AOC- What was I thinking?

I honestly didn’t think ONE photo would cause so many attitudes, negative comments, and issues for my friends and followers but I was wrong.

Three days ago I ran into a rather popular freshman member of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. AOC was standing there on the sidewalk- no line to meet her, no security escort, and no huge group surrounding her. This family of four was trying to get a selfie with her and I saw them struggling so I offered to take their photo. (Hello, it’s just a decent thing to do)

After I took a few photos for them I asked AOC if we could take one and she said yes! Obviously, I fan girled a bit because if you see the above picture I completely forgot what PERSONAL SPACE is and got SO close to her. ( If you ever see this blog AOC- I sincerely apologize.)

After posting this photo though, I had several people unfollow me on social media- people who I’ve been friends with for years. I had some rude comments, friends being snarky, and people commenting “WHYY?”

Well friends, here’s why:

I absolutely admire and actually LIKE AOC. Shocking right? I disagree with her on basically EVERY single issue. I am conservative and vote Republican. I hate that she advocates for socialism, I hate that she defends Planned Parenthood, and I hate that she speaks so poorly of Israel. However, I LOVE her story. I love her determination, energy, and authenticity. I love that she is representing Hispanic women in Congress (a place that we are normally left out of). I admire her transparency- she shows the WORLD when she struggles and if you’ve seen her Netflix documentary then you’ll know what I’m talking about. It took AOC a huge amount of courage to fight and work for the position she currently holds. Whether or not you agree with her politics, her documentary is INSPIRING. (seriously, I cried.)

I hate her politics and probably always will but I don’t hate her.  I feel so sorry for those on BOTH sides who feel like they can’t cross party lines and appreciate another politician. If all you see when you look at someone is how they vote, please let go of that burden. You’ll never enjoy anything or anyone if you are only concerned with who they vote for. We need to get back to seeing a PERSON before we see their politics. 

I am so inspired by the amazing friends and peers I have who are also members of the Republican party. I’ve met wonderful people at conferences and political events thanks to TPUSA, College Republicans, and YAF.

However, some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met disagree with me on every issue and some of the rudest people I know are Republican. One of my best friends is a FAR LEFT liberal and he is sincere, hard-working, and really freaking smart. He encourages me and I like to think we keep each other honest. (Cheers to you, BC.)

Choose the individual, always.