Krysten Sinema Leaves Democratic Party

[Politesse]

I mean, you'd want to have a pretty long range plan oiled up for your safety too, if you were a politician in Arizona. They aren't the gun totingest state by a long shot, but outside of Tucson, they are known to have a hair trigger sensitivity to women and Democrats. In Buckeye, Gun River, and Tombstone, you might be primed to duck if someone says "now", you know? Can be hard to gauge what someone's aims might be.

 

[Derec]

RG responded Ruben Gallego on Twitter: "I will definitely lose the American Psycho demographic to this guy." / Twitter

Isn't Masters right here? Gallego is one of the most left wing congresscritters (0.14 ideology score according to your post above) and he hails from a very lopsided district (D+24 according to Cook PVI).
Arizona is a purple state, even if Biden won in 2020 by a whisker. Why is Gallego considered the hand-on favorite to challenge Sinema? Aren't there more moderate Dems willing and available?

 

[lpetrich]

Sinema Trashes Dems: ‘Old Dudes Eating Jell-O’ - POLITICO

As she races to stockpile campaign money and post an impressive, statement-making first-quarter fundraising number, Sinema has used a series of Republican-dominated receptions and retreats this year to belittle her Democratic colleagues, shower her GOP allies with praise and, in one case, quite literally give the middle finger to President Joe Biden’s White House.

And that’s before an audience.

Speaking in private, whether one-on-one or with small groups of Republican senators, she’s even more cutting, particularly about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom she derides in harshly critical terms, according to senior Republican officials directly familiar with her comments.

The Democratic leadership is putting up with KS because they need KS's votes on executive and judicial nominees.

Though KS likes Mitch McConnell, MMC continues to think that she is a Democrat at heart, and he reportedly wants a relatively moderate Republican to run for her seat, someone who is not some flaky election denier like Kari Lake. Even though McConnell praises Sinema as the ‘most effective first-term senator’ he’s ever seen - POLITICO

Former Gov. Doug Ducey has made clear he’s not interested, first-term Rep. Juan Ciscomani is likely to accrue more House seniority, and the most attainable option, Karrin Taylor Robson, just lost the gubernatorial primary to Kari Lake. With near-total name identification among Arizona Republicans and the affection of one Donald J. Trump, Lake would enter the Senate race as the odds-on favorite to be the GOP nominee.

However,

At least one prominent Senate Republican is hoping McConnell attempts a negotiated peace with Sinema.

“If he hasn’t he should,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has worked closely with Sinema, told me. Romney jokingly said that McConnell should even offer her the gavel of the influential Senate Finance Committee to sweeten the deal.

 

[lpetrich]

Some of Sinema’s friends believe she’ll retire rather than risk losing. To borrow the old line about the Clintons, after her taste of high finance on the fundraising circuit, she’s become like the Episcopal priest in the humble rectory who was surrounded by money in his pews and wanted a cut. (Her appetites for luxury hotels, car services and charter flights, as laid out in her campaign finance reports, are ample.)

Seems like her big donors are spoiling her rotten.

“Those lunches were ridiculous,” she said to some Republican lobbyists about why she no longer goes to her fellow Democrats' weekly lunches. “I’m not caucusing with the Democrats, I’m formally aligned with the Democrats for committee purposes,” she said. “But apart from that I am not a part of the caucus.”

“Old dudes are eating Jell-O, everyone is talking about how great they are,” she about her fellow Dems. “I don’t really need to be there for that. That’s an hour and a half twice a week that I can get back.”

“The Northerners and the Westerners put cool whip on their Jell-O,” she shared, “and the Southerners put cottage cheese.”

She said that she has better uses of her time than “those dumb lunches,” and that “I spend my days doing productive work, which is why I’ve been able to lead every bipartisan vote that’s happened the last two years.”

"Productive" meaning "schmoozing with her bribers", it seems, to use what she once called campaign contributions.

 

[lpetrich]

One moderate Democrat: “She’s the biggest egomaniac in the Senate.”

Though the Democratic Party needs her votes, she does not return the favor.

In the fall of 2021 — as my colleague Alex Burns and I reported in our book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future” — she used a Republican-heavy fundraising reception to criticize the president for what she suggested was hypocrisy. Noting that Biden had at times opposed lifting the debt ceiling while in the Senate, Sinema said that makes it harder for “folks to be” somewhat “righteous” on the matter.

Then

After thrilling the Republican lobbyists by saying that the country’s declining faith in courts is “the Senate’s fault” for eliminating the judicial filibuster (read: Harry Reid, not Mitch McConnell, started this), Sinema recounted how she was able to get a federal judge from Arizona easily confirmed in the divided Senate.

The article went into detail about that, then

It’s not just liberals who she’ll take aim at, though. At fundraisers, Sinema has mocked the name Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) bestowed on the climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, likening it to the moniker of the initially unpopular health law now known as “Obamacare”: the Affordable Care Act.

And when a Republican donor told the Arizona senator that it was not Manchin but Sinema who “carried the water for us in this last Congress,” she responded: “You’re hired.”

When the donor said, “Without you our taxes would’ve gone through the roof,” she concurred: “They would have.”

On Manchin, Sinema complained that “people often assume that we’re the same person” but then twice noted to the corporate crowd that she has “better tax policy ideas” than the West Virginian, who remains a traditional Democrat when it comes to taxing the wealthy.

Given how she and JM acted much alike, and how they stood out from the rest of their party, what does she expect? That's why they were called Sinemanchin and Manchinema back in late 2021.

 

[lpetrich]

After raising large sums from the finance industry in New York and a range of corporate lobbyists in Washington this year,

Or more precisely, took huge bribes,

Sinema’s Republican donor tour took her to the resort community of Sea Island, Georgia, earlier this month for the American Enterprise Institute’s annual forum there.

Seated with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sinema used her time on stage at the conservative think tank’s conference to hail her relationships with Collins and two other Republicans, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and, especially, former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.

Showing who her friends are.

She sidestepped questions about her political future — to the dismay of some would-be No Labels donors in the audience looking for a 2024 horse — and offered an above-it-all presentation in which she disparaged Washington’s ways and said she didn’t like characterizing one’s rivals.

No Labels is a PAC that supports conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans, a PAC that is funded by big donors. "No Labels" is from claiming to be above partisan politics, as KS herself is now claiming to be.

 

[lpetrich]

The article noted a potential problem for her future political career: "... the risk that the voters will eventually catch up to her schtick."

As in: The senator lamenting Washington name-calling and cynicism before an audience of AEI contributors told another, smaller crowd earlier in the year that House liberals were “crazy people,” that “most of my colleagues just aren’t familiar” with tax policy and wondered why other senators didn’t leverage the 50-50 Senate to be a “pain in the ass” like her.

Eek.

From earlier in the article,

It’s hard to overstate Sinema’s closeness with private equity, in particular. She spent part of her 2020 summer recess interning at a Sonoma winery owned by an executive in the industry; she single-handedly ensured taxing carried interest on private equity earnings was kept out of the IRA legislation, as Schumer memorably blurted out. And one senior administration official told me they’ve concluded the way to win Sinema’s vote on a crucial agency nominee is to have private equity executives weigh in with her.

Then,

Sinema is going back to Sonoma in May for a $5,000 per-person “Weekend of Wine and Food,” according to an invitation. August will bring a Maui event for her leadership PAC. And then in the fall, she’ll head up to mountains around Sedona, Arizona.

*Gag*

What gross corruption.

 

[lpetrich]

Jacob Rubashkin on Twitter: "Some news from me to add onto this: sometime this week, Sinema's campaign website stopped directing donors to her ActBlue page and began directing them to Anedot, a rival payment processor used primarily by Republicans (and some independents). (vid link)" / Twitter
I went to her home page - Home | Sinema for Arizona - and her donation buttons do indeed link to anedot.com

Sinema took Wall Street money while killing tax on investors | AP News - 2022 Aug 13

Seems an awful lot like bribery to me.

AOC is a good contrast. She refuses to meet with CEO's of big banks who want to meet with her before Congress takes up something that will affect their banks.

 

[lpetrich]

Gallego raises more money than Sinema in Arizona Senate race | AP News

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reported raising just over $2.1 million in her first full fundraising quarter since leaving the Democratic Party, a smaller haul than the $3.7 million raised by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is hoping to win her seat in 2024.

Sinema, who has not said whether she will seek a second term, still had a formidable $10 million in her bank account at the end of March, including money she’s raised in the four years since her last campaign. Gallego had $2.7 million at the end of the quarter.

After mentioning her narrow victory margin back in 2018,

If Sinema runs, the sources of her money will be scrutinized because because of her longstanding relationships on Wall Street, which have infuriated many Democrats who say she protects powerful interests.

In the latest fundraising period, more than a quarter of her money came from people who work for three private equity firms, which benefited from Sinema’s move to singlehandedly thwart her party’s longtime goal of raising taxes on wealthy investors.

Less than $6,000 was from small donors who gave less than $200.

More than half of Sinema’s first-quarter donors gave the $3,300 maximum for the election, ...

Seems like the only ones who like her are those who think that she is worth bribing.

"A spokesperson for Sinema said the senator remained focused on finding solutions, not on politics." Sure, sure. "Solutions" that her bribers will like.

 

[lpetrich]

Kyrsten Sinema spent more than $100K on jets, limos, luxury hotels and wine

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) has filled her campaign coffers with Wall Street cash — but some donors are miffed she’s spent more than $100,000 of it on luxury hotels, private jets, limos and fine wines, On The Money has learned.

Since 2021, Sinema has spent nearly $20,000 worth of campaign donations on wine-related expenses alone — dropping thousands at some of the most exclusive vineyards on the West Coast including Promontory Winery in Napa Valley, Auteur Winery in Sonoma and Argyle Winery in the Willamette Valley, according to election filings.

During that same timeframe, Sinema spent nearly $10,000 in campaign funds at posh restaurants like the Russian Tea Room in New York City and Sketch in London’s Mayfair neighborhood, as well as restaurants in Barcelona, Paris and Miami.

Sinema posted an Instagram and tagged her partner Lindsey Buckman at San Diego’s Civico 1845 — where she dropped $600 in campaign funds in February and June of last year, filings show.

An even bigger drain on campaign coffers: more than $45,000 on chauffeurs since 2019. On a trip to New York in December, Sinema paid a luxury car service more than $4,000 for a single day, according to filings.

noting
Kyrsten Sinema ignoring Democratic donors who want money back



Corrupt donors being bitten in the rear end by their own corruption.

 

[lpetrich]

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Spends Campaign Funds on High-End Wines, Food, Travel: Report

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is a wildly extravagant spender, article reports

She spoke often about how, when she was a child, her family moved from Arizona to Florida and lived for a time in an abandoned gas station/grocery store with no running water or electricity.

...
Back in 2018, when she was running for the U.S. Senate, an article in Roll Call reported, “Sinema reported zero assets in her most recent financial disclosure filing and her student loan debt puts her net worth in negative figures.

She lists between $15,001 and $50,000 in student loan debt, but does not report having a mortgage or car payment in her filing.”

Then about that New York Post article.

It’s almost as if, over the years, Sinema has transformed herself from Little Orphan Annie into Cruella de Vil.

The villain in "101 Dalmatians", who wants to make a fur coat from the fur of the dogs mentioned in the title.

 

[lpetrich]

This extreme selling out reminds me of Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Has Been One of the Worst Ex-Presidents Ever - Aug 2021

Since his retirement from politics, Barack Obama has displayed an astonishing lack of regard for the public good. Instead of serving his fellow human beings, he has mainly devoted himself to a rigorous program of conspicuous self-celebration.

All summer, millions of Americans this year worried about being evicted from their homes, catching the Delta variant, persuading recalcitrant loved ones to get vaccinated, or whether a COVID resurgence might keep schools closed in the fall. Former president Barack Obama was apparently loftily unbothered by any of these plebeian concerns.

...
The distinguished memoirist was too busy planning a ginormous sixtieth birthday party for himself on his vast and vulgar Martha’s Vineyard estate, a sprawling 6,892-foot tumor on a beautifully spare coastal landscape, which the Obamas bought in 2019 for $11.75 million. The 475 guests were to include George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey. Even people close to him argued for weeks that as the White House was urging caution, given the recent COVID resurgence, the optics of this shindig were not good. Last week he appeared, for a moment, to be conceding to internal Democratic Party pressure by disinviting most of the guests, limiting the celebration to family and close friends. But that soon turned out to be some kind of head fake.

Then on how he helped shut down Bernie Sanders's 2020 run. He did so by convincing some of the other candidates to drop out and support Joe Biden.

And let’s not forget Obama’s awful museum in Chicago. The three-memoir author is erecting a garish monument to himself on Jackson Park, which community activists argue will wreak havoc on cherished green space and a fragile ecosystem, as well as upon the legal scaffolding for the very idea of the public interest (we wrote about this late last year).

 

[lpetrich]

We wouldn’t expect Obama, a centrist, to become a convert to socialism in his late middle age (though as a young person he did attend the Socialist Scholars Conference). But as a liberal he’s been badly deficient, squandering his considerable public platform and influence, providing little leadership on any of the major issues of the day, like income inequality, voter suppression, and climate change. Instead, when he’s not actively agitating against social and environmental progress, he’s been lounging on the Vineyard and on Branson’s yacht.

With the obvious exception of Trump, who has used his ex-presidency mainly to whine about his personal grievances and fuel far-right conspiracy theories, Obama might be even less public-spirited than many other modern ex-presidents.

...
Obama has not only largely opted out of using his high profile to serve the public interest, but he’s also chosen insultingly to flout it. It’s long past time to end the cult of hero worship around this narcissistic plutocrat.

At least Kyrsten Sinema has interests outside of herself, like athletics.

 

[lpetrich]

Barack Obama, the Hollow Icon

The Obama presidency gave rise to a uniquely powerful iconography that projected a sense of hope and radical possibility. But behind the president’s messianic imagery was a country unraveling at the seams — and a president who stood for nothing.

Obama Was Always in Wall Street’s Corner

Former president Barack Obama wants you to now believe that he was actually mad about giant Wall Street handouts that he voted for, then arm-twisted lawmakers to expand — and then rescinded when some of the money might have gone to help homeowners. Obama’s foray into pure fiction is not only absurd — it is a reminder that history can repeat itself if we allow reality to be memory-holed.

Barack Obama Still Doesn’t Get It

A recently unearthed conversation between Barack Obama and reporters, held days before Donald Trump took office, reveals an outgoing president unable to let go of his allegiance to the “norms”-venerating, elite-driven politics that doomed his presidency.

This makes me wonder what would happen if KS loses the 2024 AZ Sen election or decides to quit. Will she write her memoirs? Will she claim that she was on the right wing of her party because she craved all that donor money? Will she say that she was right in her early years that campaign contributions are a form of bribery?

 

[lpetrich]

KS's extravagant spending brings to mind In Defense of Greta Christina

It has come to my attention that a handful of people opposed to this group are upset because Greta Christina spent some of the money donated to her on a pair of shoes. Some have even taken to calling this "Shoegate."

Greta Christina, a talented atheist blogger at Freethought Blogs, was recently diagnosed with endometrial cancer. She asked for financial help via online donations and raised more than enough money to cover her mortgage and other expenses while recovering. She spent some of the money on a pair of shoes, and this somehow became the latest controversy to sweep across the atheist community.

I recall from somewhere that she offered to return the donations of anyone who objected to her purchase of those shoes. Nobody requested a donation. Seems like they got outraged without looking very closely.

 

[lpetrich]

'Widely unpopular' Kyrsten Sinema's Democratic departure may come back to haunt her - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - December 10, 2022, 7:41 AM ET

Looks like it is -- she's consistently polling third, behind Ruben Gallego (D) and Republicans like Kari Lake and Sheriff Mark Lamb.

Kyrsten Sinema's side hustle has just been revealed - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - December 15, 2022, 1:49 PM ET

On her selling of designer clothing and athletic gear in Facebook Marketplace

Why Kyrsten Sinema jumped the Democratic Party after they took a 51-seat Senate majority - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - December 9, 2022, 7:10 AM ET

Couldn't tell very well from that article.

'She's just awful': Critics swing after Kyrsten Sinema ditches Dems - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - December 10, 2022, 1:52 AM ET

In an op-ed in The Arizona Republic explaining her decision, Sinema equated the far-right and increasingly fascist faction of the Republican Party with those on the Democratic side pushing harder for action on climate, economic equality, and universal healthcare by expressing her concern that "the loudest, most extreme voices continue to drive each party toward the fringes."

"When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans' lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans," argued Sinema. "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. I registered as an Arizona independent. "

Lazy centrism.

She might think that she's going to win very big by running as a centrist who disdains the two parties' extremes, but she will very likely lose very big.

 

[lpetrich]

'She's just awful': Critics swing after Kyrsten Sinema ditches Dems - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - the article has a picture of KS laughing about something while she is in front of some dark purple curtain. She is wearing a black tank top, which exposes her shoulders and arms.

Questions raised about Kyrsten Sinema's staff demands after 37-page memo leaked - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - December 22, 2022, 6:41 AM ET

Kyrsten Sinema loads up on cash from big GOP donors - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - April 15, 2023, 5:40 PM ET
noting
Wealthy investors, PACs and big GOP donors fill Sinema’s campaign - "More than half of the Democratic-turned-independent senator's first-quarter fundraising came from contributors who gave donations of $3,300 or more."

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's campaign raised over $2.1 million in the first quarter of this year, with over half of that coming from donors who gave at least $3,300 -- the maximum per-election individual donation to a Senate campaign.

More than 30% of the Democrat-turned-independent's haul this quarter came from employees of just five major companies, including hedge funds, investment groups and private equity firms.

All these campaign contributions to someone who once called campaign contributions "bribery".

By comparison,

In his first quarter filing, Gallego reported raising $3.7 million in his campaign account from January through March.

In a release, Gallego touted his support from small dollar donors, raising 98% of his haul from donors who gave under $100.

“At the end of the day: This seat is not going to be bought by a few rich guys on Wall Street. It’s going to be won with the support of regular, everyday Arizonans—and I’m proud to have them in my corner," Gallego said in a statement.

 

[lpetrich]

Kyrsten Sinema claims she's 'not a show horse' — and 'can work with literally anyone' - Raw Story - Celebrating 19 Years of Independent Journalism - April 27, 2023, 8:21 AM ET

With a picture of her dressed like a flower for the SOTU address earlier this year.

Noting
Sinema talks reelection run timeline, possibility of Trump vs. Biden

For announcing when, "No time frame on my mind." I think that she's reading the polls and doing voter surveys to see if she's likely to get any votes.

As you can tell, I’m 100% focused on getting the work done that needs to be done. Now, I know that’s not going to surprise folks in Arizona. Everyone knows I’m a workhorse, not a show horse. And so I’m 100% focused on doing this work. People can count on me to continue doing it and there’s plenty of time for politics later.

On a Biden-Trump rematch,

I think most Americans in this country are hungry for something new and different and they want to see a reduction in the partisanship.

Then saying that she's in between the extremes of the two parties.

Finally,

Q: Who is harder to work with Trump or Biden?

A: You know, just very, very different actually. But this won’t surprise you either, guys. I can work with literally anyone.

Even the likes of AOC and her squadmates?

 

[lpetrich]

Show Horses and Workhorses - Public Affairs Council - May 2021

Despite huge levels of media coverage and off-the-chart name recognition, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the least effective members of Congress, according to a study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia.

During the 116th Congress, which met from January 2019 to January 2021, AOC introduced 21 “substantive” bills that received “no action in committees, no floor votes, and none ever became law,” the New York Post — not an AOC fan — reported in its summary of the study by the two universities’ joint Center for Effective Lawmaking.

...
The most effective lawmakers, Craig Volden, a co-director of the center, told USA Today, “tend to be what we would call the workhorses rather than the show horses, and because of their policy focus, they’re less likely to be called upon by the media.”

...
AOC’s GOP counterpart is probably Jim Jordan of Ohio, who sometimes seems ubiquitous on the cable shows. Jordan, who has been getting a lot of coverage lately for supporting Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican suspected of having had an improper relationship with an underage female, ranks 202 of 205 House Republicans in effectiveness.

AOC herself, interviewed by Dana Bash on CNN in 2021: CNN.com - Transcripts

BASH: When she was in the Senate Hillary Clinton said, "I'm a workhorse, not a show horse."

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Mm-hmm.

BASH: And some people say that you're a show horse and not a workhorse.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think that's one of those ways that people try to chip away to make a person feel small. The fact of the matter is is that our jobs as legislators is to do both. And the thing I pride myself most in is in my hard work. That is the thing that I take an immense amount of pride in.

But the other end of this is that if we aren't educating the public about the work that is going on, then it is -- we are doing a profound disservice. So if we aren't communicating with the public what our policies are, if we aren't educating the public about the opportunities that are available to them, if we aren't making the case for why we should have universal healthcare in this country, then we aren't fully doing our job.

And so, I don't see it as being workhorse and show horse. I see myself as doing the work and educating the public. And that is what I think a public servant should be doing. Your position is the most important thing that you have.

But I do think that if you have a position and message it poorly, then people will think you have a different position than you actually have. I don't think it's controversial to say that Democrats really struggle with messaging.

She has said that a nice thing about not having to dial for dollars, as so many Congresspeople have to do, is that she gets to spend more time on her work in Congress, like do research and attend committee meetings.

Thankful Musgrave on Twitter: "Hot take: AOC is more of a work horse and KP is more of a show horse than their reputations suggest" / Twitter
KP = Katie Porter

 

[lpetrich]

From the search results for "Kyrsten Sinema" at rawstory.com

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema no longer a California winery intern

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s new personal financial disclosure is notable for something that doesn't appear on the document.

Annual Report for 2022 - Sinema, Kyrsten - DocumentCloud

Kyrsten Sinema’s Party of One - The New York Times
Starting with a picture of her wearing polka-dotted shirt and pants: white dots on a black background. The shirt ones are as wide as her hands, and the pants ones half that. She is wearing athletic shoes (?) and wristbands and finger rings.

The article started out by describing a visit to the southern border. She was with four Republicans.

Kyrsten Sinema was standing a few yards from the border wall with four Republican members of Congress. The men were staring balefully at a row of nearby portable toilets, wondering aloud if they could hold out for a proper bathroom on the way back to the airport. Sinema assured Representatives David Valadao of California and Tony Gonzales of Texas that they need not worry on her account.

“If you know anything about me,” she said, gesturing vaguely out into the desert, “you know that I’ll go anywhere.” The two men, who were just getting to know the Arizona senator, laughed. “I mean,” Sinema added as she pointed back to the porta-potties, “I come from humble beginnings. That there is some fancy [expletive].”

Valadao, Gonzales and the two other elected officials, Representative Juan Ciscomani of Arizona and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, all wore jeans and nondescript shirts. Sinema, dressed in a black Western shirt with a white yoke and black jeans with matching spectacles and cowboy boots, exercised her full array of Republican-charming skills throughout the morning.