Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Made Her 2020 Plans Clear With One Tweet

On Wednesday night, with one tweet, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made her 2020 plans clear. Earlier that day, Vox published an article by senior correspondent Matthew Yglesias about why he thinks it's ridiculous that it's unconstitutional for young people and immigrants to run for president. In the article, he suggested that Ocasio-Cortez run for president despite the law stipulating that you must be at least 35 to do so.

"How about... no," she tweeted on Wednesday night in response to his article. "Sometimes political media is too fixated on personalities instead of policies."

Yglesias argued that people as young as 29 (Ocasio-Cortez's current age) are regularly charged with "life-and-death situations" like combat, parenting, or taking care of their loved ones. But Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that the midterms were literally only last month, and people haven't even taken office from that election yet. "The whole country JUST went through an exhausting midterm election. We need a break," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

The incoming New York representative said she wanted to focus on policy decisions of the upcoming Congress. "Can we instead talk about healthcare, a living wage, legalizing cannabis, GND, & other issues?" she tweeted.

Within those policy directives, Ocasio-Cortez has publicly and loudly supported the fight for a Green New Deal and announced she'll be one of the few members of Congress to pay interns, committing to a $15-per-hour wage.

Ocasio-Cortez has made her support of the Green New Deal central to her work as a incoming congressperson. She joined Sunrise Movement activists at House Minority Leader (and possible soon-to-be House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi's office last month to push for immediate action on climate change.

HuffPost reported Thursday that the push to form a select House committee on the Green New Deal now has support of four senators, 35 incoming or sitting Congress members, the Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs, and Service Employees International Union’s Local 32BJ, which has more than 163,000 members.

"We need to be ambitious and that requires us to think on a large scale and allocate the appropriate finances to fully address the climate threats that our planet is facing," 32BJ SEIU President Héctor Figueroa wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday.

Another one of Ocasio-Cortez's policies she has forcefully advocated for is health care reform — namely, Medicare For All. During her primary against Joe Crowley, Ocasio-Cortez was clear that she wanted to do more for her constituents' health care. This advocacy and support of a single-payer health care system has continued into her time as a representative-elect.

At the beginning of the month, Ocasio-Cortez pulled back the curtain on what it's like to get health care as a member of Congress. "As a waitress, I had to pay more than TWICE what I'd pay as a member of Congress," she tweeted on Dec. 1. "It's frustrating that Congressmembers would deny other people affordability that they themselves enjoy. Time for #MedicareForAll."

In an update on Dec. 2, Ocasio-Cortez said that what people want from health care is pretty simple. "People don’t want overly complicated choice between pricey, low-quality plans," she wrote. "We want an affordable solution that covers our needs, like the rest of the modern world. Medicare for All: Single-payer system, Covers physical, mental, & dental care, 0 due *at point of service*."

Ocasio-Cortez will be sworn into office in January. Then we can watch her work on these policy goals — and maybe, eventually, the presidency.