Bernie Sanders and AOC Are Not the Answer to the Democrats’ Weaknesses
After presidential elections, the losing party typically finds itself in a stage of reflection. For instance, after the 2004 presidential election, then-President George W. Bush’s defeat of Senator John Kerry prompted profound angst within the Democratic Party about its electoral future. However, with Bush’s unpopular policies in his second term and a new phase for the Democratic Party, Democrats soon became the dominant governing party in Washington after the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Fewer than a hundred days into President Trump’s second term, most would argue — regardless of whether they’re on Team Red or Blue — that the Democrats’ response to Trump and a path forward as a governing party has been weak.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I–VT) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–NY) have traveled across the country in their “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” When the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk, has a front-row seat inside the Trump administration and a mere 40 percent favorability rating, according to a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris poll, a tactic like this might seem smart. But despite energizing certain voter blocs, Sanders and AOC are not the faces the Democratic Party should be propping up. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders and AOC Go Hunting for Oligarchs)
Both figures, who pledge to fight for the working class and traditionally lower-income earners, have only alienated these groups. Although Sanders and AOC claim to fight for the working class, their message has struggled to connect with key parts of that demographic. (RELATED: Elitist Libs Remove the ‘Demo’ From the Democrats)
Exit polls from 2024 showed gains for Trump among rural voters and non-college-educated workers — groups that progressive Democrats once saw as natural allies. Additionally, many voters in small towns and rural areas say they feel spoken over, not spoken to, by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. (RELATED: The Democratic Party Is Collapsing)
In conversations with voters outside urban and suburban hubs — from gas station employees to truck drivers — it’s not uncommon to hear skepticism or even outright rejection of progressive politics.
Closer to Washington, you’d be reminded that not a single bill sponsored by Representative Ocasio-Cortez or Senator Sanders became law in the 118th Congress, following a pattern from previous legislative sessions. Instead, they rely on stump speeches touting the same progressive policies they’ve failed to deliver on — policies that a majority of the American public find extreme.
This pattern of ineffectiveness isn’t just legislative — it’s electoral as well. Many would agree that a 34-year tenure in both the House and Senate reflects impressive electoral staying power. However, despite this, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that Bernie Sanders received fewer votes than Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election in his own home state. Yes, the same “popular and revolutionary” Bernie Sanders who claims to have the “vision” for the Democratic Party — the same vision that has cost him two presidential elections.
And while Sanders is unlikely to run for reelection, AOC — who is clearly a close ally of the Vermont senator — has been described as a “rising star” in the Democratic Party. That’s a reality that only makes the GOP more optimistic about its electoral future.
Just look at how Senator Deb Fischer (R–NE) attacked her conservative-leaning independent opponent, Dan Osborn (I–NE), in the 2024 Nebraska Senate race. In an October 2024 interview with the Washington Reporter, she asserted that “[Osborn was] not an independent,” but rather a “Democrat on all of his positions” who is “going to be with Bernie Sanders.” “He has those leanings,” she proclaimed.
Many political analysts considered Osborn difficult to attack due to his limited ties to the Democratic Party in a Republican stronghold. But this messaging was so effective that all Fischer had to do was tie a limited-government-believing U.S. Navy veteran and mechanic to such a divisive figure. A Vermont senator with no real connection to Osborn became a centerpiece of Fischer’s campaign. In fact, her team made sure to label him a “Bernie Bro” in multiple campaign graphics.
If the 2024 election proved anything, it’s that voters don’t see progressivism as a solution to the country’s problems. President Trump, tied up in countless legal issues and burdened by an unpopular first term, still managed to improve his margin in over 2,300 counties, carrying dozens of Republican candidates down ballot. Most of the demographic groups he gained were the very voters that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez claim to have been fighting for.
Why? Because voters aren’t interested in politics that never deliver. If Democrats want any chance of returning to the White House, they can’t amplify a wing of their party that is out of touch with voters. In 2026, they won’t be able to rely on historic midterm trends that favor the opposition party if the American people don’t see that opposition as credible.
Jonah Waranch is a high school student from Kensington, Maryland. He founded his own neighborhood newspaper called the Byeforde Weekly.
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