Political scribe: Why Trump Superfans Secretly Dig AOC

As Politico’s Ben Schreckinger notes, Trump supporters “detest” what ­Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stands for, think her policies “would destroy the country” and just “wish she would go away.” At the same time, though, many of his most media-conscious fans on Capitol Hill “can’t help but admit” that she “has got serious political game.” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz openly admits he wants to be “the conservative AOC.” Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon also recognizes her skills. What Trump backers admire is that her ­approach “is so similar” to his, albeit with “a better understanding of social media and the benefit of positive coverage from mainstream outlets.” For some on the right, apparently, “the answer to handling the media-savvy congresswoman lies in the old adage, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’ ”

Ex-envoy: Afghanistan Deal Is a US Surrender

The framework agreement announced this week between the US and the Taliban in Afghanistan “bears an unfortunate resemblance to the Paris peace talks during the Vietnam War,” charges Ryan Crocker, a former ­ambassador to Afghanistan, at The Washington Post. Then, as now, “it was clear that by going to the table we were surrendering; we were just negotiating the terms of our surrender.” Indeed, he says, “the Taliban will offer any number of commitments, knowing that when we are gone and the Taliban is back, we will have no means of enforcing any of them.” Worse still, the deal was reached without the involvement of the Afghan government, with which the Taliban refuses to negotiate. By yielding to this refusal, “we have ourselves delegitimized the government we claim to support.”

Conservative take: GOP Must Deal With a Shrinking Base

Two popular Republican legislators warn that if the GOP is to keep from fading, incumbents and office-seekers alike must “embed themselves in unfamiliar territories, such as black and Latino communities,” reports The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard. Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, a close Trump adviser, complains that Republicans only talk to ­minority communities “six months before an election,” while Democrats “are there every month, every year.” And with new Census data confirming that the GOP’s white base is shrinking as Hispanic voters increase, that means Republicans “have to get out of their comfort zones.” Texas Rep. Will Hurd, the only black Republican in the House, says his party has to demonstrate that it’s willing to “engage people in areas that Republicans haven’t always gone to.”

From the right: Dem Governor’s Infanticide Endorsement

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had to do damage control after an interview Wednesday in which he appeared to support infanticide under his state’s proposed new abortion law — only to “make matters worse,” according to National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis. The law allows abortions during labor, its sponsor says. So Northam explained that an infant, after being delivered, “would be kept comfortable” while “a discussion would ensue” between parents and doctors over whether to abort it. Northam’s office later said this only happens in “severe fetal abnormalities” (which, for advocates, includes Down syndrome) and claimed he was only addressing what would happen if a woman in such cases went into labor. Yet his “unwillingness to explicitly condemn post-birth killing gives little comfort.”

2020 watch: Schultz Could Reveal Inconvenient Truth

Democrats are right to fear an independent presidential candidacy by Starbucks’ Howard Schultz — but not because it presumably would ­re-elect President Trump in 2020, says James Pethokoukis in The Week. It’s ­because Schultz, unlike Trump, “could credibly criticize their nominee for offering sketchy economic-policy plans that ignore obvious ­potential costs and trade-offs.” Of course, it would be better if candidates like Sens. Kamala Harris and Liz Warren heeded the gentle warnings from “smart economists” in their party, but don’t hold your breath. As “a super-successful businessman” with “a center-left bent, Schultz could make the plausible case that while he shares many liberal values, reality doesn’t always have a liberal bias.” And that would ­expose the fact that the left “suffers from a bad case of wishful thinking.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann