Keep It Simple, AOC

By now you may recognize the acronym for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest new member of Congress, who has burst upon the scene not only with her shocking upset election victory in New York, but with her current role as the face of the Green New Deal. Of course it’s not just her face – she is sharing the spotlight, at least technically, with a fellow Democrat, veteran Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts -- and hey, don’t say, “Ed Who?”

So what is the Green New Deal? At its core, it seems to be about emergency measures related to climate change, such as getting the US completely off of fossil fuels within 10 years. But wait, there’s more, including digitizing the country’s power grid, creating a high-speed rail network, changing farming practices to minimize…er…cow emissions (is that still in there?) and did I mention eliminating air travel? GND supporters have been tossing other stuff in the stew, like reducing income inequality, providing affordable health care for all, jobs at fair wages, and perhaps making higher education free. I’m not sure about what’s in and what’s out at the moment.

If I sound a little skeptical, though, it’s only because I think focus is important. When it comes to multiple goals, we can walk and chew gum at the same time, but THAT many pieces of gum? Success will mean prioritizing a few of the most doable and impactful things and making the same kind of commitment that JFK made to putting a man on the moon within a decade. That was an easy one to sell to the public. There was competition and romance in it – a lot more than in keeping Earth’s average temperature down. But when you propose drastic changes in lifestyles and business models, sales will indeed be your first job.

Remember the Occupy movement? It made a lot of noise but didn’t really change things. Perhaps one of the reasons was that every protester in the Occupy crowds seemed to have a separate agenda, There’s merit in picking one or two key goals and beating them absolutely to death. The Republicans have been much better at this than the Democrats.

Also, this is America, there is a need for a snappy slogan. What does our history tell us? Don’t Tread on Me. 54-40 or Fight. Remember the Maine. A Chicken in Every Pot. Loose Lips Sink Ships. Whip Inflation Now. Just Say No. Mission Accomplished (OK, well, not all of them work, but you get the idea).