Rep. AOC Highlights Severe Job Loss After Department of Energy Cancels Billions in Energy Projects - Rep. AOC

[Rhiannon12866]

January 13, 2026.

[thought crime]

1. AOC is just routinely so effective, so prepared, so articulate

Is she a little under-employed?

[Rhiannon12866]

2. She really is excellent, I subscribe to her newsletters, she accepts questions for her town halls

And even has translators. I'm not in her district, but I am in New York and unfortunately I've been stuck with Stefanik - who only has the rare telephone town halls where she blocks those constituents who ask questions she doesn't like or who disagree with her.

[NNadir]

3. I hope she will rise in politics. I'm a big fan.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Same here! Though I'm from the Northeast and wish I could attend one of her town halls, but it's just too far away

However, you're absolutely right and I wouldn't be surprised if I got to vote for her in the future...

[NNadir]

5. It may be unrealistic, but with Stefanik heading out to pasture, any chance of flipping that...

...district?

When I was a boy, my parents used to take me to the Adirondacks for vacations. In a bout of nostalgia I took my boys when they were late adolescent/teens. I noted a right wing energy as an adult that escaped me as a child.

Any hope? Things changing?

(I won't live long enough to vote for AOC, since that would involve her running on a national ticket - something I think in the realm of possibility, but not in my lifetime - but you might have the opportunity to have her in a Senate or Gubernatorial role.)

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I actually think there's a very good chance! *knock on wood*

Where I live used to be District 20 (with Saratoga and points south) and in 2006 we managed to flip the district from creepy Republican John Sweeney, who the paper said he could have the job for life if he wanted it, to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, but she had the help of the Clintons. That was a remarkable event when Bill Clinton came to the local airport to campaign for her. I swear that the entire district came to catch a glimpse of the former president - and he really is one brilliant speaker!

But then in 2013 we got redistricted, joined with the north as far as New York goes. And we inherited Bill Owens, a moderate Democrat, who seemed to have a lot of support from our northern neighbors who kept electing him. But then in 2013 he decided to retire and I went to the meetup to meet his chosen successor. His name was Aaron Woolf and I liked him a lot, made GOTV calls for him, but Stefanik inexplicably beat him, probably due to a popular Green Party candidate, but she was unpopular from the beginning, protesters showed up at her headquarters and she didn't release her schedule since protesters followed her around.

So she's been controversial from the start, and that was even before she became full on MAGA. A friend of mine told be that there was a local Republican meetup the night of the 2022 election and that's when she endorsed Trump for 2024 - so she could be the first.

But she gives little thought to constituents, she has her own agenda. If she ever has one of her rare telephone town halls, she blocks constituents who ask questions she doesn't like or who disagree with her. And a few weeks ago she made a rare public appearance, up north in Plattsburgh to dedicate a building, but she never got even one word in since she was boo'd off the stage. So I think that even the north country is ready for a change.

[NNadir]

7. That is wonderful to hear. Thanks for the update.

My family used to vacation in the Lake Saranac/Tupper Lake/Lake Placid area, which is where I took my sons out of nostalgia.