Today’s cautious AOC would not have endorsed the AOC of 2018

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) finally endorsed progressive Abdul El-Sayed last week in Michigan’s fiercely contested Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat. The move was long overdue. In contrast, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) had endorsed El-Sayed more than a year ago and have been campaigning for him in the state.

This year, Ocasio-Cortez has gained serious media attention as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. But she could face erosion of the grassroots support she needs for a national campaign. By refusing to endorse progressives as they take on incumbent Democrats in competitive primaries, she has implicitly spurned those now trying to follow in her footsteps to Congress.

The 29-year-old activist Melat Kiros just defeated a 15-term House Democrat in a Denver district last week, after receiving Sanders’s endorsement. It was the fourth time in eight days that a democratic socialist had won a Democratic primary for Congress in a deep-blue district.

In New York City, three socialists won primary races, including two against incumbents. Mayor Zohran Mamdani had endorsed all three. Two of them, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez, had also received endorsements from Sanders.

Ocasio-Cortez, however, had not endorsed any of these winners.

The contrast with the Sanders approach is stark. Vermont’s senior senator has made a large number of endorsements to........

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