It might surprise some people that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, American politics’ most dynamic progressive icon, wishes Democrats would stop thinking “that the power struggle within the party is between progressives and moderates,” as she told me recently.

“Whether it’s advisers or the consultant class, they are losing elections because of it,” she said.

Instead, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez believes her party can come together around fighting for the little guy and gal, a core value she insists does not belong to any particular ideological camp — or at least shouldn’t. “I believe economic populism is the path forward,” she said, a message she has taken on the road recently with Senator Bernie Sanders, at joint rallies on his Fighting Oligarchy tour that are the closest thing to an organized, energized bounce-back effort within the Democratic Party since Republicans won full control of Washington in November.

Can Democrats become the party of the working class again? Can economic populism unite progressives and moderates? Can a Democrat win in a swing district or state on a populist platform? Ms. Ocasio-Cortez thinks so. But whether she’s right or not, the important thing for Democrats at this early stage of the Trump-wilderness period is that she is putting big ideas and arguments on the table. There’s not enough of that in the party right now.

There is clearly plenty of anti-Trump energy to be harnessed — so much so that the president was nervous enough about possibly losing a red-district race to replace Representative Elise Stefanik that he pulled her nomination to be U.N. ambassador. But many Washington Democrats are struggling to push back against Mr. Trump, and the party seems to be casting about for inspiration and direction. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is taking up that mantle like few others, and along the way, challenging some of the caricatures of her as an upstart ideologue.

Case in point: In taking to me about economic populism, she didn’t cite members of the lefty Squad, but instead name-checked a very different colleague. “Look at a front-liner like Jared Golden, who is on Medicare for all,” she said, citing the Maine congressman who has staked out a liberal position on health care despite being a self-identified “progressive conservative” representing a Trumpy district. “This is why I say we need to have a rejection of this left-right, because there are folks that can lean into certain issues,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “Sure, there are third rails like immigration that are not going to fly in every single district. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t vocally support policies that are going to help people pay their bills.”

Mr. Golden sees things a bit differently — “the folks back home know that I am not driving in the same direction she is,” he told me — and would take populism in some slightly different directions, such as focusing on debt reduction. But even if the two are not perfectly aligned, they offer a sense that there’s energy and determination yet in a party that many Americans have turned on.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.