Photograph by Cass Bird.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is preparing to become the youngest member of the House of Representatives. But is the quixotic Bronx universalist ready for the sharp elbows and sinecures of the swamp?

How are you preparing to weigh the urgent desires of your progressive base—such as universal free college education—with the reality that most change in Washington is achieved through incremental compromise?

I tend to think that we as a party compromise before we even get to the table. When you’re dealing with these insane people holding the country hostage on the right, you can’t go in with your end point. You have to go in with a strong position. If they’re trying to end Planned Parenthood, I don’t think we go in with “No, let’s keep Planned Parenthood.” I think we go in with “Let’s expand women’s rights to health care and have it guaranteed in every state.” I think we can compromise on our tactics and how we get there, but we can’t compromise where we’re going.

As a democratic socialist, what changes are you proposing to your party?

I think all of us are committed a thousand percent to winning back the House, because, frankly, it’s existential for the country. Almost every major institution is at stake. We are living in a world where impeachment is a realistic possibility. But in relation to the party, my whole thing is, well, what constitutes the party? Is the party just every elected official, or every donor? Or is the party every registered Democrat in the United States? I like to think it’s the latter. That’s where I come from. But a lot of people think the party is the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. We’re going to square up on Medicare for all. There are certain issues where I’m going to make some Democrats mad if they’re trying to deliver paydays for Wall Street donors. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to burn the house down over it.

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