CNN Democratic focus groups lauds Ocasio-Cortez: ‘She’s a badass’

A CNN focus group comprised of Democratic voters lauded Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday, calling her “the candidate of the future” and a “badass” during a discussion on the network’s morning program. 

The praise comes as Ocasio-Cortez has generated the most daily media attention of any newly-elected official.

{mosads}The self-declared democratic socialist has already been featured on highly-rated programs, including CBS’s “60 Minutes” and MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” while Netflix has acquired the rights to a documentary on the 29-year-old former bartender. 

CNN gathered six Democratic voters from Ohio, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for its focus group. Two of those states, New York and New Jersey, were won by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, while Ohio and Pennsylvania were captured by President Trump.   

“She is the candidate of the future. She has got this down pat. And she has also nailed it as a woman in a male-dominated field,” said Christian Tamte, a Democratic voter, to “New Day” co-anchor Alisyn Camerota. 

“She’s a badass,” said panelist Mary Reaman

“I love her!” another panelist, Carol Evans, exclaimed. “Wow! What a woman!”  

“This is how women in the male-dominated fields — we have to work like this all the time. She is the candidate of the future. Get ready for her because she’s coming,” Tamte added.

“I don’t feel like she’s playing games. I’m so excited about her. She’s smart. She’s intelligent and I cannot wait to see what else she does,” another Democrat, Mary Reaman, told Camerota, adding that she believes the freshman congresswoman is “asking the right questions.”  

“I think she really kind of personifies, you know, where we expected things to go down the line,” Democratic voter Michael Milisits said. 

The same focus group, which was comprised of people who voted for Clinton in 2016, rejected former Vice President Joe Biden as their presidential nominee.

Biden, 76, is expected to join the Democratic race for the party’s presidential nomination in the coming weeks. The former Delaware senator and presidential candidate has been leading a number of public opinion polls and is seen as the potential front-runner.

The Democrats gathered by CNN, however, said they weren’t interested in Biden, with most saying they wanted a candidate who was further to the left.