People were quick to point out that Democrats already were on record about needing to fight climate change. Sure, but by stating that they now plan to make it a priority they implicitly agree that it wasn't as much of a priority before.

Repetition of messages is important in keeping goals newsworthy.

In a crisis, and our climate is a full crisis, we have to do all that we can to make sure it remains newsworthy. AOC and those protesters were doing their part in that and deserved praise not scorn for doing so. Nancy showed her true leadership stature in how she handled it also. A win/win all the way around.

...maybe a misunderstanding about the regular jockeying for prioritizing issues and concerns which occurs in the weeks leading up to these leadership votes.

Another more nefarious explanation could be standard partisan attempts to marginalize the efforts of these progressives calling for radical action on climate change by exploiting memes and attacks generated during the election campaigns.

Something I've been considering is how past opposition expressed on social media to Democratic or progressive initiatives appears in retrospect, in the wake of revelations about widespread and dedicated attempts to sway opinions on the internet by insincere or false actors in forums like ours.

It's especially noticeable when traditional Democratic politics is portrayed by critics as some radical attack on the party by, essentially, self-described defenders of the status quo. Democratic party politics, in my view has always been functionally progressive, and attempts to force members to adhere to regular order and fall in line is glaringly ignorant of the anxiety and urgency of voters who ushered this new Democratic majority into power.

I have to wonder what the real point is in these seemingly reflexive criticisms of newly elected members like AOC from folks in our party as they assert their influence in our Democratic coalition. I suspect it's because they realize just how effective audacity can be in our political system.

There is no doubt that social media, and DU is included in that, becomes an extension of both inter and infra Party fighting, and a lot of that is done through subterfuge and covert agendas. People misrepresenting who they are and people misrepresenting their true concerns and goals.

A lot of personal ambition plays a role in politics, as well as a strong self righteous belief that the end is worth the means. It is reflected in how prevalent negative campaign ads have become that distort rather than illuminate issues. Places like DU become rife with "gotcha" postings also, the goal of which seems often be to pull something out of context to cast some adversary in a negative light. Democrats are not genetically immune to dubious tactics to pursue power, even with the best of intentions.

AOC is also used as a pawn here sometimes in proxy wars between those who still more subtly relive the 2016 primary wars.

Having said that, I've seen constructive criticism of her here as well, along with skeptical but open minds regarding her.

Go girl!