Earlier this month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on Stephen Colbert’s television talk show and delivered an eloquent plea for U.S. government policy toward Gaza to be guided by human rights and democratic values. She warned of the potential for mass starvation in Gaza, which she termed an “unfolding genocide.” And she spoke in support of Democratic primary voters who had cast votes for “uncommitted” in protest of President Joe Biden’s acquiescence to Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza.

Then, when Colbert asked what she planned to do this fall, Ocasio-Cortez replied without the slightest hesitation: “I will be voting for President Biden in November.”

Ocasio-Cortez first endorsed Biden’s reelection last year; Gaza may have stirred her, but it hasn’t shaken her support. It’s unclear, however, if legions of young and left-wing voters will follow her lead. Most polls suggest Biden is not hitting his marks among young voters. Democrats fear that many may stay home or vote for one of the independent candidates offering an escape from civic responsibility. But Ocasio-Cortez has plenty of company walking a fine line between promoting democracy and human rights abroad and making compromises necessary to preserve such values at home.

Last week, a group of progressive House members, including AOC, voted against the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provided $26 billion in military and humanitarian aid. The group issued a joint statement, declaring, “If Congress votes to continue to supply offensive military aid, we make ourselves complicit in this tragedy,” adding, “we believe there is a moral imperative to find another path.”

Yet just two days earlier, the Congressional Progressive Caucus issued its agenda for the next Congress without even mentioning the plight of Gaza. Indeed, the seven-page list of bullet points features no foreign policy at all.

“It’s really about worker power and raising wages and lowering costs for poor people, middle-class Americans and the working people across this country,” Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal, chair of the progressive caucus, told NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur. “We know we’re going to have to put together that progressive coalition. And I think this is the thing that allows us to say, ‘Look, here’s what we’re fighting for.’”

Jayapal has walked the same tenuous line as Ocasio-Cortez, albeit less deftly. Last July, she called Israel a “racist state.” The House Democratic leadership issued a joint statement that, while avoiding mention of Jayapal, bluntly refuted her assertion. Jayapal apologized.

The Progressive agenda released last week doesn’t just say what the left is fighting for, it says, look, here’s what we’re not fighting over. Gaza is the most glaring example but it’s not the agenda’s only notable omission. The plan also makes no mention of “Medicare for All,” the great rallying cry of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Equally noteworthy is the preeminence of economic concerns in the agenda. The document leads with a laundry list of proposals to lower the cost of living, ranging from capping out-of-pocket childcare costs at 7 percent of household income to investing $250 billion in affordable housing. The lengthy cost of living section is followed by one titled “Boost Wages and Worker Power,” promoting an increased minimum wage and an array of strengthened labor rights. Only after dozens of proposals on improving living standards does the document get around to a “justice” agenda focused on social equality and a “fair and humane immigration system.”

The contrast in recent days between the Democratic progressive wing and the GOP’s most dedicated saboteurs in Congress could not have been starker. While the Democrats’ left flank was working to shore up the party’s defenses against the MAGA threat, treading carefully to avoid creating new vulnerabilities, the GOP’s most radical members were rallying around Russian talking points and promising vengeance to any in their party who dare to govern.

The Democratic coalition is broader and more diverse than the GOP coalition. But it generally manages to be less unwieldy. There is no Democratic equivalent of the nihilism that animates so much destructive behavior in the GOP. In a wide-ranging interview last week with Mehdi Hasan, Ocasio-Cortez noted that the progressives were not the only faction of her party making accommodations. Veteran Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were taking stock of long-held positions on unconditional aid to Israel. The party is conflicted, but appears to be grappling in good faith with its governing responsibilities.

Asked by Hasan what she would say to a young progressive who has turned away from Biden, Ocasio-Cortez was clear. “In my personal view, I believe this election is about more than the president,” she said. “I have a vested interest in protecting democracy – not just here, domestically, but globally.” Former President Donald Trump, she pointed out, seeks to dismantle democracy, which is a prerequisite for any progressive agenda at all. “I am taking that personally very seriously,” she said. How seriously? This week, Ocasio-Cortez made an Earth Day appearance with Biden to help tout his climate policies.

AOC nonetheless hedges her support. She has previously said that, if they were European politicians, she and Biden would belong to different parties. And she speaks of being in “opposition” to Biden even as she endorses his reelection.

It remains to be seen how young and left-wing voters will respond to such cues. But Jayapal, AOC and other leaders are modeling the kind of compromise required by pluralism and democracy – especially while confronting a threat that is at once absurd and grave. The U.S. is a big, complex, diverse, country. If your faction is getting everything it wants – precisely the kind of lopsided dominance that MAGA strives for — then something is wrong.

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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

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