Moderate Democrats Reportedly Looking To Prevent AOC From Rising Her Profile As Potential Presidential Candidate

Moderate Democrats are launching a plan to prevent a progressive liberal from rising their profile enough to potentially become the party's presidential candidate in the 2028 election, according to a new report.

Axios detailed that Third Way, which it described as an influential center-left group, gathered hundreds of elected officials and party leaders to make the case for electing a moderate as the presidential candidate.

The argument has become more urgent after the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor, as well as other races across the country.

Third Way President Jon Cowan criticized Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, perhaps the progressive with the highest profile who could potentially enter the contest. He illustrated his point about moderates having more chances of winning by saying that progressive have not managed to flip battleground states since 2018.

He went on to criticize "out-of-touch teachers' unions," as well as the "language police," and called on Democrats to "stop peddling the idea that there are tens of millions of nonvoters just waiting to be mobilized by a left-wing siren song," saying it "is delusional and widely debunked."

AOC has not confirmed whether she is thinking about running for President, but a recent trip to the Munich Security Conference earlier this month fueled speculation about the possibility. Moreover, pollsters have been including her in the list of prospective candidates for the 2028 election with varied results.

The lawmaker has weighed in on most issues dominating the public conversation, most recently slamming President Donald Trump over his decision to approve attacks against the Iranian regime, calling the war "unlawful," "unnecessary," and warning it will have "catastrophic" consequences.

In a statement posted on social media, the lawmaker recalled that both parties were conducting negotiations in Geneva, saying they "could have saved off war" but Trump "walked away from these discussions and chose war instead."

"Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different," AOC added.

In this context, she said she will support a War Powers resolution that would see Trump have to get congressional approval before taking military action. Several other Democratic lawmakers have been calling for the measure since attacks began on early Saturday.