AOC and Authenticity

As far as political figures go, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is as polarizing as they come. The fervor with which her haters rage against her almost matches the love her supporters have for her. But regardless of where you fall on the AOC spectrum, The Queen of Clapback has brought something new to D.C. politics—a personality.

I’ve always found AOC compelling. Her underdog story of bartender to congresswoman is hard to cheer against. In a lot of ways, she represents what can make American politics so great—if a citizen sees something broken, they can go fix it.

But it wasn’t until I followed AOC on Twitter that I finally nailed down why I like her. (I should point out that AOC and I have very little common ground when it comes to policy, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Recently, AOC had a run-in with fellow congressman Ted Yoho. The drama surrounding them was the use of words my mother would not approve of directed at AOC by Ted Yoho outside of the U.S. Capitol Building. Instead of drowning us in the he-said, she-said, I would encourage all of us to look at, well, what he said and what she said in response.

Following Yoho’s alleged outburst he delivered an apology on the House floor—although the word apology may be a stretch. In this speech, Yoho spoke in a painful monotone and looked up from his notes exactly one time, using AOC’s name exactly zero times. Compare this to AOC’s response. She hardly glanced at her notes, spoke with vigor and energy, and also talked for substantially longer while staying on topic. The quality of their words aside, her delivery blew his out of the water

They couldn’t have looked more different. While Yoho stood like a glass of unsweetened ice tea, AOC hit you like a Red Bull.

I don’t know what Ted Yoho is like as a person. But that’s exactly my point. Watching him speak, how would I? For AOC, the opposite is true.

The next day, she posted a video of her walking into work dancing to a song that made fun of the choice words Yoho had used for her. It’s undeniably funny. And it also shows us two things: humor makes you relatable and "a media team" can't replace an actual person. Contrast this with “Chillary Clinton” and you can see why AOC resonates.

We crave authenticity.

Now, in terms of that video and AOC’s response, how much of that was scripted by her team, and how much of it was as off-the-cuff as it appeared? I don’t know. And that’s what makes her great. If you follow AOC on Instagram, you’ll find consistent videos of “behind-the-scenes” looks at what goes on in Congress. It’s fascinating.

What’s more, it seems as though AOC alone is showing you stuff that only she knows, that only she can let you in on. Of course, not many people are naive enough to think of politicians as isolated people. They have an entire staff coming up with and executing their every move. But AOC has managed to do so in a way that makes her feel like a real person.

The best writers are the ones that make it look easy. They can be read effortlessly. But the more effortless the words are for the reader the more effort the writer put in on their end. I think this is true of AOC.

You can look at Hillary's video and laugh at the incompetence of her team of advisors. But I think a similar group exists behind AOC's social accounts. They're just working harder to make it look like they're not working at all.

So, the question then is this: is AOC actually more genuine and authentic than other politicians, or is her team simply better at making her appear that way?

I don’t know. But in a world where separating a person from their brand is getting more and more difficult, the fact that I have to ask means she’s doing something right.