Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who captivated millions this week with an Instagram Live monologue about her experience of the siege of the Capitol, shared her wisdom on social media on Wednesday during a master class with fellow Democrats.
Why it’s important: One of the party’s best digital professionals is trying to help the Progressive Congress Caucus, in particular, become stronger, more sophisticated and prolific so that it can better shape the politics of the 117th Congress.
- Progressives feel encouraged and admit that Democrats ’control over the House, Senate and White House gives them a new bandwidth to get the message across.
- Ocasio-Cortez specifically urged to focus individually on the key elements of COVID’s relief bill, because “it’s too much to send messages in a week.”
Leading the news: The New Yorker spoke virtually during a Zoom call with more than 140 people, including CPC members and staff. He said President Biden’s inauguration was a turning point for the kind of messaging Americans want to see from Democrats.
- “We are now in the age of receipts. People now want to see the actual legislation clips. They want to hear less about our stances.”
- Axios was able to oversee and take notes independently about the meeting.
Inside the virtual room: Ocasio-Cortez acted as creative director, for fellow Democrats who are generally unaware of how to project authenticity on social media.
- He released a series of videos that Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Florida) could release to better share his personality with the components and talked about how the Twitch streaming platform can be used to mimic a more attractive town hall.
- “We’re just mere mortals and we trust our staff to do all of this,” Frankel told him.
- Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) Asked what kind of content Ocasio-Cortez decides to post on her official Congressional Twitter account versus her personal Twitter account.
The big picture: Democrats are not just trying to figure out their best message as a party; they are desperate for strong messengers who can reach more voters by gathering wherever they are, online.
- The Zoom meeting indicates a change within the party.
- Progressives who are native on social media have been criticized by colleagues with the familiar saying that “Twitter is not real life”.
- Now, they are in the driver’s seat, teaching their colleagues how to lean on their personalities to push for progressive policies like the Green New Deal.
What they say: The quick response is the Democrats ’biggest chance to improve and compete with Republicans, AOC said.
- Republicans “want to intimidate you not to use your strongest resource. That’s what they do with our party and that’s what they do with our policy, “Ocasio-Cortez added.” They try to get us back before the fight. “