AOC's progressive squad set to double on election day, giving hope to climate change activists

The 'squad' of progressive congresspersons that include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to double on election day. This comes as a huge boost to activists who have been working to push the Democratic party towards more progressive causes. At least four candidates who were endorsed by the Sunrise Movement and other progressive groups won their primaries earlier this year and look on course to be elected to the house. Cori Bush in Missouri, Marie Newman in Illinois, as well as Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones in New York are running for a seat in the house from predominantly Democratic districts which all but confirm their seat in the House, reported Vice. The original 'squad' of four—Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York—has been instrumental in popularizing progressive policies and even normalizing them amidst fierce opposition from both Republican and Democratic party. The squad is also all but confirmed to be re-elected on election day. 

The election of these four new candidates to the House could help pressurize the potential Joe Biden administration into putting into action the $2 trillion policy proposal to fight climate change. The climate change deal will invest in green jobs and infrastructure with 40% allocated to people living in disadvantaged parts of America. “For too long we’ve been focused on the climate crisis in a really kind of technocratic way,” said Jennie Stephens, director of Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs and author of the new book Diversifying Power. “These new emerging leaders…bring a better capacity to center social justice, racial justice, and economic justice at the core of the policies that we need. That is so critical.” 

Vice President Joe Biden's ambitious $2 trillion climate change proposal is already a sign of the shifting demographic within the Democratic party base. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaigns, supported by the squad members, highlighted the change within the party. Ocasio-Cortez said that the party is not very welcoming of her progressives views and vocal takes. “House leadership is, sometimes, a little wary of me speaking on the floor. Not that I’m not allowed to, but it’s a little more dicey,” said Ocasio-Cortez in an interview with Vanity Fair. “I think a lot of people, including my Democratic colleagues, believe the Fox News version of me.”

Progressives are hopeful of Democrats securing a majority in the House and the Senate, which could enable them to fund and pass parts of the Green New Deal championed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and supported by reportedly 115 Congresspersons. Ocasio-Cortez made the claim after Trump dismissed the Green News Deal, reported MSN News. "You know who developed it? AOC plus three. They know nothing about the climate," said Trump, who has repeatedly claimed climate change is a hoax. "I mean she's got a good line of stuff but she knows nothing about the climate, and they're all hopping through hoops for AOC plus three. Not a real plan, it costs 100 trillion dollars." Ocasio-Cortez corrected him on Twitter. "It's actually AOC plus 115 because that's how many House and Senate members have cosponsored the most ambitious climate legislation in American history," she tweeted.

Years of capitalist propaganda have caused Americans to fear left-leaning candidates and progressive ideas but the squad is unabashedly proud of their ideas and often lend their name and support to progressive causes and groups. “Things that AOC and Ilhan Omar and the Squad do are news, and they have a large following online,” said NoiseCat, a progressive research group Data for Progress. “At the end of the day, politics is increasingly about warring social media brands, so the ability to shape news cycles is an important form of power.” The president's repeated attacks on the squad are a testament to the power they hold in American politics today and true to their fighting nature, they give back as good as they get. It's evident that the progressive candidates are not merely in the House to fill the Democratic numbers and toe the party line. It's not every day that you see a sitting congressperson call the President of the United States a 'motherf*cker', but two of the four squad members have already done that.