Senator Idennniny
She Identifies As an independent.
Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced Friday that she now has registered as an independent…
But she was elected as a Democrat. Wouldn’t it be more fair to the voters to wait to go all mavericky up in there until her next election?
In a video explaining her decision, she said: “Registering as an independent and showing up to work with the title of independent is a reflection of who I’ve always been. … Nothing’s going to change for me.”
Then why did she run and get elected as a Democrat?
The similarity in language is rather amusing.
I guess she did this do deny the Democrats from having a true-majority-without-counting-the-vice-president?
Kyrsten Sinema is my go-to example of why I won’t state I’d unequivocally vote for a nonreligious candidate.
Political parties in the US make less and less sense to me. The parties have little control over who runs for office under their name. Party membership is a simple declaration that can be rescinded on a whim. Yet the parties are obliged to have primaries, and the states are obliged to provide election apparatus for these primaries. Primaries are not a means for a party to choose who represents it in the general election, but rather a strange imitation of the general election. Nineteen states don’t have party registration for voters, and a number of other states don’t restrict which party ballot is chosen at primary elections. And yet party membership figures very prominently for office holders.
Bernie Sanders is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. Sinema will do the same. It will be interesting to see if she runs outside of the Democratic primary in 2024, and if so, who the Democratic candidate will end up being. Arizona is a state that registers voters by party.
According to information on the Senate web site, the current Senate (ending in January) has 48 Democrats, 50 Republicans, and two others who caucus with the Democrats. Sinema is listed as D. I don’t have the names, but I presume that in January, with Sinema’s change, the Senate will have 48 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and three others who caucus with the Democrats.
I looked it up; Angus King (Maine) and Bernie Sanders (Vermont) are the two current independent senators.
According to CNN: “While Sanders and King formally caucus with Democrats, Sinema declined to explicitly say that she would do the same. She did note, however, that she expects to keep her committee assignments – a signal that she doesn’t plan to upend the Senate composition, since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer controls committee rosters for Democrats.”
She identified as a Democrat to get campaign support from fools such as myself who went out and knocked on doors handing out literature with her name on it.
So annoying.
Men can be women. Women can be men. Anyone can be non-binary. But the American political system is now and forever binary like God intended!
I thought this was a pretty decent discussion of the political ramifications.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/09/what-sinema-party-switch-means/
The article linked in the OP says Sinema said she would not caucus with the Republicans, but I see now that she has been noncommittal. She doesn’t seem to care about balance of power issues.
I agree that party affiliation in the US has similarities to gender identity arguments. No one “is” a Democrat or a Republican except by saying so, for the most part.
Sackbut #10:
However, in the UK:
…Nature always does contrive – Fal lal la!
That every boy and every gal
That’s born into the world alive
Is either a little Liberal
Or else a little Conservative!
Fal lal la!
-Iolanthe, Gilbert and Sullivan
People have spent a lot of time complaining about Manchin but at the end of the day he’s a party man… Sinema has been a consistently irritating little shit the whole time.
The end of what day though? He certainly doesn’t always vote with his party.
No, but he’s reasonably reliable and you won’t see him change the letter after his name.
Sinema has pretty much guaranteed she’s a one term senator.