It’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s world now and we’re all just living in it. Well… at least if you’re a Democrat anyway. And in this brave new world, is there room for a Democratic incumbent who displays unacceptable behavior like refusing to demand the abolishment of ICE or not condemning the latest SCOTUS pick? That’s the challenge facing some Democrats like Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona who is seeking her party’s nomination for a seat in the Senate. And some of her constituents aren’t too wild about the idea. (Associated Press)

Ken Wixon, a lifelong Democrat, said he planned to back Sinema’s Democratic opponent, Phoenix activist Deedra Abboud, in the Aug. 28 primary.

“I supported (Sinema) before, but she’s too easily influenced,” Wixon said after attending a recent political meeting in suburban Phoenix where Abboud spoke. “She seems to roll over too easily.”

Sinema said her shift to the right is the result of learning to work with others in a hyper-partisan Congress.

“What I’m really proud of is my ability and willingness to learn and grow as a political leader,” she told The Associated Press recently when asked if her moderate profile would turn off Democrats. “That’s allowed me to learn new opinions and change as I’ve gotten new information.”

Sinema is a known quantity with legislative experience who could potentially have a shot at the seat being vacated by Jeff Flake. Making this Democratic quandary even more amusing is that fact that Sinema isn’t exactly a traditional centrist. She actually started out in the Green Party. But having read the lay of the land, she’s clearly learned that some compromise is required to survive in the swamp.

Will enough primary voters be turned off by Sinema’s moderate leanings to go all in on her opponent? Deedra Abboud is a Muslim woman with a campaign platform page which could mostly have been lifted straight from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s playbook. How would she fare in the purple realm of Arizona?

This is a fight which is being played out across the country right now. The Berniecrats and the Democratic Socialists are sucking all the air out of the room, leaving the DNC looking quite nervous. If the voters take a viable candidate like Sinema and toss her over the gunwales in favor of somebody screaming about abolishing ICE, winnable races may begin slipping away. Arizona is still more red than blue, but not as much as it used to be. I’ll concede that a Democrat might be able to win there, but it’s got to be the right Democrat. And if the Democratic Party truly is now in the hands of Ocasio-Cortez and her unruly supporters, that blue wave may turn out to be a blue pie in the party’s face.