Ocasio-Cortez On Biden's Campaign: 'Beating Donald Trump Is A Matter Of Life Or Death'

It looks like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-V.T.), has a good shot at winning the battle of ideas that will define Joe Biden's presidency. Sanders has already convinced Biden to again proclaim his support for a $15 an hour minimum wage, a signature issue always associated with the senator from Vermont.

Getting Biden to bite the bullet and go all-in for Medicare For All, the pet program stubbornly pushed by progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, will be a huge win for the party's far left. Biden still opposes Medicare for All, but has promised to expand coverage of the existing program.

Not as tough a challenge will be convincing Biden to go for Sanders' version of tuition-free public college education and the Green New Deal. Sanders and Biden are almost hand-in-glove on these issues. Right now, Biden said two years of college should be free and he embraced the framework of Sanders' Green New Deal as far back as June 2019.

With Biden and Sanders in agreement over many key issues, the new important concern now is convincing the latter's young and more progressive allies to see the former as their only road to getting the things they want done. Biden will have to work hard to win over Sanders' supporters, especially the vocal and hugely popular Ocasio-Cortez, who was once the Vermont senator's surrogate on the campaign trail.

Ocasio-Cortez said she will support Biden, but wants him to listen and hear progressives more. She said it's up to Biden to convince her he's the one. And, "No," the Biden campaign hasn't reached out to her to unify the party.

She also said if Biden "is only doing things he’s comfortable with, then it’s not enough," a clear reference to a demand for compromise.

"I want to respect his win," said Ocasio-Cortez to The New York Times. "He won because of his coalition building. He won because of his service. He won for a lot of different reasons -- but I don’t think he won because Americans don’t want 'Medicare for all'."

While Ocasio-Cortez won't endorse Biden just yet, this affirmation will come given both of them are fiercely wedded to the same goal -- ousting Trump.

"Beating Donald Trump is a matter of life or death for our communities," she contended. "I think it’s a difference between making an argument for harm reduction, and making the argument for, there’s actually going to be progress made for us."

She hopes Biden has a plan for the Latinos. In the end, she acknowledged all her musings depend on just one variable coming to pass -- Biden winning the presidency.

"But I know the goal ultimately is to win. And I’m not trying to needle as a way of making a point or to score points. I want to win. And I want to make sure that we win broadly."