{"id":2458,"date":"2026-06-11T09:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2458"},"modified":"2026-06-11T09:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:05:44","slug":"the-road-test-inside-alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-strategy-ahead-of-a-potential-2028-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2458","title":{"rendered":"The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div> <div>\n<button>\n<strong>\n<span><svg>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span>Summary<\/span>\n<\/strong>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/button>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains undecided about whether she&#8217;ll run for president, Senate or reelection to the House in 2028.<\/li>\n<li>The New York congresswoman is working to expand her appeal beyond the progressive base with endorsements and committee work.<\/li>\n<li>Her advisers are planning a fall tour to test whether she can win a national campaign.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<span>AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been doing a lot of knitting lately.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            She\u2019s slowly churning out a collection of hats and sweaters as she quizzes aides about campaigns she\u2019s thinking of endorsing or working with House colleagues on what to include in bills and how to communicate what they\u2019re doing. Some of the knits, she wears herself. Some she gives out as gifts.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2438\">How Trump\u2019s reliance on \u2018acting\u2019 officials holding multiple jobs tests the Constitution<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Long gone are the days of her spontaneously joining a sit-in about the Green New Deal in Nancy Pelosi\u2019s office. Now, she advises newer House members to learn from her early experiences of antagonizing party leadership and talks excitedly about her work on the House Energy and Commerce Committee: Her grilling of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin during a committee hearing in April created a viral moment.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The New York congresswoman is truly undecided about what she\u2019ll do in 2028, when she can run for president or for the seat held by Sen. Chuck Schumer. But Ocasio-Cortez, 36, is positioning herself to try to reach nationally beyond the deepest blue parts of the Democratic base \u2014 and making clear in private that whatever she decides, she has no interest in being merely a protest candidate.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Whatever she runs for \u2014 including possibly just re-election to her ultra-safe House seat, which has provided quite the platform already \u2014 she says she wants to make sure she wins. Same goes for any candidates she backs. And for legislation she gets behind.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe\u2019re seeing an opening, definitely among swingy independents, but also among Republicans: They don\u2019t agree with everything she says, but they believe she is honest and that she\u2019s going to work for people,\u201d said one person close to her. \u201cThat will be put to the test in the coming months: Will Democratic candidates in tough races recognize she is a net positive for their campaign?\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s aides are putting together a fall schedule meant to beta-test her appeal beyond a base that adores her and mostly outside of Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 political operation after making several stops on his \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d campaign. The tour will also test her own appetite for what a presidential campaign would entail.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            She\u2019s kept up with the Democratic Socialists of America and Sanders, but also with former President Joe Biden. And she\u2019s been collecting a strong record of primary endorsements, with three people she backed winning or advancing in New Jersey, California and Montana just last week.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Chris Rabb, the Pennsylvania state legislator whom Ocasio-Cortez backed late in his mid-May primary for a House seat in Philadelphia, said her support was unlike anyone else\u2019s. When she surprised him by calling him to say she was endorsing, he invited her to come campaign with him and scrambled to get her the Friday before Election Day.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York share the stage during a Rabb for Congress rally on May 15 in Philadelphia.\" class=\"wp-image-2449\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1e0e2ce4bc57ec1d6b78fc1bd03e47b9.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1e0e2ce4bc57ec1d6b78fc1bd03e47b9.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1e0e2ce4bc57ec1d6b78fc1bd03e47b9-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York share the stage during a Rabb for Congress rally on May 15 in Philadelphia.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Matthew Hatcher\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            \u201cIt really broke open the doors for anti-establishment progressives of color,\u201d Rabb told CNN.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman first connected with Ocasio-Cortez as she helped organize a pro-Palestinian protest outside the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Now running for state Senate, Romman met with Ocasio-Cortez during the congresswoman\u2019s recent swing through the state.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201c\u2018Would an endorsement help?\u2019\u201d Romman remembers the congresswoman asking, adding her reply was: \u201cThis is a Democratic primary. You poll like plus-40 among Democrats in Georgia. Anything you can give me!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Ocasio-Cortez is also being careful about not getting involved in some cases. She hasn\u2019t backed Graham Platner in Maine\u2019s Senate race even though both Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosted rallies for him. She kept her distance from a former chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, who came in third in Pelosi\u2019s San Francisco district despite his own efforts to constantly invoke Ocasio-Cortez on the trail.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In this 2018 photo, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.\" class=\"wp-image-2450\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4c93876d6d63acdbdfcaaa6f2f20c41a.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4c93876d6d63acdbdfcaaa6f2f20c41a.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4c93876d6d63acdbdfcaaa6f2f20c41a-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>This 2018 photo shows Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Pablo Martinez Monsivais\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            She stayed firm in her denunciations of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as well as the Texas Democratic candidate who called for \u201ca prison for American Zionists,\u201d even though she received attacks from some of the loudest social media posters on the left.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            And when Tom Steyer\u2019s California gubernatorial campaign ran an attack ad against Xavier Becerra\u2019s handling of immigrant children that featured her without a heads-up, the ad was recut so she no longer appeared after some quiet outreach from outside Ocasio-Cortez allies.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            But whether she has what it would take to win a national campaign or has the capacity to do it is a question even boosters are asking.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Some in her circle acknowledge that her name recognition and preternatural political skills may have left them spoiled. And for all the benefits and monster crowds that came from folding into Sanders\u2019 national operation, it left Ocasio-Cortez starting mostly fresh on her own just months before the 2028 maneuvering officially begins, with a smaller team than many other potential contenders.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIt\u2019s for her to decide how serious she\u2019s going to be, since people are going to be waiting to say she\u2019s not ready,\u201d said one person who\u2019s been involved in several conversations with her circle. \u201cShe has the talent, but does she have the team?\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        The Munich moment\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            What Ocasio-Cortez herself keeps coming back to is that moment in February at the Munich Security Conference, during what was meant to be her big debut on the international stage, talking about how the rich were manipulating the working class globally.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Instead, she appeared stumped by a question about whether the US should commit troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a future invasion by Beijing \u2013 a cornerstone question of US-China relations that presidents of both parties have handled by maintaining \u201cstrategic ambiguity,\u201d refusing to answer that question outright.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cUm, you know, I think that, uh \u2026 this is \u2026 such a \u2026 you know, I think that this is a, um \u2026 this is of course a \u2026 a very longstanding, um \u2026 policy of the United States,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said then. \u201cAnd I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&lt;p&gt;Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answers a question about Taiwan at the Munich Security Conference&lt;\/p&gt;\" class=\"wp-image-2451\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/000c8c7db5bb996e3dbc161ae5b3c5f3-768x432.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/000c8c7db5bb996e3dbc161ae5b3c5f3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/000c8c7db5bb996e3dbc161ae5b3c5f3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/000c8c7db5bb996e3dbc161ae5b3c5f3.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speaks at the Munich Security Conference\n                <\/div>\n<div>\n<span>\n                                        \n        \n            \n            \n        0:35\n                            <\/span>\n<span> \u2022 Source:\n                \n                    CNN\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&lt;p&gt;Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answers a question about Taiwan at the Munich Security Conference&lt;\/p&gt;\" class=\"wp-image-2452\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf12e1e8d18f00373ecc3fb8f1eaf9c6.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf12e1e8d18f00373ecc3fb8f1eaf9c6.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf12e1e8d18f00373ecc3fb8f1eaf9c6-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<svg><\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speaks at the Munich Security Conference<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>        \n        \n            \n            \n        0:35\n         \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Watching the replays and comments piling up was a rough moment, according to people who spoke to her. She was surprised by the backlash. Annoyed.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Several otherwise sympathetic critics told CNN they see a deeper problem: Not only didn\u2019t she prepare herself well enough, but she didn\u2019t know how to, and that left her not ready enough for the spotlight in an unscripted moment that wasn\u2019t on Instagram Live or in the reporter scrums at the US Capitol she\u2019s started more eagerly making herself available for.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            After days of cleanup, she told people close to her, she was dug in: There was no political model for the position she\u2019s in, and she didn\u2019t get to road test any of what she\u2019s going to be doing without making international news. So rather than getting caught up about what others will think, she might as well just say what she wants and keep doing it her way.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            That thrills and terrifies her, those who\u2019ve talked with the congresswoman say.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cShe\u2019s a relatively young, very smart and talented person who unexpectedly found herself in this position as the leading political voice of her generation \u2013 and she takes that very seriously,\u201d an outside adviser told CNN. \u201cBut like any normal person would who has not been planning for this since they were eight years old, she\u2019s rightly cautious about how she uses her platform, and about the power she now wields.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Ideological allies and fans have their doubts, along with some gripes about being left out of her decision-making. She hasn\u2019t, for example, joined an organizing call put together by the Sanders-inspired political group Our Revolution, even though the group backed her first race when the senator himself did not.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ocasio-Cortez talks with Kamala Lyles, 20, during a demonstration outside the US Capitol to protest the expiration of the federal moratorium on residential evictions, in Washington, DC, in 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-2453\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/74d97c96d3a9df2f0e5c36ec73b2a545.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/74d97c96d3a9df2f0e5c36ec73b2a545.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/74d97c96d3a9df2f0e5c36ec73b2a545-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Ocasio-Cortez talks with Kamala Lyles, 20, during a demonstration outside the US Capitol to protest the expiration of the federal moratorium on residential evictions, in Washington, DC, in 2021.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Evelyn Hockstein\/Reuters<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            \u201cShe\u2019s built a big brand by herself. She\u2019s getting strategic advice that you can go it alone,\u201d said Joseph Geevarghese, Our Revolution\u2019s executive director. \u201cThere are a lot of people in grassroots organizations that would benefit from working with her on advancing the issues that we\u2019re all fighting for.\u201d\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2434\">Why a frustrated Trump is turning again to bombs to force Iran\u2019s hand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Notably, though every time Our Revolution polls its members for their 2028 favorites, she\u2019s at the top of the list.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        Moving beyond just the Sanders lane\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            Sanders will turn 87 a few weeks before the 2028 election, and even he has acknowledged he won\u2019t be running for president again. But as he\u2019s been making clear constantly on TV and on the trail, he is more intent than ever in extending his influence.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Ocasio-Cortez, with whom he kibbitzes, advises and occasionally argues with over short and long phone calls multiple times per week, is his obvious heir. It\u2019s no coincidence that when Sanders wanted someone to carry the House version of his bill to regulate new data centers \u2014 convinced that AI is a threat to humanity and perhaps his final political mission to stop \u2014 he turned to Ocasio-Cortez.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            It doesn\u2019t take Sanders\u2019 former campaign manager and top political adviser Faiz Shakir becoming part of Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s kitchen cabinet, or his former communications director Mike Casca now as her chief of staff, to know that she\u2019d have the inside track for his endorsement. And for the occasional grumbling on the left about her, no operative sizing up the prospective field doubts she could easily line up most of the Sanders support, including absorbing most of his staff.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Sanders\u2019s immense and very specific shadow leaves her and her small circle of trust trying to figure out how to better establish her own identity without distancing too much from him.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The only real competition among that flank for now would be Rep. Ro Khanna, the 2020 Sanders campaign co-chair who\u2019s nowhere near as well-known but much more active in trying to get people to pay attention to his presidential hopes.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIt may be interesting to have more than one progressive,\u201d Khanna said, noting that Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s decision about running wouldn\u2019t affect his own. \u201cWe have plenty of establishment candidates and retreads running.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Advisers to several other 2028 prospective candidates without the same claim to or interest in the Sanders wing told CNN privately they\u2019re hoping she runs \u2014 a feeling shared by ambitious New York politicians who assume she\u2019d make an easy romp of the Senate race they want to win instead.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"US Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York conduct a news conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act in the US Capitol on Wednesday, March 25.\" class=\"wp-image-2454\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e81714a3451f0946540e0c4738a1851b.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e81714a3451f0946540e0c4738a1851b.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e81714a3451f0946540e0c4738a1851b-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez conduct a news conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act in the US Capitol on Wednesday, March 25.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Prospective opponents\u2019 teams figure Ocasio-Cortez in the presidential field would likely lock down 25%-30% on the left, which they think would leave the other candidates to compete for the rest without having to appeal to voters they worry they could never fully satisfy.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Higher name recognition means she already also has higher negative numbers than many of the others looking at running. But those other candidates\u2019 advisers also acknowledge that in what\u2019s likely to be a splintered field with a dozen or more viable contenders, that would also put her in a strong position to build just a little bit and become the nominee \u2014 especially if she turns out to be one of the few women and few people of color running.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Back in Washington, Ocasio-Cortez is already building past that left flank.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Just this week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made her the co-convener of the healthcare working group for his midterm agenda. A few weeks earlier, the Congressional Progressive Caucus made a centerpiece of its agenda her bill to cap the cost of childcare \u2014 on which she is collaborating with Warren after taking it over when the original sponsor and generally more moderate Mikie Sherrill resigned to become governor of New Jersey.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cShe can communicate that in a way that makes sense to millions of people on the internet, but here in DC, it\u2019s, \u2018This is the Mikie Sherrill bill, and we\u2019re polishing it up so that Republican governors can\u2019t block the childcare expansion,\u201d said Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chair of the progressive caucus. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of thing that gives people inside here the confidence we can pass that bill.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Sherrill approves too.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cI\u2019m so glad Alex, a champion for working people, has picked up this bill Sen. Warren and I fought hard for,\u201d she told CNN in a statement.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            (One way to tell which of her colleagues have actually had a conversation with her is who refers to her as \u201cAlex\u201d and who calls her \u201cAOC.\u201d)\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        \u2018My ambition is to change the country\u2019\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            Ocasio-Cortez drew widespread attention with her answer to a May question about whether she would run for president or Senate in 2028, saying people \u201cassume my ambition is a title or a seat.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cMy ambition is to change this country,\u201d she said, noting she wanted to enact single-payer healthcare and a \u201cliving wage.\u201d \u201cPresidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            As Ocasio-Cortez discussed a trip this spring for meetings about regulating data centers, she told aides to look to Georgia for what became an intense three-day swing.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York waves to the crowd during a stop of the 'Fighting Oligarchy' rally at Folsom lake College in Folsom, California, on April 15, 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-2455\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5799a874615c0f70f22e36a66315e49.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5799a874615c0f70f22e36a66315e49.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5799a874615c0f70f22e36a66315e49-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f5799a874615c0f70f22e36a66315e49-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Ocasio-Cortez waves to the crowd during a stop of the &#8216;Fighting Oligarchy&#8217; rally at Folsom lake College in Folsom, California, on April 15, 2025.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Stephen Lam\/San Francisco Chronicle\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Realizing that she would be there in the days after the US Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, she told them to add a Sunday stop at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, once led by Martin Luther King Jr. and now by Sen. Raphael Warnock as senior pastor.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            When, an hour before the service began, a person from the church called to ask if she would speak, her aides initially pushed back. They weren\u2019t ready to get a speech to her. She overruled them and spent the next 45 minutes building out what she wanted to say.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Called up by Warnock as a \u201cnational voice of conscience,\u201d she did a four-minute preach, microphone in hand, picking up the legacies of the prophets Deborah and Daniel, and of King, calling on the congregation there and beyond to stand together.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cOur faith is the foundation that gives us the courage to fight in the face of overwhelming odds,\u201d she told the congregation. \u201cI\u2019m here today, brothers and sisters, with a simple message: We stand together and we are not going back.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&lt;p&gt;Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA&lt;\/p&gt;\" class=\"wp-image-2456\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6982527bff782be8b3ff7ed3edb6685f-768x432.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6982527bff782be8b3ff7ed3edb6685f-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6982527bff782be8b3ff7ed3edb6685f-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6982527bff782be8b3ff7ed3edb6685f.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Video Ad Feedback<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church\n                <\/div>\n<div>\n<span>\n                                        \n        \n            \n            \n        0:37\n                            <\/span>\n<span> \u2022 Source:\n                \n                    CNN\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&lt;p&gt;Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA&lt;\/p&gt;\" class=\"wp-image-2457\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/27669614eecf1b403a48af02844cd458.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/27669614eecf1b403a48af02844cd458.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/27669614eecf1b403a48af02844cd458-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<svg><\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>        \n        \n            \n            \n        0:37\n         \n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Ocasio-Cortez also keeps talking about a feeling she first got on a Salt Lake City stop of her tour with Sanders last year, looking out from the stage and thinking about the thousands of Democrats in red states who often get overlooked.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            She started talking about the \u201cfaith of the mustard seed,\u201d a reference to a verse from the Book of Matthew about how conviction and belief can move mountains.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWhen we start working with another, when we start building together, when we start watching each other\u2019s kids so the other can go out and organize the block,\u201d as she put it in a recent stop back to Missoula, Montana. \u201cYou never know what can happen.\u201d\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2428\">Several states are bowing out of Trump\u2019s \u2018Great American State Fair\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is truly undecided about what she\u2019ll do in 2028, when she can run for president or for the seat held by Sen. Chuck Schumer. But Ocasio-Cortez is positioning herself to try to reach nationally beyond the deepest blue parts of the Democratic base \u2014 and making clear in private that whatever she decides, she has no interest in being merely a protest candidate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2458\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is truly undecided about what she\u2019ll do in 2028, when she can run for president or for the seat held by Sen. 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But Ocasio-Cortez is positioning herself to try to reach nationally beyond the deepest blue parts of the Democratic base \u2014 and making clear in private that whatever she decides, she has no interest in being merely a protest candidate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2458\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T09:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1e0e2ce4bc57ec1d6b78fc1bd03e47b9.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T09:05:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458\"},\"wordCount\":2745,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c4ffe4bf0801ab9a119321a44e261af5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=2458\",\"name\":\"The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign - 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