Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is featured in a campaign ad for Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), burnishing his leftist credentials and invoking the Marxist political organization Black Lives Matter and the radical Green New Deal.
The Boston Globe, which endorsed Markey this week, reports that AOC is a “star” in the ad to be aired on television:
Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Markey in his reelection fight against Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III in September, narrates the entire 30-second spot, describing the 74-year-old Markey as the progressive “champion” that America needs to solve the problems of “systemic injustice and inequality.” As she speaks, images of Black Lives Matter protests and scenes from the coronavirus pandemic flash on the screen.
Ocasio-Cortez notes that Markey was an original cosponsor of Medicare for All and wrote the Green New Deal with her, which has become the signature legislative issue for both lawmakers.
“When it comes to progressive leadership, it’s not your age that counts,” Ocasio-Cortez states, addressing the camera directly. “It’s the age of your ideas. And Ed Markey is the leader that we need.”
Markey is being challenged by 39-year-old Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA), who has accused the Globe of endorsing the longtime senator to please its “disproportionately white, well-off, well-educated readers.”
“The scathing email to supporters, first reported by Politico, was penned by campaign manager Nick Clemons, whose unusually sharp criticism surprised many in a state where the Stanford and Harvard University-educated Kennedy is the latest member of the state’s most prominent political dynasty to run for Senate,” the news outlet reported.
“If you are one of the Globe’s disproportionately white, well-off, well-educated readers, the past few decades have been pretty good for you. The status quo has delivered. Ed Markey has done just fine,” Clemons wrote. “But if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of normal, working people in this Commonwealth, if you are black or brown, if you are an immigrant or a veteran, if you are sick or struggling or suffering — you know that business as usual isn’t working.”
“The Markey campaign said in a news release that the AOC ad ‘will be a central part’ of the campaign’s TV strategy, playing on broadcast and cable in all Massachusetts media markets. A campaign spokesman said their total TV buy for the next week is more than $476,000,” the Globe reported.
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