The packed hall explodes with applause almost every 30 seconds. To my left some kind of cool mom is having spasms of euphoric cry, while a group of youngsters to my right are going through a seizure of ecstasy. You might be mistaken for thinking MGMT are in town, but you could not be further from the truth. A 29 year old congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is speaking at a rally. But if you are edging to see someone like her getting to the top of political world in Europe, you are in for a dissapointment.

A hopeful tear-jerker of a speech from this working class latina from Bronx almost breaks my resolve to keep it cool. Let’s be honest, it is usually difficult to get excited by what American parliamentarians have to say at rallies, but make no mistake. This is no ordinary parliamentarian and no ordinary rally.

Last year, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had defeated a ten time congressman and Democratic Party grandee in a primary for New York’s 14 congressional district, and went on to become the youngest member of congress in US history. She was outspent by her rival by 15 to 1, but her campaign mobilized huge crowds and enthusiasm unprecedented in midterm elections. She single handedly caused the biggest political upset of the year and months later she still moves hearts and minds of the young progressive America.

From the very start, she has rejected the usual grown-up tone of the political establishment and replaced it with a language that a new generation of voters can relate to. Millennials who until recently thought politics to be something far removed from their world, feel they have found a political home. Thanks to this new whirlwind of young, straight-talking politics led by Alexandria, Democratic Party is energised and its membership skyrocketed to reach astounding 45 million voters. Gone are the days of the Democrats cosying up to big business and trading lobbies. Alexandria is bringing about long needed change with a smile and a sledgehammer.

However, if you are on the lookout for someone like Alexandria at the upcoming European elections, I advise you keep your shirt on. It is simply not possible. Subject to our political model she could have never been elected.

In the US they have a party primary for every congressional seat. An incumbent Congresswoman who wants to be re-elected needs to stand against any potential rival from her own party every two years. Only the candidate who wins votes among all party members in the constituency, gets to run on the party’s ticket at the upcoming election. So, it simply doesn’t matter how much you have been cosying up to the upper echelons of the party establishment if your locals don’t think you are the guy. And the grassroots usually favour candidates in tune with their ideology and their need for change. The US system has been designed to bring people like Alexandria through its ranks.

In Europe it is a whole different world. Most major European parties are centered around its leadership. In countries like Germany, Italy, Poland, France or Spain the process of choosing candidates by the local party charters is often a farce. It is up to the leader to decide who will get a favourable place on the electoral list. After all it is the leader who is accountable before the party for its electoral performance, so the argument goes he or she should hold sway in candidate selection. This means candidate lists are a result of inner party power struggles that occur behind the closed doors and journalists often have very little or no knowledge on the exact workings of these processes.

In the US the parties do not have leaders in the same sense that they do in Europe. There are posts that coordinate the party apparatus such as the Senate Leader, House Leader, Party Chairperson and Party Secretary. While in the media, they stand as a united front, in reality they often compete for influence, bringing much needed plurality of views and democracy to the party. In Europe it is all about “one leader - one vision”.

So far, there has been a grassroot appetite for open party primaries within the UK Labour Party, but the idea has been successfully quashed by the sitting Members of Parliament. I hope at least they see the irony of it.

If we ever dream of getting people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walking the corridors of power, we need to create a truly democratic Europe, where politicians are accountable to the party grassroots. A Europe with open primaries, where as party members we can have an active role in choosing the candidates and shaping the policies. Europeans are fed up with the status quo. It is our duty to give them the opportunity to have their voices heard or otherwise leave them without hope for change and risk losing their votes to the protest parties on the far-right.