进步民主党众议员亚历山大·奥西奥·科尔特斯重申，她计划在大选中支持该党的推定总统候选人、前副总统乔·拜登，同时敦促他的竞选团队采取严肃措施，解决该党左翼提出的问题。
30岁的奥西奥-科尔特斯是2017年当选为国会议员的最年轻女性，她一直是佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯的坚定支持者，后者上周中止了他的总统竞选。最近几个月，她还多次公开批评拜登，甚至暗示他们并不真正属于同一个政党。
但是在一个新面试发布者纽约时报周一，这位纽约进步党人辩称，不惜一切代价在11月击败唐纳德·特朗普总统至关重要。这位女议员说这是“我们社区生死攸关的问题”，同时指出，她将继续敦促拜登的竞选团队形成一个更加进步的平台。
当被问及她是否曾直接和拜登说过话时，奥西奥-科尔特斯说她没有。但她表示愿意与前副总统一起竞选，这取决于他的竞选如何推进。
“击败唐纳德·特朗普对我们的社区来说是生死攸关的事情，”她告诉记者倍。“我认为争论减少危害和争论实际上对我们来说会有进步是有区别的。”
虽然这位代表说她不想造成“分裂”，但她说统一民主党的进程不应是一个容易的过程。
“聚在一起的整个过程应该让所有参与的人都不舒服——这就是你知道它是如何工作的，”她说。“如果拜登只是在做他觉得舒服的事情，那么这还不够。”
奥西奥-科尔特斯表示，她的目标是在11月份“大获全胜”。她指出，到目前为止，拜登已经建立了广泛的联盟，但是拉丁裔和年轻选民压倒性地支持桑德斯。这位女议员说，拜登做更多的事情来满足这些社区的需求是至关重要的。
“我只想改善人们的生活，”她说。“虽然唐纳德·特朗普不在白宫，但我们会改善人们的生活，我们需要做得比以前更好。”
今年1月，奥西奥-科尔特斯辩称，她和拜登并不真正属于同一个政党。
“在任何其他国家，乔·拜登和我都不会在同一个党内，但在美国，我们是在同一个党内，”她在接受采访时说纽约杂志。当她为桑德斯竞选时，她反复提出对前副总统更温和的政策提议的担忧，警告说这些提议不会在11月激发选民。
尽管奥西奥-科尔特斯和其他进步人士已经证实，他们将在大选中支持拜登，桑德斯也是如此，但这位佛蒙特州参议员的其他支持者表示了极大的不情愿。
在周日的一条推文中，支持桑德斯的美国民主党社会主义者表示不会支持拜登。“我们不支持@JoeBiden，”该组织在推特上写道。桑德斯和奥西奥-科尔特斯都自称是民主党社会主义者。
拜登是否能够团结进步派和更温和的民主党人还有待观察。这位前副总统已经通过向左移动他的政纲做出了提议。上周，他的竞选团队宣布，他现在呼吁扩大学生贷款豁免计划，并将医疗保险资格年龄降至60岁。
“参议员桑德斯和他的支持者可以为他们为这些想法奠定基础的工作感到自豪，我很自豪地把它们作为我竞选的一部分，”拜登在一篇媒体文章中说。
最近的全国民调显示，拜登目前是大选的领先者。由“真正清晰的政治”汇编的全国平均民调显示，拜登领先约5.9个百分点。这位前副总统获得了约48.9%的选民支持，而特朗普获得了43%的支持。
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS SHE'LL BACK JOE BIDEN, BUT UNITING DEMOCRATS AROUND CANDIDATE 'SHOULD BE UNCOMFORTABLE'
Progressive Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has reiterated that she plans to support her party's presumptive presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden in the general election, while urging his campaign to take serious steps to address concerns raised by the party's left wing.
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, who became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2017, has been a staunch supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who suspended his presidential campaign last week. She has also been publicly critical of Biden on numerous occasions in recent months, even suggesting that they did not really belong in the same political party.
But in a new interview published by The New York Times on Monday, the New York progressive argued that it was vital to defeat President Donald Trump at all costs in November. The congresswoman said it was "a matter of life or death for our communities," while noting that she'd continue to urge Biden's campaign to form a more progressive platform.
Asked if she'd ever spoken to Biden directly, Ocasio-Cortez said she had not. But she voiced a willingness to potentially campaign alongside the former vice president, depending on how his campaign moves forward.
"Beating Donald Trump is a matter of life or death for our communities," she told the Times. "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."
While the representative said that she did not want to be "divisive," she said that the process of unifying the Democratic Party should not be an easy one.
"The whole process of coming together should be uncomfortable for everyone involved—that's how you know it's working," she said. "And if Biden is only doing things he's comfortable with, then it's not enough."
Ocasio-Cortez said her goal was to "win broadly" in November. She pointed out that Biden had built a broad coalition thus far, but that Latinos and young voters had overwhelmingly backed Sanders. The congresswoman said it was vital that Biden do more to speak to the needs of these communities.
"I just want to improve people's lives," she said. "And while we'll improve people's lives with Donald Trump not in the White House, we need to do better than what we've done before."
In January, Ocasio-Cortez argued that her and Biden didn't really belong in the same political party.
"In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are," she said in an interview with New York magazine. As she campaigned for Sanders, she repeatedly raised concerns about the former vice president's more moderate policy proposals, warning that they would not energize voters in November.
While Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives have affirmed that they would back Biden in the general election, as has Sanders, other supporters of the senator from Vermont have voiced significant reluctance.
In a Sunday tweet, Democratic Socialists of America, which backed Sanders, said that it would not be supporting Biden. "We are not endorsing @JoeBiden," the organization tweeted. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez both self-identify as Democratic socialists.
Whether Biden is able to unite progressives and more moderate Democrats remains to be seen. Already the former vice president has made overtures by shifting his platform leftward. Last week, his campaign announced that he was now calling for an expanded student loan forgiveness program as well as reducing the Medicare eligibility age to 60.
"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I'm proud to adopt them as part of my campaign," Biden said in a Medium post.
Recent national polling suggests that Biden is currently the front-runner for the general election. An average of national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics shows Biden with a lead of about 5.9 points. The former vice president has the support of about 48.9 percent of voters while Trump is backed by 43 percent.
