Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Visited People's Animal Crossing Islands

We're living in a strange time right now. Especially when you take politics into consideration. But some folks are making an effort to connect with their citizens in creative ways. Take Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for example, who took time recently to visit people's islands on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Ocasio-Cortez, often going by AOC, is a New York Representative. She gained large media attention during her election in 2018 for her progressive stance on politics. 

On Thursday evening, AOC posted on Twitter expressing an interest in visiting other people's islands within the popular casual sim game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. She had temporarily opened the Direct Message option on twitter for followers to send a message containing a Dodo Code, a small text code that allows people to visit their islands.

Over the next few hours, she had visited a handful of islands. Each visit was posted about on her Twitter, each with an expression of appreciation toward the owners.

"first ever House call (get it?) in the books! 

It was so sweet. Island belonged to a family of three. We exchanged fruit, took pictures, and I signed a bulletin note using my touch screen.

I was floored by how fast they typed and they taught me about the app. "

The digital public campaign attracted the attention of Gary Whitta, the co-writer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Whitta launched his own digital talk show, complete with virtual set, from within the Animal Crossing game. He had invited her onto the show. AOC expressed an interest in this as well.

The idea may have been inspired by another "celebrity sighting" within Animal Crossing. In April, acclaimed actor Elijah Wood made gaming news when they randomly decided to DM a Twitter follower, asking to visit their virtual island to sell turnips.

Regardless of political position, there's no denying that this is was a tremendously clever way to both connect with American citizens while generating positive publicity with younger generations. New Horizons is Nintendo's biggest game of 2020, with a real chance to become the best selling Switch game of all time. 

Will other politicians try the same? We can only imagine what Trump Island would look like.