In fact, AOC’s fellow New Yorker, Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, is one likely next speaker as No. 4 in the leadership. He’s just 50 — but AOC would rather support a primary challenge to him than see him move up.

The fact is, it’s up to ambitious politicians to claw their own way up, building alliances and friendships with their peers. AOC just lost a vote to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee because she’d rather stab her colleagues in the back than work with them. They might want to ask Jeffries for some advice.