Just saw a poll that showed that AOC and Pelosi were neck-and-neck among white no-college voters in battleground states. Which is almost certainly AOC's worst constituency.
At least AOC brings something to the table in places like Montana. She's gonna energize young people, progressives, Latinos (who are a significant % in almost every rural area nowadays). Meanwhile the Democrat leadership is attractive to....who exactly?
Low-info folk called corporate dems like Obama and Clinton socialist and believed it with all their hearts, having AOC up there doesn't change anything. Look at how Bernie was actually more popular in rural areas while leading with socialism front and center. If you can actually promote policies that will help these people's lives and sell it well to them, enough of the moderates won't give a fukk what name you put on it. You'll win some of those states.
And I don't want to hear, "But the democrats have been promoting polices that would help them!" The lives of rural people in the USA have been doing downhill for 30-40 years. They're dominated by shrinking populations, losing family farms, losing small businesses, opium epidemic, etc. no matter who was in charge. Dems being somewhat better on social programs than Republicans are isn't what those communities need, they need a fundamental change in how the Department of Agriculture and federal government in general serves corporations first and people second.