AOC challenges new Democrat group: ‘What do you believe?’

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York bashed a new centrist initiative launched by a group of House Democrats and candidates to reject socialism within the party, accusing them of being unclear about what they actually stand for.

“All these election officials came together and said, ‘We’re going to sign a pledge against socialism.’ And we say, ‘Okay,’” Ocasio-Cortez told radio host Santita Jackson during an interview for her show “Keep Hope Alive” published on Sunday.

“‘Okay fine, if you’re against them that’s okay. But what do you believe?’ And that I think it’s the core of the weaknesses from that wing at this moment,” the New York Democrat added. “There’s no affirmative vision really coming from most places in the Democratic Party with the exception of democratic socialism.”

Earlier this week, the organizer of the new initiative—called “Promise America”—revealed that 10 Democrats in Congress and five Democratic candidates signed into their pledge, which states they are “capitalist, not socialist,” “responsible, not reckless,” and “mainstream, not extreme.”

The announcement came right after all three progressive candidates in New York backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries on Tuesday, prompting President Donald Trump to declare that “godless communists” are threatening to take over the country.

Responding to Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism with a social media post, the group wrote: “Our Promise to America isn’t just about rejecting socialism, it’s a vision for the future. Our principles say it best: We believe in an economy that works for everyone, not just those already at the top. We believe in secure borders and safe communities.

“We want government that works to solve problems. We want a politics of persuasion. And most of all, we are proud of America.”

What Is ‘Promise to America’ and Who Signed Into Its Pledge?

“Promise to America” is a new centrist initiative launched by director Felix Frisch, a sophomore at the University of Chicago, and six founding fellows, the majority of whom are students. The group gained public attention when it announced last week that 15 Democrats had signed onto its pledge.

These are:

• Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY): co-leader of the initiative
• Rep. Adam Gray (D-CA): co-leader of the initiative
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
• Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV)
• Rep. Don Davis (D-NC)
• Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D-TX)
• Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY)
• Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-OR)
• Rep. Kristin McDonald Rivet (D-MI)
• Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH)
• Jessica Killin (running for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District)
• Marlene Galán Woods (running for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District)
• Bobby Pulido (running for Texas’ 15th Congressional District)
• Jamie Ager (running for New York’s 11th Congressional District)
• Paul Barringer (running for New York’s 13th Congressional District)

According to Suozzi, the group aims to secure signatures from 20 Democratic candidates, 200 state and local officials, and 2,000 activists, as reported by The New York Times.

The initiative’s website contains the group’s pledge, which states the following main points:

• “We are capitalist, not socialist”;
• “We want safety, not lawlessness”;
• “We are responsible, not reckless”;
• “We believe government should solve problems, not create them”;
• “We are mainstream, not extreme”;
• “We are proud, not ashamed of America.”

Suozzi and Gray are the only two Democrats who flipped red districts in 2024 won by Trump in that same year.

What do all these Democrats have in common, beside being centrists? They are all running for reelection, or to be elected for the very first time.

Suozzi is running for reelection, having secured the Democratic nomination for New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday with an overwhelming majority of 80.4 percent of the vote.

Gray is also running for reelection and has advanced together with Republican Kevin Lincoln in the June 2 “jungle” primary for California’s 13th Congressional District.

Gottheimer and Lee are running for reelection in their respective districts, having advanced in their Democratic primary on June 2 and June 9, respectively. While Gottheimer ran unchallenged, Lee got 73 percent of the vote, beating rivals James Lally (17.6 percent), Terrill Robinson (5.8 percent), and Brandon West (3.5 percent).

Gonzales is running for reelection in his district after winning the Democratic primary against democratic socialist candidate Etienne Rosas 62.7 percent to 37.3 percent.

Bynum is running for reelection after beating one Democratic rival, Zeva Rosenbaum, who promised to “fight back against the oligarchy, against fascism” if elected.

Davis and Gillen are running for reelection in their respective districts after the Democratic primaries for their office were canceled.

Rivet is running for reelection and is on the ballot in the Democratic primary scheduled for August 4. Goodlander is also running for reelection and is on the ballot for the Democratic primary set for September 8.

Wrestling for Control of the Democratic Party

Political scientist Hans C. Noel, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University and co-director of the Georgetown Democracy Initiative, told Newsweek that “Promise to America” is “an attempt to navigate the intraparty conflict that the New York primary races highlighted.”

Since the sweeping victory of Mamdani last year in New York City, the Democratic Party has been forced to reckon with candidates pushing the party leftward, a movement that many more moderate Democrats reject. As it approaches the crucial midterm elections, different wings are wrestling for control of the party and to define its identity going forward.

But the way the president and Republicans in general are weaponizing Mamdani and the progressive candidates he backed in New York as dangerous “communists” could be a serious threat to Democrats in November. In this context, “Promise to America” can be interpreted as an attempt to reassure moderate Democrat voters that the party has not moved as left as the primary victories in New York could suggest.

“The text of the promise is very focused on the success of the party,” Noel said. “The initiative believes that reminding voters that most Democrats are not ideologically extreme will help, and it probably will with some voters. Others want the more aggressive approach,” he added.

This divide within the Democratic Party has long existed, Noel said.

“Party leaders always work to hold those factions together, and the leaders of those factions try to shape the party in their direction. So this is part of that long-running conflict,” he said.

“Some of that conflict is about policy and some of that conflict is about how aggressive the party should be in its attitude toward compromise and cooperation with the other side.”

Would This Rift Hurt Democrats in the Midterms?

Noel believes that there are two ways the conflict between moderates and progressive could weaken the party, though he thinks they are both minor issues.

“First, if the party is seen as too extreme, that may cost Democrats some moderate swing voters,” he said. “But those moderate voters are mostly pivotal in other districts, and the Democrats in those districts are less extreme,” he added.

Mostly, he believes that voters will not be confused by the New York nominees—a series of elections which he considers to be “too small” to dictate the direction of the whole party nationwide.

“Second, some Democrats who are deeply committed to one of the sides of this conflict might not support their party if the other side is winning,” he said. “But the evidence suggests that most Democrats are willing to back their party even if their faction didn’t win the nomination. I don’t see a lot of evidence that voters are demoralized by this internal battle.”

Ocasio-Cortez told Jackson that both wings of the party should work together for their common goals of seeing the Democratic Party triumph in the midterms, and that moderates cannot just force progressives out.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You cannot take an exciting emerging growing dynamic especially capturing the imagination of young people and working people,” she said.

“You can’t tell folks who are trying to change and represent themselves. Frankly, this is a generational phenomenon too. You can’t tell them to get out and then, in a presidential cycle, tell them that they have an obligation to vote for you,” she added.

“We’re either a team or we’re not. And at the end of the day, we all need each other, to our chagrin and to our disagreement and to our great inconvenience. […] And that goes in both directions. We’re going to have to figure it out, frankly.”

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, has expressed a similar feeling.

“The progressive movement is winning across the country, from the heart of New York to Michigan to Maine,” Khanna said in a statement reported by TruthOut. “The people are saying no to foreign wars and they’re saying no to genocide in Gaza. They’re saying no to the unfair and lopsided economy that has allowed a few people to hoard extreme wealth and power, and they’re saying yes to Medicare for All.”