Chuck Schumer picked Sinema for the Senate— and then cleared the field for her and financed her campaign— because she was the single worst Democrat in the House. Not only did she have the most anti-progressive voting record, she was also chair of the Blue Dogs. So Schumer can’t be surprised that now that he’s scheme to elect another corrupt reactionary to the Senate worked— she is also the worst Democrat in that body. For example, on May 4, the House was voting on the Innovation and Competition Act (H.R. 4521) and the Republicans kept putting up amendments to make the bill less able to achieve its goals. John Barrasso (R-WY), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and James Lankford (R-OK) all put up amendments to sabotage the bill. Sinema was feeling very Republican that day and voted for all of them. On March 5th Bernie had introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage. Sinema, whose hatred of the working class is legendary, voted with the Republicans against it.
Overall, as hard as it is to imagine, she’s even worse than Manchin. The question has always been, judging by her record in politics, when will she join the GOP? And yesterday she got a step closer to doing just that. On a visit to McConnell in Louisville she made a speech at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center in which she said the filibuster should be strengthened: “Not only am I committed to the 60-vote threshold, I have an incredibly unpopular view. I actually think we should restore the 60-vote threshold for the areas in which it has been eliminated already. We should restore it [for judicial nominees and executive branch appointments].”
Ali Paybarah, reporting for the Washington Post yesterday afternoon, wrote that “McConnell effusively praised Sinema in his introduction, saying she is the ‘most effective first-term senator’ he’s seen during his 37 years in the Senate. ‘She is, today, what we have too few of in the Democratic Party: a genuine moderate and a dealmaker,’ he said.” He forgot to mention bribe-taker.
Sinema, for her part, spoke highly of McConnell. “Despite our apparent differences, Sen. McConnell and I have forged a friendship, one that is rooted in our commonalities, including our pragmatic approach to legislating, our respect for the Senate as an institution,” she said.
…Sinema’s appearance came just weeks before midterm elections as several of her Democratic colleagues are campaigning to help the party hold onto the House and Senate in November.
“As you all know, control changes between the House and the Senate every couple of years. It’s likely to change again in just a few weeks” Sinema said.
That angered Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a potential challenger to Sinema in 2024.
Sinema has frequently expressed interest in the kind of bipartisanship that has frustrated her progressive Democratic colleagues, particularly when Republicans used the filibuster to block them from passing climate, abortion and voting rights legislation. Democrats had called for scrapping it to enact key parts of their agenda ahead of the midterm elections, while they control the White House and Congress. The appointment of judges and key administration officials has also been slowed by Republican use of the filibuster.
…“Frustration” with the filibuster, Sinema said, “represents solely the short-term angst of not getting what you want. And those of you who are parents in the room know that the best thing you can do for your child is not give them everything they want.”
She argued that bad laws emerge without the kind of consensus that a filibuster can force. As proof, Sinema pointed to the House where no filibuster rule exists. “When Republicans are in control, they pass a little bit of crazy legislation,” she said. “And when the Democrats are in control, they pass a little bit of crazy legislation. And the job of the Senate is to cool that passion.”
She criticized both Trump and President Biden for talking about eliminating the filibuster as well as both parties on immigration and border security.
“For my entire lifetime,” the 46-year-old senator said, “the federal government has absolutely failed, absolutely failed in its charter to protect our border. We have not had a secure border my entire life.” But, after the election, Sinema said she would connect with “my good friend” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to work on the issue.
“The two of us from different political parties, but sharing the same core values. We recognize the crisis that we’re in and we want to solve it.” Cornyn and Sinema were part of a bipartisan group that worked on successful gun control legislation following the deadly mass shooting at a school in Uvalde Texas.
Sinema’s appearance crystallized what her critics have said is the freshman senator’s problematic alliance with the Republicans, whose agenda many Democrats argue is harmful to the country.
Arizonans sure aren’t buying her “bipartisan” bullshit. According to the new AARP poll conducted by FabrizioWard, Trump’s favorite pollsters, Sinema has united the whole state— against her. She’s disliked and mistrusted across the aisle-- hated by Republicans, independents and, especially, Democrats. And as disliked as Blake Masters and even more disliked than Kari Lake! There's no demographic they polled that has a favorable opinion of it.
