Op-Ed: History May Be on AOC's Side in 2028

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn't announced a White House run, but Tressie McMillan Cottom considers that a mere formality. "Oh, she's running," writes Cottom in a New York Times op-ed. Cottom argues AOC is already building a campaign—and doing it in a way no woman has tried before. The congresswoman's egg-freezing video series, a foreign-policy talk in Munich, and a high-profile speech in rural Georgia aren't random moves, she writes. They're pieces of a strategic bid that leans into gender and power instead of trying to mute them. Rather than contorting herself to fit the "likable" mold that helped sink Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, AOC is reframing what a female presidential candidate can look like, from lipstick on Instagram to live-streamed civics lessons.

What's more, the political moment may suit her: voters frustrated with both Trump's GOP and establishment Democrats, a "glass cliff" dynamic that often elevates women at times of crisis, and a national fight over reproductive rights. By openly discussing fertility and autonomy, AOC is signaling a new template for women's leadership—one that may not satisfy her critics but could expand what's possible. "As we learned in 2008, when history says it's your time, it's your time." Read the full essay. (AOC recently suggested that the original "woke" movement went too far.)