AOC, Ro Khanna rivaling for future of Democratic Party?  

There’s some drama happening in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party — rivalry between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna ahead of the 2028 presidential race, according to Axios.  

It’s been clear to see both position themselves as possible heirs to the Bernie Sanders movement, but they are not in agreement on what that movement looks like. What’s interesting here is that the divide isn’t just about personality. It’s about strategy, staffing and what version of “Bernie-style politics” they’re actually trying to inherit.  

Axios reports that on one side, you have what some are calling the “Old Bernie” approach around Khanna. That team includes veterans like Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign manager, Julian Mulvey and Shannon Jackson. These are all people tied to a more traditional populist operation that wasn’t afraid of sharper contrasts and a more moderate brand on issues like guns and immigration.  

On the other side is what Axios describes as AOC’s “New Bernie” ecosystem, hiring strategists behind Sanders’s presidential effort in 2020, which leaned further left on social issues and took a less aggressive........

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