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Article snippet: Sen. MORE (D-N.Y.). Sanders will return to the campaign trail on Saturday in the New York City borough of Queens for the first time since he suffered a heart attack. He'll be with Ocasio-Cortez, who’s expected to endorse him at the event. Sanders appeared to be losing momentum in the race even before his health problems, so the Queens stop is an important moment for the progressive firebrand to both reassure his supporters and tell the world he's ready to take on the other top-tier candidates — particularly Sen. MORE (D-Mass.). The timing of the Ocasio-Cortez endorsement suggests Sanders’s team felt it needed a burst. News of her expected support churned up positive headlines for the campaign at a time when it needed some good press. “Having someone like AOC promoting someone like Bernie Sanders might energize a lot of younger people to vote,” said Raffi Mercuri, the chairman of the local Democratic Party in Boulder County, Colo. “A lot of people see her as the exemplar for what the Democratic Party should stand for," he added. "A lot of people see her as someone who is untainted by a long stint in Washington, who’s got by just by speaking her truth; someone who’s just a woman of the people.” Mercuri added that Ocasio-Cortez’s influence among Democrats, particularly younger ones, was on display last month when she spoke at the party’s annual Truman Dinner. The event, held at the University of Colorado Boulder, sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sa... Link to the full article to read more