Kyrsten Sinema goes independent, scrambles Senate

I couldn't be happier about this. The Democrats picking up that +1 seat in the Senate was not going to be good. I liked when Sinema and Joe Manchin were the arbiters of what could pass. They are moderates and necessary checks on the progressive wing of the party.

 

So what?
It WON'T Affect the True Balance of Power in the Senate...
Good thing that Dems still have 50 seats without her.
And, even as an "Independent" she intends to caucus with the Democrats for things like committtee assignments, etc...
In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said.

 

The Democrats have rejected her for many years now so she is returning the favor. We need many more like her on both sides of the political power.

Just like Democrats have purchased the American voters by giving away money, they had to buy off Manchin who may now face a challenge in WV for his traitorous acts to his constituents.

 

She will be done when her term is up. Maybe Arizona Republicans can trot loser Kari Lake out again?

 

It's the makeup of Senate committees which will be greatly influenced by an unequal Senate like the post 2022 election Senate. What is troubling, IMO, is that since the Senate won't be a fifty-fifty like in 2020, Senate committees can and will be dominated by dems.

Yes, the balance of power in the Senate (with the VP tiebreaker vote) resided with the dems prior to the 2022 election. If Cinema casts her lot with many GOP issues after 2022, the balance of power will still reside with dems in the Senate.

 

American politics........gotta love it.

But she did not say she would caucus with the Dems either. Let's see if Schumer lets her keep her seat on committees. If he doesn't then she may move more towards the Republicans.

This could get interesting.

 

Could a small independent caucus form?

 

I told you guys this was coming over and over! I felt it in my bones. She was just too sweet on Mitch prior to these elections. We will not have 51 Dems in that Senate and a real majority, sufficient to control those committees outright.

 

Oh?
Is anybody actually expecting her to NOT caucus with Either Party?
Get real...
She isn't going to want to miss out on important (potentially powerful) committee assignments...
And, IF she wants any sort of "Relevance" whatsover...THEN, she will have no choice BUT to Caucus with the Dems...

 

Right, and Sinema won't allow herself to become an 'unelectable politician' (let's face it, no politician wants to become an unelectable politician) because she can't get anything done because she isn't on any Senate committees.
Stay tuned for this. It could get interesting.

 

"Coming over" to what?

 

Since the Senate is no longer fifty-fifty, Sinema may miss out on all Senate committee assignments if she isn't partisan enough for the democratic party.

 

Dems crucify Sinema, a left leaning moderate, but love Liz Cheney, a right leaning moderate.

 

Bravo!

I wish more Reps / Senators would do the same, and ideally ALL of them were independent where they simply express their views on issues as opposed to tribalism, where they run simply to oppose the other party as opposed to running to promote their views on issues.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ar...leaves-democratic-party-registers-independent
Sinema, in a Friday op-ed in the Arizona Republic, cited increasingly partisan interests and radicalization of both political parties as the reason for her departure.

"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," Sinema wrote in the op-ed.

"Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different," she continued. "I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama."

 

It was obvious to those of us who have migrated Democratic Party to I dependent to Republican. I did it for diferrent reasons and before the Trump Turd dropped down his escalator.

 

LOL.. Sinema was a left leaning moderate when elected... Now she's a left leaning Republican. And nobody loves Liz Cheney for her actual politics...

I called this after the November election (well, technically I said she'd go R, but I figured she would no longer be a D).

2 years to go then she becomes a strange footnote to history...

 

A bit of a surprise to me, but I don't know what's been happening behind the scenes with her and Schumer. He may have given her a "you'll never work in this town again" speech and she decided to give him a big FU...but not so big that she's not going to caucus with the Dems.

 

She's currently on 4 committees, which likely won't change. She's chairperson of one subcommittee, which could...

Ruben Gallego has to be licking his chops this AM... Past time for a Hispanic Sen from Arizona...

 

No, she is not Republican, she is independent.

 

Do you want me to list the Conservative elected officials who have been called traitors and Rino's by MAGA since 2017?

No such comments towards Sinema.

How strange.

 

Yes, list them all and link the quotes, etc. We all want to read this.

 

Interesing. Not sure it will change anything. I agree, I wish there were more Democrats like her and Manchin and less pulling further left.

 

Me too, and I wish there were more moderate Repubs as well as opposed to so many fringe populists like Marjorie Greens, Boebert, Kaetz who have become the face of the GOP.

 

I honestly wish there were Republicans like her as well. There is a growing trend, however. Tulsi I think might have set a precedent and I also think Tulsi's transition might sway some Pub's to move towards the center and abandon the (R) for a the (I).

 

I honestly wish that as well.