A report from the news outlet Axios says “top Democrats” want Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to continue her war against the Establishment of her party by challenging one of the two senators in her home state of New York: Sen. Chuck Schumer or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Axios is saying Schumer would be the more likely target.

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The Senate minority leader more often sides with moderate Democrats than with progressives.

On the other hand, Gillibrand could be a more vulnerable candidate given her poor primary performance thus so far.

Another factor: Gillibrand won’t be up for re-election until 2024.

Schumer will be in 2022, which could be more to AOC’s liking.

But there are other concerns. The Daily Wire notes:

There are drawbacks. Even if Ocasio-Cortez is planning to move on to bigger and better things, she’ll need a base of support she currently lacks.

National popularity is one thing, but a Senate run will require the attention of every voter in New York State, and Ocasio-Cortez is only popular with voters in and around Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Those might be key constituencies for a Senate run, but they by no means guarantee a victory for a first timer.

And as far as Ocasio-Cortez is concerned, they are also by no means hers to fall back on.

She’s popular in her home district but not particularly effective, and has yet to open a constituent office from Bronx residents, preferring to focus her attention less on local needs and more on building a national progressive movement.

Ocasio-Cortez’s Communications Director Corbin Trent told Axios, “Having worked on her campaign, I don’t think we’re going to be moving to a different role any time soon.”

Still, anything can happen in four years — particularly if enough Democrats want it to.

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The ongoing battle between Democrat moderates and the “socialist” Left of the party represented by Ocasio-Cortez — along with fellow congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and 2020 presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

A takedown of Schumer would show how far Left the Democrats have become more than anything Ocasio-Cortez has accomplished to date.

Stay tuned.

This piece originally appeared in The Political Insider and is used by permission.

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