,” and was embarrassed by a much better informed South American who told her to her face that Latin countries and repeatedly tried this and it had resulted in bankruptcy and immiseration every time. …
* She claimed that Marco Rubio was wrong that cowboys came from Spain. They did, because cowboys ride horses that only came over to America with the Spanish conquistadors. Some yesterday, Sean Davis I think, said, “How could someone with the last name Cortez not know that Cortez introduced horses to the Americas?”
* She claimed that Trump only thought he had the right to “kidnap” the dictator Maduro because Venezuela is “south of the equator” and you know those damn racist white Europeans think they’re smarter and better than the Global South. Pro-Tip: Venezuela is not in fact south of the equator. I guess if you want to be charitable to a Make A Wish Foundation Pretend Presidential Candidate, you could say she was close. I mean, it is a few hundred miles from the Equator.
* Asked a lay-up, no-surprise, you-knew-this-was-coming question about the US defending Taiwan from a hypothetical Chinese invasion, this idiot literally said “um” and “you know” for a full minute before finally speaking in a (more or less) grammatical sentence, stating, essentially, Well we’ll just have to hope that doesn’t happen.
All those things happened, and the press is covering up for her for the most part – of course.
Bloomberg claims that her only critics were “Republican commentators” who “claimed” — lied, that means — that she was “unprepared.”
Everyone with eyes and ears understands she was hideously unprepared. The analogy that occurs to everyone is that she looked like a third grader who was supposed to give a book report but didn’t read the book so she just “ummed” for a minute before saying “it was a very, very, very, very good book, thank you.”
Amazingly, Bloomberg claims that after she seemingly “flubbed” her answer, she came up with a “cogent” response, which was to say that we’ll just have to hope and pray that China never invades Taiwan so no I won’t answer your question about whether we’d defend Taiwan and I won’t even sound authoritative in refusing to answer.
But I have an observation to add: it won’t matter to Democrat voters, who will vote for her anyway if she’s the nominee. And she might be the nominee. She’s got all the qualifications, after all: she’s telegenic (despite the “donkey-choppers” nickname), she’s young, she’s female, she’s Hispanic, and she’s a leftist. What more could a person want?
Yes, Newsom (another telegenic stupidhead) will give her a run for her money. But stupidity and ignorance and the inability to answer questions cogently have not been a bar to the nomination recently: see the cognitively-challenged Biden and the word-salad master Harris.
Come to think of it, maybe by 2028 Mamdani will try to run [*see below]. He’s more able to – as Holden Caulfield would say – shoot the breeze and sling the old bull than the rest of them put together.
Alternatively, I think if AOC wants to be the next senator from NY (in 2028), it’s hers, and I don’t think this performance will matter.
NOTE: Contrast with Marco Rubio, who acquitted himself very well indeed at Munich.
[* A commenter pointed out that Mamdani isn’t a natural born citizen and therefore can’t run for president. Hey, but if AOC runs for president in 2028, Mamdani can run for the Senate.]
Mamdani’s not eligible for the presidency under the Constitution (he’s a foreign-born naturalized citizen). Of course, once the Dems get control of the Supreme Court, who knows whether that will matter.
We can only pray that AOC is the Communist/Islam Party Nominee.
Mamdani and AOC might win in NYC and NY, but they won’t in the majority of votes in the rest of the country.
She has never been under scrutiny as she will be if she tries for national office.
The Democrats are stupid but not that stupid. It will be someone else.
Would an AOC administration be worse than a Kamala administration?
The very fact that someone like AOC would even be mentioned in the same sentence using the word president is scary, and, given the current state of the collectivist Democrats, indicative of how large their socialist constituency has become.
Secretary Rubio has done an excellent job carrying out the policies of the President.
Newsom’s wild gesticulations and vocal fry and AOC’s nasal whine are enough to make one nauseous, over and above the invariably commie content.
“But stupidity and ignorance and the inability to answer questions cogently have not been a bar to the nomination recently: see the cognitively-challenged Biden and the word-salad master Harris.”
I’d contend that it’s not just “not been a bar to the nomination” but it’s been a requirement.
If you answer a question forthrightly and clearly, you risk pissing off 1/3 of the nutjobs (or more) that make up the Democrat base these days. They’re a coalition of disparate interest groups that all demand total commitment to each of their causes…which change daily and you can never be sure what they are…so a democrat politician is better off sounding like an idiot that doesn’t understand the issues than actually providing a coherent answer to a question posed.
To be clear, that’s not to say that I think she had a coherent answer to the question and didn’t provide it for political reasons…I don’t think she had a clue and she legitimately vapor locked when asked a pretty straightforward question. I’m only saying that “not having a clue” is not a bug in a Democrat politician, it’s a feature.
I said back in 2020 that Biden would prove to us exactly how mich influence the Media has on elections. And Kamal further proved it in 2024.
It’s not a 30 point swing the Republicans have to fight against,it’s 100%.
(This is also my reply to Neo’s earlier posts about Trump’s poll numbers. Don’t underestimate the Media’s ability to deceive people and how hard they work to instill the memory of goldfish in voters.)
The fact that Sandy Cortez is even considered to be a viable candidate for POTUS shows how utterly lost we are as a nation.
This country will not make the effort to maintain a functioning Republic. People say I’m a gloom and doomer. Don’t really give a damn. Look at the evidence. The list is very, very long. The very fact that she’s in an elected office says much.
djf: neither was Obama – unless of course, he lied about his citizenship while in college. Winston Churchill was as American as Obama; American mother, foreign father. And Obama was born in Kenya until it mattered (after his 2004 speech)
John Galt III: “stupid but not that stupid”. They put Walz up …
AOC: Look how close the whore came to winning; the popular vote was far closer than the electoral college.
The Rs don’t have much time left to get their act together, it they’re even able.
DT: Okay, Obama lied about being born in Kenya when it suited him to look more exotic than he really was. But, playing along with your contrary view, do you have any info on how and why his Kansas-born American mother happened to travel from Hawaii to Kenya to give birth to him?
djf:
Good point about Mamdani not being native born.
Rahm Emanuel
If about 48% of all voters cast their vote for Kamala “Cackling” Harris, easily the most stupid, ignorant and dumb individual ever to run for the presidency, you can bet your house that AOC could easily obtain about 48 % of the vote if she were the demonkrat nominee for president.
Here is my prediction; the democrat ticket for president and VP in the next election will be Gavin Newsom and AOC.
Newsom, despite being a first rate liar, hypocrite and incompetent, comes across as personable, reasonable , well spoken and intelligent. If one bothers not to look at his dismal record in Calif (which is of no consequence to demonkrat voters) , which demonstrates his incompetence and ineptitude, a “reasonable” person could vote for him.
His personality really sets him apart from the moron , Kamala.
As for AOC , she will learn from her disastrous performance in Germany. She is an ignoramus but not as stupid and dumb as Kamala the Cackler. AOC does not burst into fits of obnoxious laughter when being asked a question.
Newsome and AOC; the perfect combo for at least 48% of all voters.
The voters of this nation will be the cause of the dissolution and destruction of our constitutional republic .
AOC as an elected official is a bad joke, but…
There is a video of her dancing on a rooftop with other members of her college graduating class (identified as Sandy Cortez) and she was hot!
“Brian E on February 17, 2026 at 6:15 pm said:
Would an AOC administration be worse than a Kamala administration?
The very fact that someone like AOC would even be mentioned in the same sentence using the word president is scary, and, given the current state of the collectivist Democrats, indicative of how large their socialist constituency has become.
Secretary Rubio has done an excellent job carrying out the policies of the President.”
I think we learned from Biden that the person in the chair isn’t necessarily the person calling the shots. I don’t think an AOC Presidency will hinge on the competency of AOC.
A Newsom/AOC ticket sounds pretty lame, but really they are the stars of the D-party these days.
Who else do they have? I mean, that Democrats would nominate?
“She (Kamala) is an ignoramus but not as stupid and dumb as Kamala the Cackler.” – John Tyler
Sorry John, she’s dumber than Kamala. Her assessment of Elon Musk: “….I’ve encountered many billionaires in my career…this dude is probably one of the most unintelligent billionaires I’ve ever met– or seen…”
AOC mocked after calling Elon Musk ‘one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UPrQK35yDw
Obama was born in Honolulu. His mother’s American citizenship was solid. The jacket on one of his books bestowed upon him a birth in Kenya. That’s cheesy marketing, whether the ultimate source was BO himself or the publishing house employee who has offered that she was the source of it.
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Obama’s not an example of 3d world anything., He’s the deputy dean of students, a man with the common-and-garden attitudes you see among those employed in the education industry.
I’m in the camp that thinks Occasional-Cortex’s inability to brain because she has the dumb is not going to matter to Dems, because they want the government to be run by Top Men, not by people who win elections. If the people who win elections are themselves Top Men that’s better from their perspective but it’s entirely optional. From their point of view, the government should run itself, and do for us what in its wisdom is in our own good, if we could click away from Fox News long enough to realize it.
As for AOC she’ll say what’s written for her to say and if she can’t get it right, the New York Times will just report what she was meant to say. They did that enough with Biden. She shorts out in public, they’ll just remind us about “cheap fakes” which are totally a real thing, you guys.
There is a video of her dancing on a rooftop with other members of her college graduating class (identified as Sandy Cortez) and she was hot!
==
There was at one time a childhood photograph of her taken around 1998 swirling around the internet. She was attractive because she’d had vigorous orthodontic work. You’ve never seen such a ghastly set of teeth on a child.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=bfQUzgZD&id=D5509A925C029B0DD1A51EFDE4B8D2C06CF7EA68&thid=OIP.bfQUzgZDxHL9IzVYjZv6kQHaEK&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelist.com%2Fimg%2Fgallery%2Fthe-stunning-transformation-of-alexandria-ocasio-cortez%2Frelocating-to-westchester-had-a-huge-impact-on-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-1564425754.jpg&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.6df414ce0643c472fd2335588d9bfa91%3Frik%3DaOr3bMDSuOT9Hg%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=438&expw=780&q=ocasio+cortez+as+a+child&FORM=IRPRST&ck=3DBAF7AE039750EA08241ECEE3546DD5&selectedIndex=24&itb=0&cw=1145&ch=601&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
Art Deco, re: AOC’s orthodontia work.
Well bless her heart! It can be very difficult to have terrible teeth, so I’m glad she was able to get some work done.
I wish that was a more accessible treatment.
I’ve always thought that the Democrat candidate is like the pretty or likable actor shilling the product in an advertisement and if you vote for them what you’re really voting for is the Democrat commissariat who will be the ones running things behind the scenes.
The Left doesn’t believe in the Führerprinzip the way people on the Right do. So they don’t care if their “candidates” are dim bulbs as long as they parrot the Party Line and are telegenic enough to attract the voters who can’t be bothered to look beyond the facade.
I tend to compare the 2020s to the 1960s.
A lot happened from 1966 to 1968. LBJ went from being a popular president to dropping out of the race. The hippie/countercultural movement surged with the Summer of Love. The anti-war movement surged too and led to the chaos at the 1968 Democratic convention. MLK and RFK were assassinated. Riots galore.
Out of that Richard Nixon went from losing in 1960 and and 1962 to being elected President in 1968 by a very close margin.
A lot is going to happen between 2026 and 2028. The Magic Eight-Ball says:
Reply hazy, try again.
Niketas, “they want the government to be run by Top Men, not by people who win elections.”
Yes, Dems have proven that, haven’t they?
And Lord Azrael likewise:
“I think we learned from Biden that the person in the chair isn’t necessarily the person calling the shots. I don’t think an AOC Presidency will hinge on the competency of AOC.”
…
True and scary.
We simply have to win again!
@Marlene:so I’m glad she was able to get some work done.
I wish that was a more accessible treatment.
Her parents could afford it…
Agree with all of the above saying Dem presidential candidates are now just front men, or women.
Re: Top Men
Unfortunately in the Blue districts the Top Men aren’t Top Men either but DEI boys and girls picked by checkboxes who aren’t good at their jobs.
See LA, Palisades fires and Washington DC, Potomac sewage spill.
___________________________________
DC Water’s Manager David Gadis:
“We had too many white men in charge”
“The executives should reflect the city”
DC just had the largest sewage spill in US history: 240 million gallons in one month FLOODING the Potomac
https://instapundit.com/777186/
Out of that Richard Nixon went from losing in 1960 and and 1962 to being elected President in 1968 by a very close margin.
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Kennedy’s margin in 1960 was wafer-thin and disputable. Nixon ran a creditable race against Pat Brown in 1962, taking 47% of the vote. The surprising thing about Nixon was his rapport with rank-and-file Republican committeemen and primary voters. He had fragmented opposition in 1968 and lost just one primary. He had hardly any in 1960 and 1972. Eisenhower in 1952 had to hustle more than did Nixon 16 years later.
Her parents could afford it…
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Most people could afford orthodontics by 1998, though perhaps not a program as extensive as she required. Her father was an architect; architects on average earn satisfactory incomes, but noticeably below what people who have face similar educational and licensing hurdles do. She lived in a ordinary house on the exurban periphery of Westchester County, NY. Her father died of cancer when she was 15. What’s curious to me is that she attended a private university out-of-state rather than one of New York’s state schools; didn’t do her much good.
I’ve always thought that the Democrat candidate is like the pretty or likable actor shilling the product in an advertisement and if you vote for them what you’re really voting for is the Democrat commissariat who will be the ones running things behind the scenes.
==
Not any Democrat nominated between 1962 and 1990. You could make a case that was true of those during the period running from 1990 to 2006, but also a case against it. In the last twenty years, it’s all of them. What was amazing in 2020 is the deep bench the Democrats had – Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Yang, John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Steve Bullock. The Democratic electorate took a glance at Bloomberg and ignored the rest. Instead, they favored Amy Klobberherworkers, Princess Spreading Bull, an elderly Trotskyist with three homes, the faculty brat mayor with no discernible interest in crime control, and the crooked hack who required the aid of a TelePrompTer to get through a softball interview with James Corden.
Sailorcurt on February 17, 2026 at 6:23 pm said:
I’d contend that it’s not just “not been a bar to the nomination” but it’s been a requirement.
——
Agreed, and the media probably prefers to have Democrat candidates who speak in word salads rather than in coherent language. You can make errors if you generally speak coherently, but if you always speak in babbling nonsense, you effectively don’t say anything of substance one way or the other. A compliant media can then take the time and go back and interpret your word salad to mean whatever carefully crafted narrative they want. The average voter will then only read/hear the media’s “interpretation” and not the actual raw footage. Late night shows and SNL will use actors to depict their politicians saying the things they want them to say in an intelligent way. That’s why so many were unaware of Biden’s dementia or Harris’ incompetence, because they were only exposed to the “interpretations” of their words which were carefully crafted after the fact by Ivy Leaguers.
Newsom would be problematic to the leftists in power, he might think he’s in charge. Sandy would be more . . . malleable.
Re: Dem preference for dumb leaders who win
I don’t know. That Obama fellow was charismatic, articulate and reasonably intelligent. Which made him much more dangerous, but set that aside.
My take is that DEI politics favored the dumb people who could checkboxes or play that game, thus watering down the overall intelligence of the Democrat Party. It seems to have become a doom loop.
The progression of Obama -> Biden -> Harris -> Walz is an evolutionary chart running backward.
–Devo, “Devo’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! in 4 Minutes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skIcMzlq6s
Some people say even Obama was a “front man” but I don’t think so. While he may have had help (ValJar) he was no innocent bystander.
In fact he is the most likely candidate for the puppeteer behind the string of Dem mediocrities (and less) in his wake. I can’t think of a former POTUS who has insinuated himself into national politics as much since at least Teddy Roosevelt.
Art Deco, for super-long URLs, PLEASE use https://tinyurl.com/ to shorten them.
huxley
Even more so when you go further back:
Bill Clinton>> Obama>Biden>> Harris.
I read that Clinton could goof off all semester in Yale Law, and successfully cram for finals. That is super-bright. I am not dumb, and could never have gotten away with that. Regarding in-between candidates Gore and Kerry—definitely not as bright as Bill Clinton, but comparing them to Obama is a tossup. Hillary was probably between her husband and Gore.
AOC is lacking and never should be a contender. She should be maxed out where she is now. But then again Kamala should have never had any traction beyond CA.
The things is, Democrats don’t care about competence. They don’t even seem to understand it. If AOC is the candidate they will support her.