Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the civic illiteracy of the illiberal Left

Again, Manchin represents the state of West Virginia, which has a population of roughly 1,793,716, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, represents a single congressional district, which has a population of roughly 696,664.

But Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks aren’t a failure of basic math (or research). They’re a failure of basic civics.

The congresswoman works in the House, which represents the electorate by population. Manchin works in the Senate, which represents the interests of the state. This is by design, as, again, most third graders can tell you. The entire point of the Senate is to protect the states from the tyranny of the majority.

Even if the population of Ocasio-Cortez’s district was greater than the state of West Virginia, which it isn’t, the purpose of the Senate is to ensure West Virginia has as much say in Congress as New York. The Senate is the mechanism by which every state is protected from being steamrolled by states with denser populations. The Senate protects West Virginia from New York as much as it protects Rhode Island from Texas.