Sigh... The poor lever action. How did it get stuck in this silly argument?
Of course a lever action would be suitable for home defense. Look, they aren't as fast as an AR, nor do they have the capacity. I don't think at any point that anyone would argue that in many ways the average AR (or AK) isn't far more suitable as a combat/defense rifle when compared to the average lever action. But...
But, the lever action rifle isn't exactly garbage either. A lever action carbine is light, fast-handling, has a suitable capacity for 99.9% of home defense scenarios, and is available in chamberings ballistically superior to the AR, and in some cases the beloved AK as well. It has the advantage over the AR as a "survival" rifle thanks to those ballistically superior chamberings, although I fully understand that this isn't really meant to be part of this argument. In my opinion, a .30-30 or a .357 (which would be my choice for a lever action solely for HD) makes for a dandy defense weapon. There are other chamberings that would also work, but off the top of my head, those two are probably the most common and easiest to find. Plus, I really like the .357 as an all-purpose round.
Thats not to say I don't like AR's. I have one with 20 rounds in the mag and one up the pipe not 5 feet from me right now, and if I had to defend my home, that is what I would use. My go-bag, such as it is, contains another two loaded AR magazines and not a single .30-30 round. In fact, my .30-30 sits in the closet. I am simply making the argument that the lever action isn't a bad choice for HD. To further that argument, I am not convinced that there is a "best" choice in terms of rifles for HD.
Well, whatever. In the end, I just think all this labeling of tactical stuff is nonsense. Your stuff either works in the way you wish to use it, or it doesn't, and all the ballistic nylon, kevlar thread and Mil-Spec Monkey patches in the world isn't going to change that.