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Kyrsten Sinema - a DINO?

Kyrsten Sinema’s Self-Defeating, Nonsensical Defense of the Filibuster | The New Republic - "The Arizona senator is almost single-handedly keeping Democrats from wielding their majority power—and the party may well lose that power as a result."
noting
Sarah Dohl on Twitter: ".@SenatorSinema is doubling down on her support of the #filibuster in emails to constituents today. 🧵 (pic link)" / Twitter
I have long said that I oppose eliminating the filibuster for votes on legislation. Retaining the legislative filibuster is not meant to impede the things we want to get done. Rather, it's meant to protect what the Senate was designed to be. I believe the Senate has a responsibility to put politics aside and fully consider, debate, and reach compromise on legislative issues that will affect all Americans. Therefore, I support the 60-vote threshold for all Senate actions. Debate on bills should be a bipartisan process that takes into account the views of all Americans, not just those of one political party.

Regardless of the party in control of the Senate, respecting the opinions of senators from the minority party will result in better, commonsense legislation. My position remains exactly the same now that I serve in the majority. While eliminating the filibuster may result in some short-term legislative gains, would deepen partisan divisions and sacrifice the long-term health of our government. I will continue working across the aisle with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure legislative process upholds the integrity of our democracy.
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But in practice, it has turned the Senate into a  Polish parliament, ineffective for the same reason.
 
lpetrich said:
She seemed to be one of the biggest lackeys of Wall Street in Congress, voting for 12 out of 19 bills that Americans for Financial Reform said "served the interests or wishes of Wall Street and the financial industry at the expense of the public interest". Thus giving her one of the worst records of House Democrats.

"The industry loves her back. Sinema is as warmly received now at Chamber of Commerce events as she once was at antiwar rallies or prison reform protests." She got a rating from that organization higher than for all but nine House Democrats.

"It’s probably not a coincidence that, as she’s proven herself a reliable foot soldier for the financial services industry in Congress, their generosity toward her has only increased." in the form of campaign contributions from securities and investment firms.
  • 2012: $28,346
  • 2014: $89,050
  • 2016: $181,258
  • 2018: $890,000
“I spend a lot of time fundraising,” Sinema had told Chris Hayes in 2012. And sure enough, from her first year in Congress, when she rivaled Nancy Pelosi in money raised, to just before announcing her Senate bid, Sinema has been one of the most prolific fundraisers in the House.
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This is someone who once called private donations "bribery".

"Americans for Financial Reform puts the total amount of her contributions from the wider finance sector for 2017–2018 alone at over $2.7 million, placing her in the top ten among all of Congress for the sector."

The article continued with more examples of what a sellout she had become, taking positions opposite of what she had taken earlier in her political career.
After starting her career attacking the way wealth was distributed in the country, Sinema now backed repealing the estate tax, something that, at the time, would have benefited the country’s top 0.2 percent wealthiest estates. ...

After starting out decrying the plight of the undocumented and defending an Iraqi refugee in court, she now talked about a “tough but fair path to citizenship” and securing the border, and voted to send more manpower and resources toward that goal. ...

After making her first splash as an antiwar activist who called warmonger Joe Lieberman a “shame” to her party, Sinema wound up putting her decision on whether or not to vote for war in Syria up to an online poll, and voted for a series of gargantuan defense budgets, including one that authorized the military to train and equip “moderate” rebels in the country, who predictably turned out to be not so moderate. ...

After winning awards from environmental groups early on and getting press for environmental habits like reusing sandwich bags, Sinema has ended up with a 76 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, markedly low for a Democrat: the second lowest for the party in the current Senate after Joe Manchin, and lower than just five serving House Democrats. ...

And like many party centrists who cling to Obamacare when opposing more far-reaching reforms while helping to dismantle it when no one’s looking, Sinema has repeatedly joined with Republicans to pick apart the law, despite being handpicked by Obama in 2009 to help him fight for it. ...

As with many politicians, it’s hard to discern if Sinema’s actions are driven by political considerations or genuine love of the game. On one hand, her district is only one-third Democrat, no doubt impacting the way she votes and the issues she champions. On the other, she turned down an offer in 2014 to switch to a more liberal, Democrat-heavy seat.
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Good Heavens! Her district is only 1/3 democratic?? And yet she doesn't always vote democratic? Stunning that she holds so many moderate positions. It's almost as if she assumes that she needs more than 33% of her district to vote for her in order to win?
 

The Senate's Worst Democrap-- If The GOP Wasn't So Anti-Gay She'd Have Jumped The Fence Already
When I met Kyrsten Sinema she was still in the Arizona state legislature and we were both serving on the board of a DC-based non-profit. It didn't take me many conservations with her to realize she is suffering from a severe mental disorder and that she was capable of pulling a gun out of her designer handbag and shooting everyone in sight. I always took care to not sit within her range of vision.
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Author Howie Klein says "Mad Cawthorn is the only other politician who has lied so blatantly about their biography; he may have seen how she was able to get away with it before doing it himself."
By 2006 she was declaring herself "the most liberal member of the Arizona State Legislature." Around that time, actual liberals in the state legislature were warning me that she was full of shit, especially about her supposed devotion to immigrant rights. "The only thing that made her a 'liberal,'" one of her then-colleagues told me, "was gay rights and reproductive rights, which were both kind of self-serving. That's Kyrsten; it's always all about her." While she was still in the state legislature claiming to be the most liberal member, she had a bizarre definition of feminism: "These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they're choosing to live that life. That's bullshit. I mean, what the fuck are we really talking about here?" Perfect for EMILY's List though, which has continued push her miserable career.
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This was like Hilary Rosen's infamous statement about Mitt Romney's wife Ann, that she "has actually never worked a day in her life."
Just as Sinema has undergone a political shift, so has her home state. The onetime Republican bastion is much harder to peg these days-- politicos there describe it alternatively as purple, magenta, red with blue splotches. Progressives in Arizona warn that alienating the state’s liberal base may not be the winning strategy it once was.

“She has a theory that picking fights with the left helps her,” said Emily Kirkland, executive director of Progress Arizona. “I think that is a real misreading of the moment.”
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Harry Bosch said:
lpetrich said:
She seemed to be one of the biggest lackeys of Wall Street in Congress, voting for 12 out of 19 bills that Americans for Financial Reform said "served the interests or wishes of Wall Street and the financial industry at the expense of the public interest". Thus giving her one of the worst records of House Democrats.

"The industry loves her back. Sinema is as warmly received now at Chamber of Commerce events as she once was at antiwar rallies or prison reform protests." She got a rating from that organization higher than for all but nine House Democrats.

"It’s probably not a coincidence that, as she’s proven herself a reliable foot soldier for the financial services industry in Congress, their generosity toward her has only increased." in the form of campaign contributions from securities and investment firms.
  • 2012: $28,346
  • 2014: $89,050
  • 2016: $181,258
  • 2018: $890,000

This is someone who once called private donations "bribery".

"Americans for Financial Reform puts the total amount of her contributions from the wider finance sector for 2017–2018 alone at over $2.7 million, placing her in the top ten among all of Congress for the sector."

The article continued with more examples of what a sellout she had become, taking positions opposite of what she had taken earlier in her political career.
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Good Heavens! Her district is only 1/3 democratic?? And yet she doesn't always vote democratic? Stunning that she holds so many moderate positions. It's almost as if she assumes that she needs more than 33% of her district to vote for her in order to win?
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Exactly.
She anticipates leftward drift in the constituency she serves, but recognizes its current composition.
 
Then about her rise in the political ranks.
Her messaging focused relentlessly on healthcare costs, jobs and defying Democratic orthodoxy.

Sometimes, those breaks from the party struck liberals as excessive. In the House, she sided with then-President Trump on a law increasing penalties for those who re-enter the country illegally. In the Senate, she was the sole Democrat to reject her party’s efforts to restore net neutrality during the Trump era.

...
Key to her victory was winning the state’s independents, a substantial share of the electorate, and college-educated white women, many who had sided with the GOP in the past. She won 118 precincts that backed Donald Trump in 2016, many in the sprawling suburbs of Maricopa County.

...
Sinema leans heavily on her mantra of bipartisanship, arguing that it’s the best way to ensure long-lasting results.
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Is she totally obtuse about what the Republican Party has become?

KS has cosponsored two voting-rights bills, bills that Republicans have indignantly denounced. "Local activists said Sinema’s staff told them she believes she can find 10 GOP senators to endorse the bills." That's the sort of fatuity that Barack Obama had had about the Republicans. He wanted to make deals with them, but they continually obstructed him.
 
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema Votes Against $15 Minimum Wage Effort - YouTube - that was in the recent coronavirus relief bill.
She walks in, gives Mitch McConnell a brief pat on the back, then goes to the main desks in the Senate chamber where a clerk is counting the votes. She gives a thumbs down, curtsies, then goes off to her seat.

She is wearing a gray sweater and a black knee-length skirt with thin vertical white stripes on it.

RootsAction on Twitter: "Senator Sinema a little too happy for poverty wages to remain (link)" / Twitter
then
aída chávez on Twitter: "In 2002, the Arizona Republic published a letter from Kyrsten Sinema criticizing capitalism.

“Until the average American realizes that capitalism damages her livelihood while augmenting the livelihoods of the wealthy, the Almighty Dollar will continue to rule,” she wrote." / Twitter

She got a lot of criticism for that, and one of her staffers responded
Hannah L. Hurley on Twitter: "I stand by what I said: commentary about a female Senator's body language, clothing, or physical demeanor does not belong in a serious media outlet." / Twitter
That in turned provoked
Krystal Ball DISMANTLES Kyrsten Sinema's Sexism Defense Of Voting Down Minimum Wage - YouTube

However,
Kyrsten Sinema Exploring Federal Minimum Wage of $11, Lower Than Her Own State's
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) is teaming up with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to form a bipartisan minimum-wage raise to counter the $15 federal minimum wage favored by progressives, the White House and the U.S. public. But the wage that Romney and Sinema are reportedly advocating for is lower than the minimum wage in Sinema’s own state.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) told HuffPost that the senators’ plan is to raise the federal minimum wage to $11 an hour. In Sinema’s home state of Arizona, however, the minimum wage is currently $12.15 an hour — higher than the threshold that Sinema is seeking to set federally.

Though neither Sinema nor Romney have confirmed that figure, Sinema has previously expressed her support for an $11 minimum wage. Manchin is reportedly circulating his own proposal for an $11 federal minimum wage indexed to inflation.
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Melanie Zanona on Twitter: "Kyrsten Sinema, the Senate’s most colorful member, posts a pic of herself on instagram rocking a “F*** Off” ring & sipping what looks like Sangria (pic link)" / Twitter
She is wearing a magenta beret and glasses with oversized magenta plastic frames.

Sangria is red wine with pieces of fruit and various other things in it.

She is wearing a ring with "Fuck Off" on it.

Krystal Ball on Twitter: "Presuming here the F*** Off ring is directed at the working class" / Twitter
Or else to her critics.
 
More Perfect Union on Twitter: "NEW: We've obtained footage of @SenatorSinema ..." / Twitter
NEW: We've obtained footage of @SenatorSinema addressing Arizona's largest business group about the PRO Act.

"The way I make decisions on behalf of Arizona & for our constituents is by listening to the business leaders" she assures them.

She never mentions listening to workers.
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I watched the video, and I copied off of the captioning in the video.
Q: There is some concern right now in the business community as you've probably heard, an issue that our friends at the Arizona chapter of the Associated General Contractors wanted me to bring up with you, that there's a bill that passed the House, the PRO Act. Give us a sense, as this bill makes its way to the Senate, where you intend to be on this. We know it's an evolving issue, and if you'd be willing to have a discussion with employers in Arizona about our concerns about this bill being a disruption to the workplace and to our business environment.

KS: I would welcome such a discussion. As folks who are listening today know, the way I make decisions on behalf of Arizona and for our constituents is by listening to the business leaders who will be impacted by these decisions. So I want to discuss this legislation and I want to know the impact it would have on Arizona jobs and the economy.

Now there hasn't been any movement on the PRO Act yet in the United States Senate. But I can tell you that many Arizona businesses have already reached out to my office, and I know have discussed the concerns that they have with the PRO Act with some of the folks who are on our call today. Now right now this legislation is not scheduled to come before the full Senate, but we are watching carefully, because some of the PRO Act provisions, especially in regards to the worker classification test for independent contractors could become a part of other legislative ideas. So I would ask all the members who were joining us today to please stay involved with my office and help me by information about how this would impact you and your company. So that I can go back to Senate leadership and folks on both sides of the aisle, to discuss the concerns that Arizona businesses have.
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Kyrsten Sinema Admits She's Bought By Donors - YouTube
On the screen: "Sinema admits Chamber of Commerce owns her"

In the description: "Senator Kyrsten "F*** Off" Sinema says she'd rather listen to Arizona's business leaders than everyday people - especially on issues like wages and labor."

Hosts Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur then jumped up and down on KS about what a corporate toady she was.
 
Manchin Mocks Sanders’ $15 Wage Bill At Restaurant Lobbyist Event - The Daily Poster - "Conservative Dems Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema win plaudits at a closed-door event with restaurant lobbyists after voting to block a $15 minimum wage."
When Joe Manchin told attendees at the National Restaurant Association (NRA)’s national conference on Tuesday that the minimum wage shouldn’t be more than $11 and there should still be a subminimum wage for tipped workers, the group’s chief lobbyist couldn't contain his excitement.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” exclaimed Sean Kennedy, the NRA's executive vice president of public affairs, who spoke with the Democratic senator from West Virginia as part of a virtual panel entitled, “Seeking Unity: Conversations on Finding Bipartisan Solutions.”
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This NRA had an income of $289M in 2018 and it spends that money on lobbying all over the country.
Both lawmakers have also spoken out against efforts to reform the filibuster — a stand that will keep a lid on many key Democratic legislative priorities — and they have recently enjoyed cash infusions from business interests that would be affected by the party’s proposals.

...
During Sinema’s talk, Kennedy praised senator as a “true moderate.” She responded: “My approach has always remained the same. I promised Arizonans that I would do things differently than some in Washington, and that I would be an independent voice for our state, not for any political party.”

Sinema said she believes that “achieving lasting results on the issues that matter to everyday Americans really requires bipartisan solutions,” and she called on her “colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in my approach.”
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Then Tim Manchin.
“We’ve been having meetings on minimum wage, and I can’t for the life of me understand why they don’t take a win on $11,” he said. “Bernie Sanders is totally committed in his heart and soul that $15 is the way to go. Well, it might be the way to go, Bernie, but it ain’t gonna go. You don’t have the votes for it. It’s not going to happen. So they’re going to walk away with their pride, saying we fought for $15, got nothing.”

Manchin said there are other Democrats who agree with him that “the path they’re going down is wrong.”
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One last bit from that dailyposter article:
During the NRA conference, Sinema, who recently posted a photo of herself on Instagram wearing a ring that read, “Fuck Off,” said it’s important to treat people with respect.

As she advised lobbyists in attendance, “You always want to be polite.”
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:rotfl:
 
Maker of Sinema's viral 'f--- off' ring donating profits to group fighting to raise minimum wage | TheHill
notes:

Yellow Owl Workshop on Instagram: “A picture featuring our F*CK Off ring has gone viral.…”
A picture featuring our F*CK Off ring has gone viral. At Yellow Owl we create fun stuff to express yourself but we are dead serious about social justice. We fully support at least a $15 minimum wage because ⚡️EQUITY and DIGNITY⚡️LOOK GOOD on EVERYONE.

Thank you to all of our customers, including Senator Sinema (D-Arizona) whose dollars allow us to pay well above San Francisco minimum wage and support our small woman-owned business that proudly holds values over profits. Speaking of we’ll be donating profits from sales of this ring for the rest of the month to National Employment Law Project— more on that soon.
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Yellow Owl Workshop on Instagram: “All profits from the sales of our F*ck Off ring…”
All profits from the sales of our F*ck Off ring for the rest of the month will be donated to @nationalemploymentlawproject who fight to raise the federal minimum wage. We appreciate the attention brought to our work by the recent events with @kyrstensinema and we want to put our money towards an organization that is fighting to protect workers and build systemic change. You can follow them and donate directly to them, too. Thanks for your support! (For more info check out our last post).) If you are an Arizona resident we hope you consider contacting Sinema directly at 317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
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Derec said:
So I guess she grew up. Maybe there is still hope for political toddlers like AOC to grow up and leave their childish ways (i.e. socialism) behind?
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Shiny mirror on the wall, whose post is the most "selfawarewolf" of them all?
 
Krystal Ball on Twitter: "Sure is sad what a little bit of power can do to people. (link)" / Twitter
When George W. Bush was elected president, Sinema quickly began to make a name for herself in the state with left-wing activism. In the run-up to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sinema, then a law student at Arizona State University, was a frequent organizer of anti-war rallies, organizing 15 by the start of the Iraq War.

Sinema would later boast on a progressive message board in 2006 of her opposition to Afghanistan from the start and continued opposition, saying she opposed war in all forms.

Her biggest anti-war event was a February 15, 2003, protest in Patriot's Square Park in Phoenix. Flyers, as first reported by CNN's KFile, distributed by an anti-war ...
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I tracked down its source: Kyrsten Sinema's anti-war activist past under scrutiny as she runs for Senate | CNN Politics

But now,
Kyrsten Sinema on Twitter: "(link)" / Twitter
I strongly support Israel's right to defend itself from terrorist attacks. The loss of life, especially civilian life, is tragic. Hamas, fueled by Iran, must stop its rocket attacks. Both parties must find ways to achieve a sustainable calm and de-escalation of violence, and work toward a secure and lasting peace in the region.
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lpetrich said:
Krystal Ball on Twitter: "Sure is sad what a little bit of power can do to people. (link)" / Twitter
When George W. Bush was elected president, Sinema quickly began to make a name for herself in the state with left-wing activism. In the run-up to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sinema, then a law student at Arizona State University, was a frequent organizer of anti-war rallies, organizing 15 by the start of the Iraq War.

Sinema would later boast on a progressive message board in 2006 of her opposition to Afghanistan from the start and continued opposition, saying she opposed war in all forms.

Her biggest anti-war event was a February 15, 2003, protest in Patriot's Square Park in Phoenix. Flyers, as first reported by CNN's KFile, distributed by an anti-war ...
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I tracked down its source: Kyrsten Sinema's anti-war activist past under scrutiny as she runs for Senate | CNN Politics

But now,
Kyrsten Sinema on Twitter: "(link)" / Twitter
I strongly support Israel's right to defend itself from terrorist attacks. The loss of life, especially civilian life, is tragic. Hamas, fueled by Iran, must stop its rocket attacks. Both parties must find ways to achieve a sustainable calm and de-escalation of violence, and work toward a secure and lasting peace in the region.
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I don't know if I'd call her exactly "anti-war"; but she's certainly pro peace. I agree with her statement that both parties must find a way to "achieve a sustainable calm and de-escalation of violence, and work to a secure and lasting peace."
 
Yeah, don't see a contradiction in the "but now" statement.
 
I can accept it if Manchin and Sinema don't want a $15 federal minimum wage. There's only one issue that matters now: Passing legislation like HR.1 in the hope that future elections will be fair. This is a crucial moment for the U.S.A.; the future of its very democracy is hanging by a thread.
Harry Bosch said:
I didn't read all the links. But based on what you stated stated, you seems like a typical moderate: pro business and fiscal conservative; liberal on social issues. There are a lot of people like this in the democratic party. If you cede their vote to the republicans, we'll lose the next election.
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If we can't find 50 votes to pass HR.1 and to make it filibuster-proof, we may lose EVERY future election.
 
Swammerdami said:
If we can't find 50 votes to pass HR.1 and to make it filibuster-proof, we may lose EVERY future election.
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Yeah, I think that's the path we're on. Nothing left to lose if HR-1 fails. So I think Schumer needs to put it all on the table to do something about the filibuster rules before the end of June, and leave it to Manchin and Sinema to write the epitaph for American Democracy if they are so inclined.
 
“Utter betrayal”: Angry activists who helped elect Kyrsten Sinema say "she has no values" | Salon.com

"Sinema once criticized the filibuster and mocked Joe Lieberman. Now she’s helping kill progressive legislation"
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat who has perplexed the nation, once criticized the filibuster's 60-vote threshold and urged Democrats to pass critical legislation with a simple majority. But the onetime Green Party activist and self-described "Prada socialist" has transformed, somehow or other, into one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, and the activists who helped elect her can't help but feel a sense of "betrayal."

Sinema, a former state representative, in 2010 lamented the "false pressure" to reach a 60-vote supermajority to pass significant legislation in a video unearthed by the progressive advocacy group More Perfect Union. Sinema urged Democrats to use the budget reconciliation process to pass major bills like health care reform instead of "kowtowing to Joe Lieberman," the centrist senator who served as a roadblock to the party's major proposals despite caucusing with Democrats throughout his career.

When Lieberman briefly ran president in 2003, Sinema described him as "pathetic."

"He's a shame to Democrats," she told a reporter at the time. "I don't even know why he's running. He seems to want to get Republicans voting for him — what kind of strategy is that?"
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Now she acts like those she criticized back then. Like some latter-day Joe Lieberman.
 
lpetrich said:
“Utter betrayal”: Angry activists who helped elect Kyrsten Sinema say "she has no values" | Salon.com

"Sinema once criticized the filibuster and mocked Joe Lieberman. Now she’s helping kill progressive legislation"
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat who has perplexed the nation, once criticized the filibuster's 60-vote threshold and urged Democrats to pass critical legislation with a simple majority. But the onetime Green Party activist and self-described "Prada socialist" has transformed, somehow or other, into one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, and the activists who helped elect her can't help but feel a sense of "betrayal."

Sinema, a former state representative, in 2010 lamented the "false pressure" to reach a 60-vote supermajority to pass significant legislation in a video unearthed by the progressive advocacy group More Perfect Union. Sinema urged Democrats to use the budget reconciliation process to pass major bills like health care reform instead of "kowtowing to Joe Lieberman," the centrist senator who served as a roadblock to the party's major proposals despite caucusing with Democrats throughout his career.

When Lieberman briefly ran president in 2003, Sinema described him as "pathetic."

"He's a shame to Democrats," she told a reporter at the time. "I don't even know why he's running. He seems to want to get Republicans voting for him — what kind of strategy is that?"
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Now she acts like those she criticized back then. Like some latter-day Joe Lieberman.
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Does it surprise you to see a politician acting like a politician? While the trend is positive, Arizonian republicans outnumber democrats. And the politicians that win there generally run in the middle. Should be no great surprise.

https://www.deseret.com/2021/5/13/2...blue-2020-election-phoenix-sinema-kelly-trump
 
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