I hear what you are saying, but Thomas Sowell has been around for how many decades ? And Ben Carson has already had a national stage, and high levels of name recognition ? What have they done ? If you think social media followers is not important, then you don't understand modern day politics. The ONLY reason AOC has the power she has is because of her social media following. Candace Owens has lead the Blexit movement, and along with POTUS focus on growing his black voter base, has made huge progress in building the younger generation of black conservatives and independent thinkers.