Sinema's Defection from Democrats Sows Welcome Chaos Among the Political Class
We should appreciate anything that shakes the confidence of both major parties.
For those of us who take pleasure from the tribulations of the political class, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's defection from the Democratic Party is an unexpected gift in a season that already delivered considerable amusement. Amidst plummeting approval for the president, growing disenchantment with his predecessor, the loss of the House by unpopular Democrats to underperforming Republicans who took just enough seats for control, partisans of the major parties have good reason to sulk. And while it's not clear that Sinema's move will change much in the Senate, it's a welcome reminder that Democrats and Republicans alike have only a tentative hold on loyalty and power.
Sinema announced her decision to depart the Democratic party and sit as an independent in written and video statements days after Democrats briefly celebrated winning a Senate seat in Georgia.
"In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought. Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful legislating," Sinema wrote. "Americans are told that we have only two choices—Democrat or Republican—and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes."
"That's why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington," she added. "I registered as an Arizona independent."
It's a statement reflecting widespread concerns that American politics are an exercise in negative partisanship, characterized by hatred for opponents and abuse of power to hurt perceived enemies.
But Sinema's statement was also the utterance of a politician, which makes you wonder just how much we should believe what she says. After all, September polling found her more popular (or less unpopular) among Arizona Republicans and independents than Democrats, suggesting that her future with the party was shaky, at best. Progressive Democratics planned a primary challenge against her in 2024, probably in the form of Phoenix Rep. Ruben Gallego. He, for one, tagged her exit from the party as pure opportunism.
"Senator Sinema is once again putting her own interests ahead of getting things done for Arizonans," he snarked after her announcement.
But not everybody sees Sinema as entirely driven by self-interest. Among Arizonans who know her, she has a reputation for sincerity, if not for deep commitment to specific principles.
"People accuse Kyrsten of being a political chameleon and an opportunist. I think she's an empath," Tom Jenney, an Arizona libertarian who has worked for groups like the Goldwater Institute and now calls himself a "recovering lobbyist and community organizer," tells me.
"She really likes people and wants to feel what they're feeling," Jenney says. "And, of course, she wants them to like her. When she was hanging out with college radicals and downtown types 15 years ago, and representing them in the state legislature, she channeled their leftie angst and anger and ideology. Now that she's representing the average Arizonan, and talking to a lot of centrists, she's channeling a lot of centrist sentiments. It's hard not to like Kyrsten, if you spend a few minutes with her. When I was with the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers, 15 years ago, we awarded her our Lenin Prize, for being the most socialistic legislator. It was a joke award, but she showed up at our luncheon and accepted the prize—wearing red. She talked with us and our activists and was very charming. She told us that government wasted a ton of money and that she loved the free market. In that moment, I believe that she believed that. At her core, she's not an ideologue. Certainly not a rigorous one."
Unburdened of her Democratic affiliation and party discipline, Sinema may feel even freer to chart a more moderate course and reject radical demands with the flare that has infuriated lefties in the past. That includes the "fuck off" ring she sported last year in response to progressive critics.
Or maybe not.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) confirmed that the senior Arizona senator will retain the committee assignments that she gained as a Democrat. Presumably, she offered some sort of assurances in return for keeping those posts; Senate Democrats must believe that, even as an independent, she'll give them value.
But how independent has Sinema been? Well, that depends on how you assess her time in Congress.
Kyrsten Sinema has supported President Biden on 93 percent of votes in the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight. That's more than Sen. Joe Manchin's (D–W.Va.) 88 percent, and it's even more than the 91 percent tallied up by democratic-socialist Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.).
But not every vote is the same. In ideological terms, UCLA's VoteView puts Sinema at "more conservative than 97 percent of the Democrats in the 117th Senate." Only Joe Manchin is more conservative among Democrats and independents (though there's a big gap between Republicans and Democrats).
Sinema may be calculating that she has a better chance of retaining office in the 2024 general election than in the primary of a party that's drifting to the left and openly rejecting her. Registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats in Arizona, as do independents. While Democrats just took the governor's office, they did so in the form of Katie Hobbs, a near-nonentity, barely triumphing by less than a percent over genuinely nutty Kari Lake. Democrats seem to have taken the attorney general's office from another wacky GOP candidate by 511 votes out of over 2.5 million cast—the equivalent of a coin toss.
"The fact of the matter is Arizona is not a purple state; it's a red state with purple spots," political consultant Paul Bentz told the Arizona Republic.
With little chance among left-leaning Democrats, and the state's Republican Party off the rails, Sinema may well have more of a political future as an independent following a relatively moderate path and appealing to voters looking for a bit less lunacy among political representatives.
But the greatest value Sinema's defection offers is the chaos it sows among the political class. America's major political parties, and their most loyal partisans, have become toxic and dangerous to our liberty. We should applaud anything that shakes their confidence and challenges their grip on power.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
So someone put the word “sows” into the headline above a photo of Sinema wearing a cow print top. It may cause some people to misread this headline as talking about political cows.
Udder nonsense.
You maniacs are really going to milk this one, aren’t you?
cheesy.
She does have affect quite a dairy air!
Sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋɪɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ʜᴏᴍᴇ! Gʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴊᴏʙ ғᴏʀ sᴛᴜᴅᴇɴᴛs, sᴛᴀʏ-ᴀᴛ-ʜᴏᴍᴇ ᴍᴏᴍs ᴏʀ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ ɴᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ ᴀɴ ᴇxᴛʀᴀ ɪɴᴄᴏᴍᴇ… Yᴏᴜ ᴏɴʟʏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴜᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ʀᴇʟɪᴀʙʟᴇ ɪɴᴛᴇʀɴᴇᴛ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ… Mᴀᴋᴇ $80 ʜᴏᴜʀʟʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ $13000 ᴀ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ ʙʏ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ ʟɪɴᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ ᴀɴᴅ sɪɢɴɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ… Yᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs ᴡᴇᴇᴋ:) GOOD LUCK.:)
Just open the link————————————–>>OPEN>> USA JOBS ONLINE
Yeah, leading a horse to water and taking away his credit card is like tossing pearls before a pigs ear. The mixed metaphors are ungulating between marely uninteresting and a boar. Give them time, they’ll tapir off…
Masterful!
rolling trees gather no moss on the north side.
But you still can’t have your cake with one bird in the hand.
OK, when the puns had people ruminating on cows and pigs, it was one thing, but now we’ve gone too far a fowl.
Birds of a feather make strange bed partners. To put it differently, you can’t beat a dead horse because he won’t drink the water.
Better word choice would make Tuccille seem less gilty of sexism.
Sinema is *not* someone who should be wearing cow print.
I thought she was just being nostalgic for the Gateway Country Store. 🙂
#MOOOvon!
Moo moo
I love you
I know you’re a cow
But anything will do
Just so long as its not sacred cows.
OK, let’s go over who “controls” the senate one more time.
There will be 49 republicans, 48 democrats, and 3 independents.
Yet somehow it is the second place democrats who will dictate for two more years.
Is is going to take a constitutional amendment to make the senate give control to the party with the most elected senators?
Control is based on votes not party.
The house is the same, kinda.
Decontrol comes from spoiler votes that help oust the more egregious looters–and their parties.
Is is going to take a constitutional amendment to make the senate give control to the party with the most elected senators?
You. Partisan. Hack. BOAF SIDEZ!
Not partisan, patriot.
Not hack, helper.
Not BOAF, both. Did you go to public schools?
(but not really both, just mine, because it’s mine)
At least I am still pretending the Constitution matters, at least a little bit.
We don’t make exceptions for jokes or satire.” That line from a third tranche of company documents released by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, captures the social media giant’s censorship culture. Its humorless, officious tenor is all too common with state censors throughout history.
Jonathan Turley nailed it as to how Democrats are the controlling state and will not stop until they have more
From Shadow Bans to Black Lists, Musk Forces a Free-Speech Reckoning for Politicians and Pundits
How very quaint
The independents caucusing with the Democrats does that. That also makes their true “independence” a bit debatable, but there is a bit of parliamentary democracy inherent in the US legislative bodies. Parliamentary democracy does not lead to a straightforward majoritarian rule.
Well, there would have to be. The Constitution doesn’t say anything about political party.
If you really want to get pedantic, there is no majority party.
Political parties, in the modern sense, were being invented in the Anglosphere when the Constitution was written. There were political factions in the British government prior the American Revolution, but they were not as formal organizations until after.
Yes, but that’s beside the point. All it says in the constitution regarding picking Senate officers is “The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.” There is nothing saying “the political party which has the most members in the senate gets to choose the majority leader”, which is what Longtobefree seems to think. If a majority elects a majority leader, then that’s that.
Except the political party with the most members in the Senate, by definition, has the most votes. The so-called “independents” are still voting with the Demicrats, so the Democrats have the most votes.
Yeah. What we need is a constitutional amendment that makes party more important than a legislature that is allowed to make decisions. ????
There will be 49 republicans, 48 democrats, and 3 independents.
And one of those “independents” is currently publicly pillorying Sinema for betraying The Party by becoming also-“independent.”
Is is going to take a constitutional amendment to make the senate give control to the party with the most elected senators?
What does this even mean? What is “control”? This isn’t a parliament.
Yeah, I don’t think that’s a very good idea for an amendment. The last thing we need is more power in party establishments.
It may be closer to parliament than you think. We essentially have a coalition government in the Senate.
You do realize the outcome of your proposed amendment would be at least 2 (if not all 3) independents official joining (or re-joining) the Democrat party, right? It wouldn’t actually change anything.
I don’t think any of you are getting this.
There is no ‘majority in the senate right now.
No party can pass a law without the assistance of either all the independents or, for votes that require a 60 vote threshold, all the independents AND members of the other party.
Since everyone needs everyone else’s votes to get anything done, and since that can change with every vote, how can ‘caucusing with’ have any validity towards the count of a majority?
It is quite clear that this ‘caucusing with’ tactic exists solely to give the Dems and the left the control when they don’t have it by virtue of numbers.
Is “Arizona independent” a statement or a party?
Like “assault rifle”, it is a made up word with a definition as fluid as a democrat’s gender.
It just means she’s changed her voter registration to independent.
Because only a third of arizona dems support her in projected primaries. This is a hail maintenance for her.
Hail mary*
Auto-correct of the year?
agreed
Or my name ain’t Nathan Arizona!
A Hail Mary? No, not really.
The move effectively guarantees she’ll be on the ballot in November 2024. That leaves the the people at the DNC, DSCC, state party apparatus, and the pro-Democrat PACs and super-PACs with the choices of either supporting her as senator who caucuses with the Democrats, or splitting the vote and electing a Republican.
Now, maybe those people are as downright idiotic as some of the loudmouth progressives on Twitter, and are perfectly willing to have a Republican filling the seat for six years and running with incumbency in 2030. But in general, the people who fill spots in those institutions are pragmatic and have their eye on the main chance.
So my expectation is that they’re going to say, “Well. Sinema isn’t a shoo-in in 2024, but she’s the only alternative to electing a Republican” and rally behind her.
I’d love to see Gallego split the Dem vote, but there’s also no guarantee at this point that Hobbs and Maricopa County won’t pull reindeer games on election day to get Gallego in office.
Move the reply button it is impossible to scroll on a phone and not hit the button
would
I mean wood.
Hence the “fuck off” ring.
Just checked, and she is divorced and does not currently have a girl friend. If only…
I will say this: chaos for the sake of chaos isn’t very interesting or valuable. If the chaos is likely to decrease individual liberty it’s not something I will celebrate.
Sinema’s potentially interesting since her impulses are to restrain some of the excesses of the Democratic party, pointing to a strife I’ve seen where the progressive wing of the party utterly despises more centrist and liberal wing of the party. But that more centrist angle is terrified of being labeled as the next “-ist” or “-phobe” so they just keep their heads down and enable the crazy progressive Marxist policies. I’ve thought for a while that tension would cause a break or realignment of the party but it’s not really happened yet. The Tea Party movement actually did make a small dent in pulling the Republican Party in a more libertarian direction, or at least in talking as if they are, even if they’re still playing big tent for the social and religious conservatives.
R’s too have a long history of trying to obliterate R’s that aren’t as extreme as the most partisan want everyone to be. Called RINOs.
In every other country what checks the tendency of parties to become inbred is that elections themselves are not structured and administered by the partyies themselves.
We should appreciate anything that shakes the confidence of both major parties.
We should elect an outsider President, someone who isn’t a politician, someone who just tells it like it is about the Fake News media and The Swamp and corrupt dealings to steal elections. I have no idea where we would find somebody like that. And I’m sure the chattering classes would absolutely hate him, unlike the stalwart Libertarians who have for so long inveighed against politics as usual.
It would suck though if the outsider, once elected, would steer the Party away from principles of economic freedom and instead revive ideas that economists put to bed almost three centuries ago.
I’m having trouble thinking of a single economic idea that’s been asleep for the last 3 centuries, regardless of any outsiders. There are certainly things in the last 6 yrs. that have never been done before, but if they’re taken as examples of ideas, they’re ideas held and effected, fully conscious and mobile, within the previous 24 yrs.
Protectionism. Mercantilism. That sort of shit.
Republicans and libertarians got along on economic matters before the last president. Not anymore.
Like Biden is doing?
Protectionism. Mercantilism. That sort of shit.
Unless by ‘put to bed’ you mean ‘impregnated and birthed neomercantilism’, I’m still not seeing that anything got ‘put to bed’. Asked to take a back seat domestically, maybe, but controlling trade balances are the left hand of Keynesian economics.
TDS needs to have a formal counterpart Trump Infatuation Syndrome, TIS. the guy was a statist, authoritarian, an asshole and an opportunist. hen he trotted out for the photo op with a bible that SHOULD have been all anyone needed to see that he was a douchebag but TIS prevented that. he might have been a decent president but his baggage is like a strippers…sure she looks good but the herpes is just too much
It should be Trump Infatuation Toxic Syndrome, TITS.
You tell it, Jack
BTW, did you write this with your ankles above your ears?
And was your girl’s boyfriend there to watch?
We did that. There was a concerted effort to get rid of him four years later.
They tried to get him before his inauguration.
There will not be chaos. She will vote as DNC orders on most votes just as she had. This is nothing but a move for Sinema to avoid getting primaried by Ruben Gallego (dude is shitstain Cali style Dem).
correct –
she will still vote for any dem nominated judge
and undoubtedly her voting record will line up the same as her historical average
She votes with the Dems 97% of the time; they’re just pissed that it isn’t 100%.
Bernie Sanders hates her, so she must be doing something right.
Sure, but Sanders is also a bigger jobber than an 80s WWF “enhancement talent.”
I never got into watching greased body builders dance on stage in speedos.
Your loss, the Nitro dance team was fine as fuck.
She hindered some of the more egregious spending. That counts for something.
She’s a Right Deviationist. Remember, there s no such thing as an ex-comrade—only traitors!
Gallego actually makes Reason editors appear conservative. Calling him a shitstain is an insult to actual shitstains.
(dude is shitstain Cali style Dem).
Even worse, he’s from Chicago.
Very good article by Tuccille. Sinema–unlike the girl-bullying impostors God’s Own Prohibitionists regurgitate onto the LP–could be a valuable asset to the Libertarian Party. Getting rid of the Anschluss caucus and the last three platform pranks might make the National party attractive to someone other than street people, rednecks, commie anarchists and nazis. Imagine regaining ballot access…
You forgot the Gay Nazi’s for Christ party.
But then where will you go?
Congress is a place where Republicans, Democrats, and independents cooperate to grow government.
I’ve made $1250 so far this week working online and I’m a full time student. I’m using an online business opportunity I heard about and I’AM made such great money. It’s really user friendly and I’m just so happy that I found out about it. Here’s what I do for more information simply.
Open this link thank you……………….>>> onlinecareer1
And somehow the last Republican majority cancelled EO’s, cut taxes and De-Regulated.
“that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, ”
Sinema must have noticed that a Republican from, say, eastern Penna., is not subscribing wholesale to the policy views of a Republican from, say, Wyoming. Even with partisan divide, there is plenty of divide within each major party too. Yes, Trumpists and Progressives may not tolerate non-believers in their own party, but the fact is there are many brands of Democrat and Republican depending on the culture, demographics, geography, business interests, and history of the states they hail from.
A bi-sexual who changed sides; who would have thought?
“While Democrats just took the governor’s office, they did so in the form of Katie Hobbs, a near-nonentity, barely triumphing by less than a percent over genuinely nutty Kari Lake.”
JD – tell me you’re a far left progressive, without saying you’re a far left progressive.
Nothing happened in Arizona. Clean fortified election.
Yeah, Reason’s primary complaint was people actually being upset and believing their lying eyes. I’m not sure how much more blatant the Dems have to be at election fraud before Reason/Progressives will actually acknowledge it.
Well, we kept that nutty Trump supporter out of office, so mission accomplished. Anything to save Democracy!!! – Reason
A squishy middle libertarian both-sidser, perhaps. But if you can call him a far left progressive, then those words have lost all meaning.
Keep simping for totalitarian liars like Tuccile, zeb.
It’s a great look.
Enjoy your next lockdown.
Go fuck yourself. I’m engaging in discussion for my own amusement. Nobody’s going to save the fucking world from the Reason comment section. If I’m insufficiently critical of JD Tucille, it makes no difference to anything.
Then you obviously have not been following who and what he’s supporting and what lies he’s continuing to pimp.
There are other ways to be wrong besides being a far left progressive. Far left is socialism, top down economic control, mega welfare state, etc. If Tucille is promoting those things, then I’ve missed it.
Listen, I’m sure Sinema is a nice person. But she’s also politically savvy and understands Arizona. We’re going to sort out the BS election fraud by Dems at some point. When we do, she’s positioned herself to appear centrist and not radical. But don’t kid yourself. She’s a far left, radical progressive.
When she starts standing against the Dems and their assault on the Constitution (guns, free speech, religious liberty, etc.), or their assault on our children (standing against public schools talking to K-5 kids about sexuality and gender without parental consent), I’ll take her “centrist” stance more seriously. Right now, it’s all words and posturing.
” We’re going to sort out the BS election fraud by Dems at some point. ”
Will that occur before or after former Pres. Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate, the truth of what was occurring in the Pizzagate basement, and the ultimate vindication of QAnon are revealed?
Delusional, disaffected, doomed, and dumb right-wing clingers are among my favorite culture war casualties.
Well, until replacement occurs.
amazingly consistent!… tis the season to bring out the evergreen, fruitcake etc… but you’re nutty as a fruitcake all year long i guess… much like the evergreen is consistent being green all year long.
So you are actually admitting to and advocating “replacement theory?” I thought that was some kind of tinfoil hat angry white guy thing.
By his own admission; you heard it here, folks!
Replacement occurs daily, as cranky old conservatives take their stale, ugly thinking to the grave in the natural course and are replaced in our electorate and society by better, younger people in what has become the American way.
No conspiracy, project, or plan . . . replacement of bigoted old clingers by their younger betters is just the natural course of American progress.
Fuck off and die, asshole bigot.
Open wider, loser.
Or not.
Your comfort is a receding concern among your betters. We just don’t care much about bigoted, antisocial, worthless, backwater misfits.
Course those younger betters just seem to turn into get off my lawn cranky old bigots
You’re a generation or so behind the times.
During yesteryear, people tended to become more fiscally conservative as they acquired long-term jobs, spouses, children, mortgages, and the like. That led them to become a bit more Republican as they aged.
But that doesn’t happen anymore. No one wakes up at 40 and thinks, ‘I have been a modern, decent person until now . . . but as of today I think I will be a Republican bigots’ or ‘I know I have preferred reason and the reality-based world so far, but now I think I will believe that silly fucking fairy tales are true and join the drawling, bigoted evangelicals at a megachurch.’
At the modern American marketplace of ideas, Republicans and their stale, ugly thinking can’t compete among educated, reasoning, accomplished citizens.
So when are you going to murder-suicide yourself and your family for the sins of your skin color, you mayo hicklib?
As always, head in the sand. You can deflect all day long. If there was no cheating in the AZ election, then there should be NO complaint to perform an audit. Right?
“Don’t you worry plebs. You don’t need to see what happens behind closed doors. You can ignore the complaints from thousands of people about election issues. We sorted it out. Democracy fortified. See, the “right” candidates won.” -Progressives
The issue is that the same voter fraud allegations were made in the last presidential election, the one the state of Arizona paid some millions to the esteemed ‘cyber ninjas’ to independently audit. What were the results of that audit again??
If every election results in the same allegations eventually people are going to just yawn unless something concrete and actual – rather than speculation by sore losers – is produced. As of now, its just sore losers making allegations and losing court cases.
Soon enough, the whining slack-jaws won’t be able to find lawyers willing to advance their delusional bullshit. The dumbasses who were willing to make a buck on that bullshit are being disbarred.
That is true. Sanctions to the law firms (and possible disbarment) are about the only deterrence. But its also true there seems to be no problem finding some MAGA dumbfuck lawyer to sign their name to any ol’ bullshit. Oh your practice is primarily transactional real estate work and wills and you have no court experience? Go ahead and file this complicated federal election lawsuit. See how that turns out for ya.
word
“But not every vote is the same. In ideological terms, UCLA’s VoteView puts Sinema at “more conservative than 97 percent of the Democrats in the 117th Senate.”
LMAO! Since all the Dems in the Senate are raging communists, calling Sinema “more conservative” than these folks is comical. As I said above, show me where she defends liberty. Show me where she defends the free market. Show me where she votes against Dems radical spending.
Senator Sinema’s decision to change to an independent show that there is a path back to a more moderate and centrist Congress. She is a start, hopefully more of both parties will follow.
There’s nothing that’s actually moderate about her. She’s just better at hiding her power level, and she’s being criticized for voting with the party 97% of the time instead of 100%. That’s why a total bobbleheaded party hack like Gallego, who votes exactly how he’s told to vote, was being promoted to primary her.
So how would you define a moderate?
Someone who doesn’t vote with their party 97% of the time, you obtuse fuckhead.
Let’s remember that 97% includes a share of bills and nomination that had bipartisan support, so at least some Republicans voted for the same bill or nomination. Also remember that the 97% includes bills that Sinema voted for only after changes she requested were made to the bill.
I don’t think your benchmark works, I think a more holistic examination of Senator Sinema’s record would support assigning her as a moderate.
Hey go ahead and conduct your “more holistic examination” of her record, since you think it’s such a great idea (for someone else to do).
While I am not familiar with Kyrsten Sinema’s complete record, I will suggest that since the Democrats took control of Congress and the White House she has acted as a moderating force. She has requested and gotten changes to lower the amount of spending in bills and to retain some tax breaks. While I may or may not agree with all these changes, they represent a moderating effect. She has also been opposed to ending the filibuster. This requires that most, not all bills, will need at least a minor level of support from the minority party. Finally, I would point to her work on the Respect for Marriage law recently past. Support for same sex marriage is pretty mainstream now and this law was a compromise that did include protection for religious beliefs asked for by the minority party.
I think that at this time Kyrsten Sinema is acting as a moderate and people could use more lawmakers who are moderates.
Hopefully Manchin is next.
How about more Romey, Collins, Murkowski? What if you had 10 senators who made decisions on merit and not the parties wishes?
The biggest hurdle is that, as an independent, you have to be popular enough / gather enough signatures to get yourself on the ballot. Whereas getting yourself on the ballet is locked in for Democrat and Republican candidates.
That is not allowed, those of us in the middle that lean right are hated as much as the progressive left. I am almost 70 so I don’t think I will be alive long enough to see a true moving to the middle by our elected representatives of Congress. It is a shame that both parties just try to outspend each other instead of actually working together to solve our problems. I guess we can always dream.
“diversity of thought.”
Also known as oppression, white supremacy, and literal Nazism.
She’s literally Hanna Reitsch!
> At her core, she’s not an ideologue. Certainly not a rigorous one.
That explains all politicians. Exceptions to the rule are rare, and notable for their rareness. They sometimes happen on both sides, but rarely. Ron Paul was a rarity. Dennis Kucinich is a rarity. Thank gawd Bernie Sanders is a rarity.
The chief skill of a politician is getting elected. Not leading, but campaigning. So yeah, they are all people persons. And an ideology means fewer votes.
Sinema wins the election because she’s a likeable person, and it really is a purple state. But also because she’s a weather vane with no firmly held convictions so she never has to say “no” to any voter.
I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner after the Democratic Party censured her for opposing their filibuster shenanigans earlier this year.
Or hounded her in public airports and restrooms.
Regardless of motive or effect, Sinema’s defection makes a wonderful counterpoint to a photo of Chucky Schumer in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, smirking from ear to ear about having the 51 votes in his pocket that would enable him to quickly and efficiently destroy (what’s left of) the Republic.
I hope she gives Schumer perpetual heartburn for the next two years.
“We should appreciate anything that shakes the confidence of both major parties.”
Unless it’s caused by someone named Trump, right, TDS-addled shit-pile?
Fuck off and die.
I’ve made $1250 so far this week working online and I’m a full time student. I’m using an online business opportunity I heard about and I’AM made such great money. It’s really user friendly and I’m just so happy that I found out about it. Here’s what I do for more information simply.
Open this link thank you……………….>>> onlinecareer1
Kristen Sinema is always welcome to join the HAWT party.
the whole fucking swamp is evil she’s just less evil today than last week.
Everybody wants to be in that “swing” position.
She did not defect.
She ‘left’ the Democratic Party – now allowing the D’s to have two picks at senator in 2024.
“When she was hanging out with college radicals and downtown types 15 years ago, and representing them in the state legislature, she channeled their leftie angst and anger and ideology. Now that she’s representing the average Arizonan, and talking to a lot of centrists, she’s channeling a lot of centrist sentiments. It’s hard not to like Kyrsten”
In other words, she’s a chameleon with no principles.
She’s still a leftist, she’s just not displaying AOC-type retardation now that she’s a Senator. I’m not going to say she’s grown up because she wears those dumb colored wigs like a teenager, but that still counts for something.
I definitely identify as someone who supports gridlock in the legislatures and Congress and who revels in political class consternation. But this is all just temporary and anyone who seriously wants to promote liberty over tyranny should be putting every effort and every resource we can muster into eliminating the two party system from American elections and replacing it with proportional representation in every state. After the recent hiccup, the Democrats will go back to imposing more and more of their welfare state agenda and the Republicans will go back to opposing the welfare state in name only while incompetently trying to implement their lunatic socially conservative agenda. “Having voters choose candidates is bad for democracy” https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-12-06/republican-democratic-primaries-iowa-new-hampshire
The best part was “Independent” Bernie Sanders chastising her for leaving the Dem party.
I checked the Freedomworks website which tracks congressmen and senators’ votes on issue involving free trade and individual liberty. Her record is worse than Bernie Sanders. Only another “independent” had a worse record than hers, Angus King.
Expect nothing from Sinema. She changed here affiliation because she was going to be primaried by the squad’s supporters, she would be crushed and knows it. Running as an independent, the Dems would run a candidate that would split the vote guaranteeing a Republican victory.
She’s extorting the Democrat establishment but that doesn’t mean that the Dems won’t sacrifice her to maintain party discipline. If the Dems can buy the Republican primary and get a real dog of a candidate to run for the R’s, then the Democrats’ pick might beat her. Since Republicans are totally devoid of principles, this is easier than it sounds.
She’s clearly a desperate woman, willing to try anything to stay in power. That kind usually cracks up and does something incredibly stupid thereby ending their career.
“America’s major political parties, and their most loyal partisans, have become toxic and dangerous to our liberty.”
Still pushing the BOAF SIDEZ line I see..
One party had a De-Regulation committee, cancelled EOs, cut-taxes.
The other is full on iNazi because the weather changes….
Leftard projection 101.
Still blaming everyone else for EXACTLY what they do.
Reason writer “But I live in DC and I want to be liked”
Well said… All part of the [WE] gang RULES mentality. Affiliating with the right gang of GUNS is necessary for gangland survival of “democracy”.
Another reminder for all: The USA is a *CONSTITUTIONAL* Union of *Republican* States.
And P.S. gangland GUNS don’t create human resources.
I reject the premise of this article. Why should you want to sew discord amongst the GOP? Aren’t we already confused enough?! The left should be the enemy here (metaphorically, at least), not conservatives.
Bipartisanship has always been a meme and both big and small Ls have known it forever. It’s usually the bipartisan deals that scare me the most because you know they all got something wacky that they wanted in order to agree to the terms. Patriot Act comes to mind here. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see some downstream effects from CHIPS or RFMA.
The Weimar America comparison is controversial, but it illustrates a point about bipartisanship. Are you really a moderate if you straddle two extremes? Most people would call you a schizo if you were half Nazi, half Commie. Rs are already the big tent party. Being a Republican in 2022 is already an act of moderation, but someone who votes D >90% of the time isn’t moderate. They’re paying lip service hoping it will make their relationship with their constituents less painful. My local house rep did the same thing (Chrissy Houlahan) and I will commend her for not running attack ads, but she votes Biden 99% of the time. I hate attacking voting records because you don’t know why they voted how they did, but 99% Biden isn’t moderate no matter how you spin it.
All I’m saying is that a hypothetical politician voting 50/50 D/R would probably be viewed as crazy. I’m not sure there’s a worldview or set of principles that justifies that kind of decision making outside of someone deliberately choosing their viewpoints in a manner that gives them a “moderate” voting record.
Bipartisan only means that when they make you bend over, they take turns.
Does this mean that the paid democrat blabbermouths on “social” media are going thin out their minute-by-minute whining about Elon Musk, so they can make up shit about Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema?
Didn’t they just boo Musk for five full minutes?
No, it doesn’t “sow chaos among the political class”. She’s going to continue caucusing with the D’s in the Senate so no change there. The two Congresscritters who were going to challenge her in the D primary still get to run, and beat up on each other. She gets a free ride to the general election, and the R’s win the seat *IF* they don’t nominate another wingnut. (As for we Libertarians, can we PLEASE find someone to run who will stay in the race the entire way???)
There is no chaos sown among the real rulers of the country: federal law enforcement, the intelligence agencies, and the permanent bureaucracy.
The Presidency and Congress are Punch and Judy shows designed to draw citizens’ attention away from the actual rulers.
A year ago there were a lot of Democrats saying that Sinema was a DINO and she should just admit it.
Now there are tears and gnashing of teeth.
Sinema just did a simple calculation involving her chances in future primaries; this isn’t some fundamental change in her politics or political alignment.
The democrats would have challenged her in the primary next election to push her out. Now she can run and democrats can run their candidate but likely put a republican in her place. Competition is good, open the elections to more than just the 2 major parties. Voters need more than choice D or R.
I fully agree that “We should appreciate anything that shakes the confidence of both major parties.”.
I would also like to see both Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin join the Libertarian party even though they don’t completely align with the Libertarian party platform. I would also like to see other public officials that is somewhat libertarian or independent minded to join as well.
If they are over 50% in support of libertarian ideals then it is a net win for the Libertarian party. I do not expect intellectual purity, but instead favor of getting enough numbers that the Libertarian party has enough power to make a difference.
Have two 51% libertarian senators is better than having none. It is time for libertarians to take a step back from competing with each other about so called purity and step into the real world. If you agree with someone more than you disagree with them then work with them on the 51% you agree with them on.
The left libertarians and right libertarians need to bury the hatchet and work together for their common goals. After the Libertarian party has enough power then you can haggle about the differences. To start by haggling about the differences only prevents either the left libertarians and right libertarians from accomplishing anything meaningful.
She’s hot. Or at least I thought so. Then I read this:
“”She really likes people and wants to feel what they’re feeling,” Jenney says. “And, of course, she wants them to like her. When she was hanging out with college radicals and downtown types 15 years ago, and representing them in the state legislature, she channeled their leftie angst and anger and ideology. Now that she’s representing the average Arizonan, and talking to a lot of centrists, she’s channeling a lot of centrist sentiments. It’s hard not to like Kyrsten,”
A person who is a chameleon to the current crowd they are hanging with, is the opposite of likeable. To me.
❤️
Je suis payé plus de ????160$ USD à ????700 $ USD de l’heure pour travailler en ligne. J’ai entendu parler de ce travail il y a 3 mois et après avoir rejoint celui-ci, j’ai gagné facilement ????31 000 $ USD sans avoir de compétences de travail en ligne. Essayez-le simplement sur le site d’accompagnement…
COPIER ET OUVRIR CE SITE…???? >> Www.pay.hiring9.ℂℴℳ
Great article, Mike. I appreciate your work, I’m now creating over $35,128 dollars each month simply by doing a simple job online! I do know You currently making a lot of greenbacks online from $28,128 dollars, its simple online operating jobs.
.
.
Just open the link——————————->>> http://Www.RichApp1.Com
This reminds me. Can Sinema be BOT?
I get paid over 190$ per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what I’ve been doing..
HERE====)> http://WWW.RICHSALARIES.COM