“Get ready for her,” one panelist warns about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “she’s the candidate of the future.” Alisyn Camerota released more of her focus-group questioning of former Hillary Clinton voters to get a sense of where the Democratic Party may be heading. In this clip, the panel has respect for Nancy Pelosi as a party leader, but their enthusiasm for the frosh House member from Brooklyn bubbles over.

WARNING: The word “badass” makes a dully predictable appearance.

Alisyn Camerota asked a panel of 2016 Hillary Clinton supporters their thoughts on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The panel praised her.

"Wow."
"I love her."
"What a woman."
"I don't feel like she's playing games." https://t.co/R0wrRkSIll pic.twitter.com/BBdszY9T3E

— CNN (@CNN) March 6, 2019

When media analysts ask Why do conservatives obsess over Ocasio-Cortez?, play them this clip. What’s the basis for this hero worship? Ocasio-Cortez won one election and has done nothing much other than float a proposal to eliminate air travel and “farting cows.” It’s not just that the media covered Ocasio-Cortez obsessively, although they have. Her surprise win over a sleeping Joe Crowley was notable enough but hardly unprecedented, and yet the media has consistently framed her as a new force in American politics.

And maybe she is, at least if this focus group is an indication, but it’s nothing more than celebrity worship. If that’s so, don’t blame us for pointing out that the empress is wearing few if any intellectual clothes. Especially since the mainstream media seems a lot less interested in pointing that out with Ocasio-Cortez than they were with Sarah Palin, or even Dave Brat, who pulled off the same kind of win over Eric Cantor.

The same panel had a much different reaction to a Democrat who’s been around longer than Seinfeld. Allahpundit briefly noted this yesterday but it’s worth revisiting in the context of all the AOC gushing above:

Alisyn Camerota asked a panel of six Democrats, "How many of you would like to see Joe Biden get in? Show of hands."

No one raised their hands.

"His time is done," said one panelist. https://t.co/WlCE8xj0mJ pic.twitter.com/e55IFCYF8b

— New Day (@NewDay) March 5, 2019

I can respect the “his time is done” argument, given Biden’s age and his nearly 50 years in Washington. Populist times call for outsiders and fresh blood, which is a problem for a movement with Bernie Sanders as its titular head. However, remember that these are Hillary Clinton voters, people who backed a candidate who’s nearly as old and was in 2016 even more a part of a bygone Democratic establishment. They do say the same thing about Hillary now, but …

If this group is at all representative of Democratic primary voters — it’s not, but humor me for a moment — where exactly does Biden fit into the 2020 race? As the nostalgia candidate? Polls consistently show him as leading the field among Democratic primary voters, so perhaps the problem here is CNN’s ability to find a focus group that connects to reality. If not, though, this looks like a party about to sail off the left edge of the world on the basis of nothing more than celebrity squee.