Opinion Today: How Ocasio-Cortez could win

August 14, 2026

Notable

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking from a stage. The foreground of the image is a blurry red.

Illustration by The New York Times; photograph by Gordon Welters for The New York Times

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can run. Can she win? “Maybe we aren’t ready to finally join the long list of countries that have elected a woman to lead them. But the best time to issue the test is when the opposition grows fat and lazy with winning. That’s where the MAGA movement is now.”

— Tressie McMillan Cottom, an Opinion columnist

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Hamas is ready to disarm. Let it happen. “Armed resistance in Gaza has reached its limit and has exhausted the rationales that sustained it.”

— Muhammad Shehada, a Palestinian analyst

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This is one of the most important policy decisions of our lifetime. “Major technological change produces major social change. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we are arguably on the brink of a productivity miracle capable of radically improving people’s lives — but only if we act now to prevent A.I.’s worst impacts.”

— Greg Jensen and Nir Bar Dea, executives at Bridgewater Associates

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Spotlight

Video images of firefighters carrying ice.

We Are Living in a New Inferno

Firefighters in Phoenix race to save lives in a city that’s only getting hotter.

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ICYMI

Stagflation, the scourge of the 1970s, is back. “Stagflation has arrived. Will Mr. Warsh keep up the inflation fight, or will he appease Mr. Trump? The midterms are coming, and with them the temptation to boost the economy now.”

— Phillip Braun, a clinical professor of finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

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Listen (or Watch)

The New York Times

The Ezra Klein Show

What if America Followed the Rules?

American foreign policy is at a crossroads. Could international law provide a framework for a foreign policy after President Trump?

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In Your Words

Re: “What’s Happening in Kansas Should Alarm Us All”

Mary Beth

Minneapolis

My oldest child has lived with mental health problems since age 10. Three years ago, they confided they were struggling with their gender identity. They had decided they needed serious medical help to address their gender identity issues. At age 40, they are a much changed, much happier human.

I am grateful my oldest lives in a welcoming region of the country where the laws protect them. However, given the current political climate in the US, I fear for my child - and all trans, nonbinary, gender queer, and others who do not thrive within the conventional M/F mold.

I am also grateful to the many LGBTQI+ folks who live or have lived openly, and who made it easier for my child to become the person they are meant to be. Thank you for being brave enough to be authentically you.

And for those of you who think we need to legislate the assigned-at-birth gender binary - why does your happiness and security depend upon denying others that same happiness and security?

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