New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is up to something. The latest evidence? AOC raised nearly $10 million in the first three months of 2025, a stunning total for a House member and almost two-thirds of what she raised total in 2023 and 2024 combined. These funds came from more than 250,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of $21. Know what that sounds a lot like? The fundraising haul of a presidential candidate. It’s not just the money. (Although the money absolutely matters!) Consider a few other things: Ocasio-Cortez is currently on a national campaign tour with Bernie Sanders that seems, for anyone paying attention, like a passing of the torch from one liberal giant to another, while 2028 polls—admittedly very early ones—of the Democratic primary field show that she is very much in the top tier. I don’t know what AOC’s next political step is, but she’s clearly got her eye on her political future—and is putting the pieces in place to get what she wants.
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