Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has suddenly emerged as the leading prospect for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, overtaking several more traditionally positioned party figures in online prediction markets.
According to Mediaite, the New York congresswoman surged past Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on the Kalshi prediction market on Sunday, where she is now assigned a 21 percent chance of becoming the Democratic nominee in 2028, meaning a $100 wager on her today would return $451 if she ultimately secures the nomination. Ossoff currently stands at 18 percent on Kalshi and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at 14 percent, while on Polymarket Ocasio-Cortez is given a 22 percent chance, with both Ossoff and Newsom tied at 15 percent on that platform.
Her rise in the betting markets follows a burst of media attention, including her recent announcement that she was freezing her eggs and her headline-grabbing declaration that Woke 1 was crazy. The phrase, which plays into growing public fatigue with hard-left cultural politics, has raised questions about whether Ocasio-Cortez is attempting to reposition herself after years as a leading progressive firebrand.
She made the Woke 1 remark during an ABC interview in which she argued that people and politicians should be given a pass for backing radical ideas such as defunding the police, abolishing prisons, and even canceling Thanksgiving. Ocasio-Cortez said the Covid-19 lockdowns pushed many into a kind of ideological experimentation, asserting that the extraordinary circumstances made everyone more willing to entertain extreme proposals.
During this time, and especially during Covid, there was a huge opening of the Overton window and I think the doors were really opened in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place, she said. And I actually think the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful.
Ocasio-Cortez added, During lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric we would use today. Yet critics note she was calling for a real conversation about abolishing prisons even before the pandemic, underscoring how deeply she embraced the far-left agenda that many voters later rejected.
Despite that record, the hype around Ocasio-Cortez as a 2028 contender has been building for weeks, reflecting a Democratic Party still captivated by identity politics and celebrity-style activism. Democratic strategist Jenna Arnold told MSNBCs NOW on Sunday that she welcomed an AOC candidacy, praising her as so transparently authentic that she would supposedly connect effortlessly with American voters.
Podcast host Joe Rogan appears unconvinced, saying on his Friday show that he wants to hear Ocasio-Cortez explain how she was swept up in Woke 1. Rogan said he recognized immediately that defunding the police was a disastrous idea, and he suggested Ocasio-Cortez owes voters an honest accounting of her pivot if she intends to seek higher office.
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