AOC and How We Engage in Politics

Kerem Tasdan, MPP'26, writes about his experience at the Institute of Politics’ recent event, AOC in Conversation with David Axelrod.

When the Institute of Politics notified me that I had been selected through a random lottery to have front-row seats for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campus talk, I couldn’t believe it.

And yet, there she was sitting in front of us on that Friday afternoon in Rockefeller Chapel, every pew packed to the brim as she sat down with David Axelrod, director and founder of UChicago’s Institute of Politics. The moment she walked onstage, you could see the audience light up, with many in the crowd standing up to cheer. It felt like watching political history unfold in real time.

There is no denying the impact that one politician can have on an entire political culture. Here at Harris, we spend a great deal of time thinking about how people operate within systems, whether as members of voting coalitions, advocates within social movements, or policymakers navigating institutions of government. Individuals matter, but so do the systems they work within.

AOC spoke candidly about those realities during her conversation. She reflected on entering the Washington, D.C. political machine for the first time and learning how to navigate its dynamics, from coalition-building to negotiating power structures and trying to establish her own credibility in Congress.

Perhaps more compelling than the mechanics of politics was what she shared about lived experience and how it shapes leadership. AOC’s time as a bartender, working with and serving amongst working-class New Yorkers for much of her life, sounded like it truly shaped her experience before entering politics. It didn’t really strike me, until hearing it from her live that day, as to how much your own personal background shapes how others perceive you in policymaking spaces. She was very forthright about the skepticism—and sometimes outright disdain—she initially faced because of her working-class background.

As she reflected on her journey, the values instilled by her parents, and even teased what future political moves she may make, AOC left us all with a pretty aura-filled quote:

“What’s funny is they assume my ambition is a title or a seat. My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go. But single-payer healthcare is forever. A living wage is forever. Workers’ rights are forever. Women’s rights, all of that… I get to wake up every day and say, ‘How am I going to meet the moment?’”

And that is a lesson in itself. Behind the academic theories, institutional frameworks, and ‘pragmatic’ realities of how government is ‘supposed’ to function, there is also a deeper motivation within all of us toward good public service. That’s what drove AOC to Congress, it’s what drew over 1,000 students to Rockefeller Chapel that afternoon, and I’m sure it’s what motivates us all to think critically about how we contribute meaningfully to our communities and push for the change we want.

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