Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is finally sitting at the House Democrats’ cool kids’ table, as one Democratic staffer put it the other day. After facing years of skepticism and derision inside Congress—lingering resentment over her defenestration of Joe Crowley, her chutzpah to undermine grand matriarch Nancy Pelosi, her support of party primary challengers, the substance of her actual politics, and her stardom—A.O.C. has embarked on a singular ascent. Last week, the chatter surrounding her three-day, five-stop “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders was that the 83-year-old populist was passing her his torch. Naturally, Sanders was mum and crotchety on the topic with reporters, but the optics were unmistakable, and perception often manifests reality in politics.