Politics AOC brings star power to Iowa for Sanders

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Gabriela Barajas’ friends dragged her to the rally with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

© Nati Harnik/AP Photo Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez works the crowd during a rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday.

The 19-year-old had never gone to a campaign event before, and she had no idea who she’d support in the Democratic primary. But by the time she left, she was with Sanders.

“I’m speechless right now,” she said as her friends bolted toward her with a freshly snapped selfie with Ocasio-Cortez in hand. “Seeing how passionate he is, how passionate she is, it just amazes me. ... She’s inspirational to all Latinas, to all women.”

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez to hold climate summit in Iowa

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are slated to hold rallies and a summit in Iowa next week focused on climate change. The two progressives will hold climate change rallies in Council Bluffs and Coralville next Friday and Saturday nights and a summit in Des Moines on Saturday afternoon, Sanders's campaign announced.This will be Ocasio-Cortez's first trip to Iowa withThe two progressives will hold climate change rallies in Council Bluffs and Coralville next Friday and Saturday nights and a summit in Des Moines on Saturday afternoon, Sanders's campaign announced.

AOC to join Bernie Sanders on campaign trail in Iowa . The numbers suggest Sanders has emerged unscathed from a week of contentious headlines, including a nasty spat with progressive rival Warren over whether he did or did not once tell her that a woman could not be elected president.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Two of Bernie Sanders ’s highest-profile allies, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, filled in for him on the The congresswoman, who is nicknamed “ AOC ,” had already made one trip to Iowa to campaign for Sanders last November.

Ocasio-Cortez’s star power was put to the test in Middle America this weekend — and she and Sanders drew thousands of excited fans to three stops across Iowa. Audience members donned purple shirts emblazoned with the Bronx congresswoman’s name and shouted “I love you!” to her.

The raucous crowds demonstrated that Ocasio-Cortez can boost excitement and win media attention for Sanders’ campaign in the early-voting states, even if she comes with the downside of turning off some moderate voters. All three stops this weekend were larger than any Sanders had previously held in Iowa this year, bringing between 2,000 and 2,400 people each, according to the campaign. Sanders aides said the Council Bluffs rally drew more people than any other presidential campaign event in the state in 2019.

Can Pete Buttigieg Pull Off an Iowa Upset?

The young mayor of South Bend, Indiana is polling strong in the state with the first 2020 contest.Buttigieg, the young mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been drawing good crowds in Iowa and fellow Democrats have responded well to his argument that he offers generational change that the Democratic party and the country desperately need. "I didn't just come here to end the era of Donald Trump," Buttigieg told Iowa Democrats last weekend. "I'm here to launch the era that must come next.

Isn't she great? The Democrats need more AOC 's, agree? One rally featuring the New York congresswoman was the largest of the campaign cycle in the caucus state.

Speaking at a Bernie Sanders 2020 rally in Iowa , Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed President Trump, GOP tax cuts, and Democratic politics as usual

“Some campaigns struggle to make 1,000 face-to-face contacts in a week,” boasted Misty Rebik, Sanders’ Iowa state director. "We just tripled that in 24 hours.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s reception in the first-in-the-nation caucus state also fueled hopes among her supporters that she will run for president herself in the not-so-distant future.

© Kena Betancur/Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Sanders’ aides worked to convert the excited rally-goers into dedicated volunteers and caucus-goers, passing around volunteer sign-up sheets at each stop this weekend. The campaign told POLITICO that it registered more than 3,000 new volunteers at the events as well as about 500 people to help out specifically on the night of the caucuses.

Sanders’ team believes that Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement will excite the base and turn out young and progressive Democrats. But some of Sanders’ aides and allies hope it will also persuade new voters to give him a look.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to join Bernie Sanders on campaign trail in Iowa

Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Bernie Sanders at a New York City rally in October.The stops, in Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Coralville, are Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y., first appearances outside of her home state on behalf of Sanders, I-Vt., for whom she worked as a volunteer organizer during his 2016 campaign, and are likely to be viewed as a test of her ability to draw crowds away from traditionally liberal strongholds.

Sanders ' Iowa State Director Misty Rebik was among the people doing the convincing and was able to sway an We wanted to bring the positive vibes, and bring optimistic energy into this election so we can defeat Sanders attended his last Iowa organizing event in person Sunday afternoon in Newton

STAR POWER . All the Democrats running for president are sending out high-profile allies, Hollywood stars and family "She's actually talking about issues that other politicians don't bring up regularly, like student debt and Sanders joined her in Iowa for more rallies after the Senate broke on Saturday.

“She’s going to do both,” said Stacey Walker, Sanders’ Iowa campaign co-chair, adding that “there is a generation of young political activists that see AOC as the future of the party” and “we will see an expanded turnout among the Latino community.”

But some Democratic officials doubt that the nod by Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, will pull in new voters for Sanders. Others said it could backfire among centrist caucus-goers.

“Western Iowa isn’t exactly New York City,” said Scott Punteney, leader of the Pottawattamie County Democratic Party, in explaining concerns about Ocasio-Cortez he’s heard from other officials. “Some of her ideas might not sit well with a lot of more moderate Democrats, which is kind of what we have in the area.”

The Council Bluffs rally was about a 10-minute drive from Omaha, Nebraska, and some in the crowd said they were residents of the Cornhusker State.

In interviews with nearly 20 voters at Sanders’ events this weekend, about half said Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement made no difference to them. But women, in particular, said it was meaningful.

Ocasio-Cortez adds excitement to Sanders rally as campaign claims record crowd

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman congresswoman and political celebrity from New York, was to join Sanders at three campaign stops in Iowa.More than 2,400 people filled an Iowa Western Community College arena to hear Ocasio-Cortez, a political celebrity who recently endorsed Sanders’ presidential campaign, and Sanders himself.

As Bernie Sanders attempts to surge to a first-place finish in Iowa , the Vermont senator is tapping famous politicians and celebrities to campaign for him in one final Their support comes after the Sanders team courted backing from people such as rapper Cardi B and other stars of color for months.

IOWA BREAKING: @ AOC w/ Bernie “There’s a lot of talk about unity, but I want something better than unity. In addition to holding the largest rally in Iowa so far, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez drew the largest crowd of any We’re ready to take on the power of the billionaire class, pass a Green New

“Definitely,” Diana Bolinger, a middle-aged mother, said when asked if it’s a part of her considerations about whom to support. She said she is eyeing Sanders, Buttigieg and Kamala Harris. Ocasio-Cortez is "on top of things," Bolinger said.

Ocasio-Cortez made a pitch for Sanders that was similar to the remarks she gave at a rally with him in New York City last month. That event drew about 26,000 people, according to Sanders’ campaign, which would make it the biggest event of the cycle.

“When my parents struggled with being able to have health insurance, let alone me, Bernie was fighting for them,” Ocasio-Cortez said in Iowa. “He fought for me when I didn’t have health care as a waitress. He fought for me when I graduated with over $20,000 in student debt.”

Ocasio-Cortez also took jabs at some of Sanders’ rivals. She made a thinly veiled dig at Pete Buttigieg’s “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan, saying "we're not going to get there with Medicare for some.” She said change comes “not through a technocratic policy proposal, but through a political revolution,” which some on social media interpreted as a contrast with Elizabeth Warren, though Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly praised her and was initially eyeing Warren and Sanders when deciding whom to potentially endorse.

Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who are also part of the so-called “Squad,” have held well-attended rallies with Sanders in their home states. Faiz Shakir, Sanders’ campaign manager, said they will stump for Sanders in the early-voting states “soon.”

Ocasio-Cortez knocked on voters’ doors in Des Moines during her swing through Iowa. One woman promised to caucus for Sanders, while a former party leader she ran into on the street told her that Sanders was his second choice after Joe Biden.

“Having knocked a lot of doors in New York City, knocking doors in Iowa is a much nicer thing. In New York, they’re like, ‘I don’t want to change my cable. Leave me alone,’” Ocasio-Cortez joked at a rally in Coralville. “But in Iowa, you just knock on a door and people are just open for a conversation. It’s really amazing and it's beautiful."