Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the rise and rise of the attention candidate

His story should stand as a cautionary tale for what happens when a candidate or elected official relies too heavily on attention as a political currency.

While attention is a powerful currency, it's also a hell of a drug.

Politicians who rely on their mastery of attention too heavily tend to resort to increasing extremes and often have downfalls that are swift and ignominious.

Attention candidates have been part of American electoral history since its beginning.

It's pretty easy to grasp that when the capacity for a politician to command attention is more powerful than ever, it will come with some unwanted attention.

What's less clear are the implications in a political and media landscape where the attention candidate has gone from novelty to norm.

They're not what you talk about when attention is your primary currency.

https://spectator.us/ocasio-cortez-attention-candidate/

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