The Question

This is a very interesting article and argument.

The basic contours are this: The House has a strange procedure called the Motion to Recommit.  It allows the minority the ability to add amendments, often uncomfortable amendments.  Because the Democrats are a "broad church," as opposed to the lockstep discipline of the GOP caucus, they see defections on issues that make a good bill worse. 

The question becomes how much latitude the Democrats should allow their more moderate members.  For a member like Ocasio-Cortez, it's difficult to conceptualize the dynamics that a rep from rural New Mexico faces.  There is an idea that the problem with progressive politics is that Democrats don't make a case for unadulterated liberal policies.  If only those white, rural voters were exposed to true, provocative arguments from leftist politicians, they would choose those candidates.

Because Republicans have been able to hold power with ironclad discipline, the assumption is that Democrats should exert the same discipline over their members.  But the reality is that the Democrats are not the Republicans.  This is still a country with a sizable proportion of the population who are committed to the Republican party.  Those mushy centrist types have to be part of the electoral coalition, because there just aren't enough urban votes to keep a majority in the House, win against the over-representation of rural America in the Senate and hold the White House.  It's not enough for Democrats to have 52% of the population on their side, because of how that 52% is distributed.  Democrats will need to have 55%+ support in order to create a governing majority.

Republicans have never paid a steep enough price for their lockstep loyalty with the Teanderthal movement.  They haven't been punished enough for embracing racism and climate denialism and plutocratic economic policy.  You can see it in the craven display during the Cohen hearing.  Most of them know that Trump is a crook, but they can't see their way clear from the ruffles of his skirt. 

I sympathize with the frustrations that new members like AOC feel.  But I'm not certain that those vulnerable members don't have a point.  The only way to know is to create a governing majority, pass liberal legislation and see how it shakes out.  And that might lead back to 1994 or 2010.