'Democrats need AOC to meet this historic moment': Op-ed names Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as Democrats' best hope in 2024

Northern Starr Strategies founding partner Michael Starr Hopkins has authored an op-ed suggesting that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York would be the best candidate for Democrats to run in the 2024 presidential election.

"She is a force to be reckoned with, and in 2024 Democrats are going to need her force to reckon with Republicans," Hopkins wrote. "If Jan. 6 was a dry run for what we'll see in 2024, we need an inspirational and generational candidate to fight back. Democrats need AOC to meet this historic moment."

Hopkins said that the congresswoman "would electrify the party's base, turn out the youth at record levels and bring the party together by acknowledging the threat posed by electing Trump Republicans."

"In the age of social media and quick sound bites, no Democrat is more prepared to embarrass a bully like Donald Trump or Florida governor Ron DeSantis and return some chutzpah to the Democratic Party. There will be no going high when they go low anymore. It appears the only rule is there are no rules, and AOC is ready to enter the cage and fight for our democracy," Hopkins wrote. "It's not just Democrats that need Ocasio-Cortez to electrify a nation and ensure Trump or DeSantis doesn't find his way into the White House. We all need a leader who knows the price of gas, can tell you the cost of milk and still remembers trying to figure out how she could keep the lights on."

While AOC is not yet old enough to serve as president, she will turn 35 years old just before the 2024 presidential election, meeting the minimum age requirement stipulated by the Constitution.

President Biden said last year that he plans to run for re-election, provided that he is still healthy. He is already the oldest president in U.S. history, and would be 86 years old by the end of a second term in office.

But even if Biden does mount a re-election bid, he could face a tough primary contest. A CNN poll found that 75% of "Democrats/Democratic-leaning independents who are registered to vote" think the party should tap someone other than Biden as the 2024 nominee, while just 25% think the party should go with Biden.