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Can a political party be too inclusive? Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez apparently thinks so.

In a lengthy New York magazine profile this week, the New York congresswoman responded with a groan when asked what role she might play as a member of Congress if former Vice President Joe Biden is elected president.

Oh God, she said of the man who has been leading the pack of her partys hopefuls in national polls. In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are.

That may sound sarcastic, but it also happens to be true. Thats not a bad thing. It also happens to be a very good reason for us Americans to have a two-party system.

But thats not good enough for AOC and some others on the partys left-progressive wing.

She mocked the big tent strategy by which candidates in both parties have tried to grow and diversify their voter appeal. Democrats can be too big of a tent, she said.

She even went so far as to suggest that the Congressional Progressive Caucus expel members who stray from the progressives party line. Other Democratic caucuses in Congress require applications, she said. But her wing will let anybody who the cat dragged in call themselves a progressive, she complained. Theres no standard.

Anybody who the cat dragged in? Ah, the impatience of youth.

I think former President Barack Obama had the right idea when he warned fellow Democrats against ideological purity tests. Ocasio-Cortez apparently thinks purity tests are a fine idea.

For years I have encouraged Republicans to broaden their reach and compete again for voters of color and other constituencies that used to feel more welcome in the party of Abraham Lincoln. Instead, we have seen the Grand Old Partys activists escalate their demonization of RINOs Republicans in Name Only in their ranks. Now I am disappointed to hear similar ideological purity promoted on the left.

DINOs? I dont think so.

But dont get me wrong. Unlike some commentators, I dont want to dislike AOC. I think she brings a youthful energy and excitement to national politics on the left that provides a much-needed counterbalance to the barnstorming extremism of President Donald Trump on the right.

Unfortunately, she also brings with her ideology an all-or-nothing attitude that can get in the way of her achieving her own goals. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she has endorsed for president, knows the value of compromise enough to vote with the Democrats in the Senate and run for president in their primaries.

For examples of how extremism can backfire, she need look no further than her Republican colleagues. The tea party movement rose up on the heels of Obamas 2008 election with a zeal for spending cuts which all but evaporated after Trumps election.

The federal governments budget deficit ballooned to nearly $1 trillion in 2019, the Treasury Department announced in October. Thats the fourth year in a row of deficit growth, despite a sustained run of economic growth. Apparently, deficit spending is only a sin to Republicans in Congress when Democratic presidents do it.

Ocasio-Cortez bristled in the New York profile at the suggestion that her movement is following a tea party model. For so long, when I first got in, people were like, Oh, are you going to basically be a tea party of the left? she said. And what people dont realize is that there is a tea party of the left, but its on the right edges, the most conservative parts of the Democratic Party.

Yet, she expressed frustration that her fellow Democrats havent been more candid about that. Its like were not allowed to talk about it, she said. Were not allowed to talk about anything wrong the Democratic Party does. I think I have created more room for dissent, and were learning to stretch our wings a little bit on the left.

Indeed, but try to avoid getting them clipped. At the risk of sounding like the pragmatic old man I am, I think Ocasio-Cortez should learn from her factions successes but avoid the hazards of overreach.

As the left-progressive Rev. Jesse Jackson preached to fellow Dems during his two presidential runs in the 1980s, It takes two wings to fly a left wing and a right wing. Right on, Reverend. Right on!

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Is the Democrats' big tent too big? - Lynchburg News and Advance

As he sat in a narrow jail cell in the city of Birmingham in 1963 just five years before his death Martin Luther King Jr., then imprisoned because hed violated a court injunction against public civil rights demonstrations, read a newspaper statement questioning his and others methods of pushing for civil rights reforms. The statement, authored by eight moderate clergymen, criticized the use of public demonstrations and urged activists to stick to the electoral and legislative processes to bring about the reforms they sought.

The letter grieved King so much he wrote more than 6,900 words in response on any paper he could get his hands on, in the margins of the newspaper and on other bits of paper supplied by a trustee and his lawyers. That Letter from a Birmingham Jail explained in forthright terms how King believed nonviolent protest would spur action by those with the authority to change segregationist laws. It went on to become an iconic document of the civil rights movement and is still discussed in schools today, more than 50 years after its composition.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed, King wrote. For years now I have heard the word Wait! This Wait has almost always meant Never. We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that justice too long delayed is justice denied."

He pointed out that of all the protests hed participated in, not one had been judged timely in the eyes of people who hadnt experienced segregation. They always told him, he said, that the passage of time would surely bring better race relations. But he knew that wouldnt happen by itself.

Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability, he wrote; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.

King grounded his belief in nonviolent agitation in what he had read in the Bible and in the history books telling of the nations founding. He found inspiration in the disobedience of the Jewish figures Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego and the ancient Christians who chose death rather than adhere to laws contrary to their conscience. He cited the Boston Tea Party as a massive act of civil disobedience.

And with the certainty that what he was doing was right, he submitted to his imprisonment, unjust though he believed it to be. He did so because, he said, an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

In other words, he believed so much in the ideals of justice and lawful order that he was willing to expose how our nation fell short of those ideals.

King may not have known it, but he was a man for his time, uniquely equipped to lead our nation away from its racist practices and toward fulfillment of the promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on which it was founded. His principles of determined nonviolent action remain relevant as we prepare to honor his legacy on Monday.

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A legacy that continues to live on | Opinion - Huntsville Item

Christina Moffett met the love of her life, Alexander, in high school. But it would be several years before the couple would start dating.

"We knew each other through drama and music, plus his dad was my teacher and our sisters played together in the same special-needs baseball league. When we were in college, our high school drama program had an alumni get together at IHOP and we reconnected there. We continued talking and became best friends. That Christmas, in 2013, he asked me out," the 25-year-old told TODAY Style.

The couple dated long distance throughout college until Moffett moved back to Wisconsin in 2018. Her sweetheart proposed on their fifth anniversary. As she began to envision what she might wear on her wedding day, Moffett turned to a few of the most important ladies in her life for some guidance.

"I'm very nostalgic and love family heirlooms. My grandma, mother and future mother-in-law had all mentioned at one point that it would be fun to have me try on their gowns. I figured I'd get it all done at once, so I had a tea party with them, my future sister-in-law and two best friends to model the dresses. I was also hoping I could possibly wear one of the dresses for the wedding," she said.

Moffett began the fashion show with the gown her mom, Karen Spaeth, wore an elegant lace dress with a big train and "felt like a princess." Next came the dress her future mother-in-law, Anne Moffett, wore, which the bride said "was the comfiest thing I've ever worn; it felt like pajamas."

Last but not least came the dress that Moffett's grandmother, Shirley Ekstrand (fondly nicknamed "Mite"), wore back in 1956. And the third time was the charm.

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"It was gorgeous, classy and timeless. It just worked. I twirled around in the hoop skirt and was beaming. I knew it was the look I wanted for my wedding. It was a very Grace Kelly look," she said. "I had seen photos of it on the mantle before but couldn't really imagine it until I wore it."

Naturally, Ekstrand was tickled pink to see her granddaughter all dolled up in the dress she once wore. "She was so thrilled and honored. She said the dress was all mine and I could do whatever I wanted to it," the newlywed said.

Luckily, the stunning dress didn't need a lot of altering.

"I only had it let out a bit, since Mite had worn a corset and I declined that. I also passed on the hoop skirt and instead wore an underskirt to give it some volume. Everything else about the dress was the same. I couldn't believe how good of shape it was in," Moffett said.

On her wedding day in October 2019, Moffet added another "something old" to her ensemble: earrings her grandmother had given her mother years before. Stepping into Mite's gown on that special day felt a bit surreal for the bride.

"It added to the whole experience and made it so much more special by adding deep family love to it. Mite is one of my favorite people and I was so happy to honor her 57 years of marriage. And, partly because of the dress, the theme of the wedding was vintage and books, so it matched," she said.

It was an equally special experience for Mite, who was happy that her granddaughter loved the gown so much.

"I was very honored that she asked me to be part of her wedding. And I was so sorry that Bada (Moffett's grandfather) wasn't with us, but yet he's in our hearts. I was so happy for both Christina and Alexander because they were meant for each other. And seeing her in the dress made me very happy," Ekstrand told TODAY.

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Bride wears her grandmother's wedding gown from 1956 - TODAY

GILLETTE, Wyo. From behind the counter of his brother's auto-parts store, Bubba Miller looks out at the 2020 presidential race and worries about what will happen to his hometown if a Democrat wins. Not just a Democrat, but, based on the current frontrunners, a liberal Democrat. Or a Progressive. Or an avowed Socialist.

"I wish we could build a wall around Wyoming," he says with a laugh. "I think there's just something wrong in their heads to think you can get everything for free."

Shifting the wad of tobacco tucked in his lip, Miller, 24, lays out the case for re-electing President Donald Trump, from this coal town's booming economy to the president's protection of gun rights,to his tough border policies and efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. As far as Miller is concerned, Trump can do no wrong.

He's notalone.In 2016, then-candidate Trump won 86% of the vote here as he swept every Wyoming county but one, the wealthy liberal enclave of Teton County, home to Jackson Hole.Only once since 1952 has the state voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, and in 2016 Trump beat Hillary Clinton here by the widest margin of any state. And ahead of the November presidential election, none of the 2020 Democraticcandidates aremaking any inroads with these most conservative of voters.

"I've very concerned about the direction of the Democratic Party," says Robin Clover, a 20-year Wyoming resident and registered Republican who's voted for Democrats at the local level. "They're either past their prime or far too progressive."

Here in Wyoming, where every other car is a pickup, and cowboy hats and boots are a working man's uniform, the 2020 election worries voters, who fear the election of a Democrat will upend their way of life, force the coal mines to close and the oil wells to stop pumping. Force them to pay higher taxes, force them to give up their AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines. Force them to subsidize the health care of immigrants. Force them to pay for college loans for city kids. Force. Force. Force.

"That's the problem," Miller says. "I'm an adult. You can't make me. It's just taking away from letting people grow up."

A sign on the outskirts of Gillette, Wyoming, offers residents health care options.(Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

Like his neighbors, Miller says he wishes Trump could lead the country the way he was elected to, without being second-guessed or attacked by what he considers a "corrupt" class of politicians and bureaucrats. The way Miller sees it, the fact that Trump is being so forcefully opposed perfectly demonstrates that the president ison the right track in drainingthe swamp in Washington, D.C.

The state Republican Party officially endorses a slew of other conservative positions, from disarming forest rangers, to returning to aDont Ask, Dont Tell policy for the military and banning birthright citizenship. The party has also called for banning the acceptance of any international refugees unless they are vetted Christians, defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, abolishing the EPA and the U.S. Department of Education, and strictly enforcing all immigration laws.

But for most voters here, coal and the jobs it provides are the biggest drivers of decisions. And that means Trump is their guy.

Because Wyoming has only three Electoral College votes, there's little chance a Democrat will even bother campaigning here, and even Trump is considered unlikely to visit, since most voters across the statewill back him regardless if they see him in person shaking hands and holding babies. That leaves Wyoming's voters in a uniquely powerless situation: Ignored by both parties, they are effectively sidelined despite the critical role federal policy plays in their future. And they're facing Democratic candidates who all see a bigger federal government as a solution to the nation'sproblems.

Polls suggest their worst nightmare could come true in November. Former Vice President Joe Biden,Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts andformer South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are all narrowly leading or in a close tie with Trump in recent polls.The president's supporters in Wyoming, however, point out that polls showed Clinton winning the presidency in 2016, so they don't put much stock in them.

Wyoming's approximately 578,000 residents, most of them white and living on land seized from Native Americans,have long prided themselves on a frontier spirit of rugged individualism and independence.They also see themselves as a world apart from the nation's big coastal states, all of which tend to vote Democrat. For generations, they've voted Republican and arguedthat big-city liberals can't possibly understand what life is like where there's just six people per square mile. New York City, by contrast, has 27,000 people per square mile.

But the outside world is increasingly moving in a different direction, where global warming is settled science, inclusivity, diversity and tolerance are honored,and access to health care is seen as a fundamental human right. The United Nations even has set a 2030 goal for achieving universal health coverage internationally. That's setting up an increasingly stark contrast for Wyomingites who see a Trump victory as essential to preserving their freedoms and independence.

"Our way of life here is threatened by a Democratic administration," said state Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, a Republican who represents a portion of the largest city, Cheyenne, where Trump won 60% of the vote in 2016. "Every Republican in Wyoming you'll talk to would agree that Wyoming is better off under a Republican administration. No one liked Hillary. They just knew that she was the enemy. And whether it's Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, I don't think thevote totals would change by 5%. There's just this attitude that you have to maintain control of the presidency at all costs."

Coal-fired power plants next to the WyoDak mine east of Gillette, Wyoming, provide electricity for millions of homes.(Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

To understand Wyoming, you have to understand a little bit about coal,the state's backbone, both physically andfinancially.In Gillette, which calls itself the "Energy Capital of the Nation," coal is inextricable from daily life. The mines outside of town set the pace, explosives blasting the windswept groundto free the coal. Many of the workers are no longer fulltime employees but work as contractors, missing out on the benefits but still keeping the same 12-hour shifts they used to before repeated bankruptcies prompted many mine operators to restructure.

In town, restaurants proudly display "coal keeps the lights on" and "friends of coal" stickers, and the diesel-equipment repair shops and heavy machinery repair yards line the approaches to the historic downtown, where the Gillette Brewing Company's bar is supported by pieces of drilling rigs.

Taxes levied on the vast trainloads of coal hauled to power plants across the Westmeans the state has never had an income tax, and its sales taxes are among the nation's lowest. While Eastern coal states like Kentucky and West Virginia get the president's attention, Wyoming leads the nation in coal production, with its approximately 5,500 miners digging more than the next six states combined.

Virtually all of that coal is mined from land owned by the federal government, whichleases the property to conglomerates to mine and then burn the coalfor electricity. That quirk of geology has long helped Wyoming maintain its financial independence, but even coal's strongest backers worry that times are changing. The federal government plays a key role because slowing down new coal leases or restricting coal-powered generating plants almost immediately impacts the miners themselves.

During the 2016 election, Clinton declared "we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, a statement that infuriated Wyoming residents who already dislikedher for reasons ranging from Benghazi to her work with the Clinton Foundation. While Clinton then went on to explain that she planned to offer job retraining to coal workers, Wyoming's voters -- who weren't going to supporther anyway -- hardened their opposition further.

A loaded hauler ferries freshly dug coal from the Eagle Butte mine outside Gillette, Wyoming. Wyoming's coal mines are open pit, which means workers blast and dig away the top layers of dirt to reach the coal seams below, and then cover the area back up once the coal is gone. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

They saythere's still life in coal, and that Clinton would have harmed an already struggling industry. And they say the Democrats running for president in 2020 have a similar playbook.

"I think Hillary would have killed our economy. And I think any of the people running on the Democrat side would absolutely eviscerate our economy. The Democrats seem to do everything they can to squash business," says Vicki Million Hughes, a Cheyenne real estate agent whose grandparents moved to Wyoming in 1920.

Hughes says she's 100% behind the president, aside from offensive tweets attacking specific people, because his focus has been creating a strong economy, growing industry and "jobs, jobs, jobs."

The strength of the national and local economy is a major factor for Trump's ongoing support in Wyoming, even though coal mining jobs have been on the decline for decades. Voters here believe four more years of his administration will keep the economy humming and extend the life of the coal mines for the foreseeable future.

"If God is good enough to give us a natural resource, we should use that resource wisely," says Hughes, who like many Wyoming voters, says she believes the planet naturally warms and cools, and that humans have little to do with it. "Why waste what God has given us?"

About 70% of Americans sayclimate change is occurring, and a majority -- 55% -- say it's mostly human-caused, according to an April 2019 study by Yale Universityin New Haven, Connecticut, scientists. In Wyoming, voters like Hughes and Miller say they have the right to disagree and worry that their voices will be shouted down by the modern-day shaming mobs populating social media.

An American and Trump 2020 flag wave in the evening wind outside Gillette, Wyoming, a small city with some of President Trump's most ardent supporters.(Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

"I have lots of friends who live on the coasts and they tell me it's time to evolve, that Wyoming needs to get past fossil fuels. But we make our living and livelihood off oil and gas and coal," saidZwonitzer. "You've got people who have been involved in these industries for generations."

That singular focus on coal and federal land management means Wyoming's voters spend littletime worrying about the nuances of immigration or health care reform, although many shake their heads at what they see as the entitlement culture of the Democratic candidates and their supporters.

Wyomingites pride themselves on their low-tax, work-focused culture, and the idea of erasing student loans or giving everyone government-run health insurance runs counter to their deeply held ideology of taking care of their own problems and being responsible for their own decisions.

A giant mural on the side of a building in Gillette, Wyoming highlights the state's two sources of income: Coal mining and cattle ranching.(Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

Miller, for instance, is paying off medical debt accumulated when he crashed his dirtbike and blew out his knee. He didn't have health insurance at the time, and instead paid the Obamacare tax because it was cheaper than paying for health insurance. While having to pay the bills "sucks," Miller says, he accepts that it was his decision to forgo insurance.

"Everybody in Wyoming would love to have the best college education,the best health care, and for it all to be done for free. And that's just impossible," saidCarl "Bunky" Loucks, a Republican state representative from Casper. "I just don't understand the mentality that you can get everything for free."

Loucks, 52, said he and many other Wyoming residents support both an audit of the federal government and a balanced budget amendment that would limit government spending to what it can actually afford, instead of adding to the ballooning national deficit. Loucks said he's frustrated the national debt has increased under Trump but saysitwould have been worse under a Democrat.Trump won Louck's county with 70% of the vote.

Miller says Wyoming has flourished under Trump, and none of his neighbors regret their 2016 votes. If anything, he says, Trump's support has increased.

"How can you hate someone who is so good for the United States?" Miller says. "I think his mouth gets him in trouble, but sometimes what he says is well-needed."

The license plate on a Wyoming resident's car pays homage to his father's long career as a coal miner in one of the mines surrounding Gillette, Wyoming.(Photo: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

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When Democrats are the bogeymen: A possible Trump loss has these voters very worried - USA TODAY

Media darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow squad members have never been shy about their plan to shove the Democratic Party toward adopting socialist principles. And now that were more than a year and a half into the AOC era, its clear that theirtwo-partplan is working.

The first component of their plan is to reshape the Congressional Progressive Caucus(CPC)into a powerful political force in Congress. Historically, thecaucus,which began in the 1990s, has beenprimarilya club for left-wing congressional Democrats. But it hadlittle political power because of itsmembersunwillingness to vote as a bloc.

AOC, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and other radical Democrats have been working to reform the CPC so that the socialist left has the ability to controlor, at the very least, heavily influencethe agenda for the entire party.

NEWT GINGRICH: TRUMP IMPEACHMENT WILL BRING PELOSI AND HOUSE DEMOCRATS CONDEMNATION BY HISTORY

Although the CPC hasnt totally adopted this approach, socialists havein recent monthsmade significant progress towardachievingtheir goal. The caucus was initially one of the primary drivers of the effort to impeach President Trump, and their demands for a government takeover of health care, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15, and the creation of a radical Green New Deal all made significant progress in 2019, laying the groundwork for 2021, when CPC members hope to have friendlier forces controlling the White House and Senate.

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But perhaps the biggestvictoryfor the CPC came in December when it won a widely publicized battle with House leadership over the detailsof drug-pricing legislation.

Thebill, titledtheElijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act,would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companiesfor a set number of drugs. Of course, it wouldnt be much of a negotiation. The White House Council of Economic Advisersnotedthat those who fail to meet the pricing standards set by the federal government would face an excise tax of up to 95 percent of sales.

The CPC supported the legislations framework, but it demanded that SpeakerNancyPelosi and House leadership expand the number of drugs covered by the legislation from 35 to 50, along with several other fairly sizeable changes. Pelosi initially refused, but once the CPC threatened to vote against thebill, House leadership was forced to cave and theconcessions were made.

After winning the battle with Pelosi, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a socialist andCPCco-leader, said onTwitter, This is a huge victory for the American people! When we stick together, fight hard and with principle, we help improve lives for millions of people.

Sticking together is exactly whatOcasio-Cortez and her allies have been demanding of the caucus from the moment they arrived in Washington, and its looking like their efforts have paid off.

The AOC-backed group Justice Democrats is working with numerous candidates across the country to unseatmoderate Democratic members of Congress.

The second part ofAOC and her alliesplan to reshape the Democratic Party is to push out of positions of power and influence those who dont agree with their socialist platform.

In an interview earlier in January with New York Magazine, Ocasio-Cortez said that despite the gains made within the CPC, it still has far too many moderate members.

According to the New York Magazine profile,She [Ocasio-Cortez]said the Congressional Progressive Caucus should start kicking people out if they stray too far from the party line.Other caucuses within the Democratic Party in Congress require applications, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out. Butthey let anybody who the cat dragged in call themselves a progressive. Theres no standard,she said.

Laterin the interview, when asked about the possibility of Joe Biden becoming president, AOC groaned and then said,In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are.

Ocasio-Cortez isntjust passively complaining aboutthe alleged moderates in the party, either.In September,AOCendorsedsocialist congressional candidate Marie Newman, who is attempting to unseat an incumbent Democrat in Illinois.

In October, AOCendorsed Jessica Cisneros, a challenger to Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, yet another sitting Democratic member of Congress.

Further, despite the fact Ocasio-Cortez has raised more money than any other Democratic member of the House, she has refused to give any of her vast treasure trove of resources to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, choosing instead to independently help socialists and progressives that more closely align with her vision for the party.

And thats just the beginning. The AOC-backed group Justice Democrats is working with numerous other candidates across the country to unseateven moremoderate Democratic members of Congress.

The Democratic Partyhas been under the control of the left for more than a decade, butthepresent shift is even more extreme than many anticipated was possible at the end of the Obama era. Instead of preaching tolerance, AOC and her friends are demanding strict adherence to their brand of socialism. Anything short of putting the government in charge of virtually every aspect of society is now considered too moderatefor their party.

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There is simply no room left in the Democratic Party for anyone who believes in anything approaching responsible government spending practices or limiting the power of the ruling administrative state in Washingtoneven if that limitation is slight. Only those who agree to walk in lockstep with Ocasio-Cortez and the other de facto leaders of the party will be tolerated.

As Ocasio-Cortezrecently said,Democrats can be too big of a tent.Or, put another way, moderates are no longer welcome in the Democratic Party. It belongs to Karl Marx now.

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Justin Haskins: AOC's socialist takeover of Democrats is working here's why moderates should worry - Fox News