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The Right is “obsessed” with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. At least, that’s what reporters keep telling me.

Slate asks, “Why the Right Is So Obsessed With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez[?]”

The Huffington Post declares in an eye-roller of a headline, “Conservative Men Are Obsessed With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Science Tells Us Why.”

“Conservatives can’t stop obsessing over Ocasio-Cortez. Their latest target: her boyfriend,” the Washington Post reports.

Members of the press are not wrong to say conservatives and Republicans are maybe a little too fixated on the 29-year-old freshman congresswoman. But let that criticism come from anywhere else but the news industry. After all, reporters and pundits are just as preoccupied with tracking every little thing the New York congresswoman says and does. The only difference is their obsession is loving — more Beatlemania than angry ex-boyfriend.

I mean, you want to talk about people who are captivated by Ocasio-Cortez? Let’s look at just a handful of headlines published in the last month.

On Feb. 6, after President Trump delivered his annual State of the Union address, Insider actually ran a headline that read, “People are obsessed with the white cape Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore to the State of the Union. Here’s where you can get a look-alike version.”

The Hill published a story on Feb. 21 titled, “Video of Ocasio-Cortez being lovingly attacked by a dog goes viral after #NationalLoveYourPetDay.”

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is inspiration behind upcoming comic book,” read a Feb. 27 headline published by ABC News, which also dedicated actual airtime to covering the book.

NBC News went with this on Feb. 26: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is ‘taking on the GOP’ in new comic book.” The story’s subhead read, “Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear white pantsuits.”

“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will become a superhero in a new comic book,” reported CNN.

We got this same comic book PR pitch, by the way. It found my editor’s circular file.

On Feb. 27, Rolling Stone magazine revealed Ocasio-Cortez would be featured in an upcoming cover story titled “Women shaping the future: Nancy Pelosi and the new voices of the House,” along with other Democratic congresswomen, including anti-Semite Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. Definitely not-obsessed news reporters followed up by offering fluffy, pro-Ocasio-Cortez coverage of Rolling Stone’s fluffy, pro-Ocasio-Cortez cover story.

“Rolling Stone Features Democratic ‘Women Shaping The Future’ As Cover Stars,” read one Huffington Post headline.

Boing Boing went with this particularly servile tribute: “AOC’s Rolling Stone interview: portrait of a principled, shrewd, brilliant activist/politician.”

And then there’s my personal favorite, which comes from Reuters’ devastatingly titled “ Top News” Twitter account:

These are not “news” stories by any stretch of the imagination. Not one of them. These are love letters written by starstruck fans who also happen to work for media organizations. Indeed, too many in the press act like Ocasio-Cortez’s personal acolytes, eager to update the faithful on the latest, greatest “slay queen” moments from the slayest of queens. There has been no shortage of these stories since she won her primary in 2018. The press keeps pumping these things out, one after the other, which is to say the Right alone is not responsible for why you hear the name “Ocasio-Cortez” nearly every day.

There’s no difference in the amount of attention the congresswoman gets from the nation’s leading newsrooms and the amount of attention she gets from the Right. The only difference is in tone. Conservatives and Republicans are highly critical of Ocasio-Cortez, while the average newsroom might as well be lining up for her autograph.

Yet only the Right is accused of being “obsessed.” Ironically enough, this accusation comes primarily from the only corner of the world that it is just as captivated by the New York congresswoman.