Democrats have a laundry list of options for their 2028 presidential candidate, and none of them are particularly dazzling.

So when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, didn’t cross out the possibility that she would run for the presidency on May 8, I should have been elated. Right?

"My ambition is to change this country,” she said during a conversation with David Axelrod at a University of Chicago event. “Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, and elected officials come and go. But single-payer health care is forever, a living wage is forever, workers' rights are forever, women's rights, all of that.”

Voters seem enthusiastic about the possibility of her running for president. A recent Atlas National Poll shows the Bronx-based representative ahead of former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and former Vice President Kamala Harris amongst Democratic voters in a possible 2028 primary lineup, garnering 26% support.

Yet despite my general admiration of Ocasio-Cortez and my belief that she’s the natural heir to the legacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, I don’t know if she should run for president.

Not right now, at least.

It’s not that I disagree with her on policy or doubt her ability to mobilize voters. What........

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