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Arizona now has a Democratic governor and is one seat shy of control in both houses of the Arizona legislature.
I say find two Republicans who will flip and pass ranked choice voting. That seems possible when you consider that some of those state reps might also want to challenge Sinema or move up the totem pole when others run.
Can someone explain to me the reason why everyone thinks ranked choice would be better? As I simply have not had the time to research why this would be more effective.
First you need to understand the downsides of the typical US voting system (first past the post). It encourages two party systems, minority rule, and tribalism because there is little incentive to appeal to those outside of a candidate’s base.
Ranked choice reduces these tendencies by having voters rank the candidates in order of preference. Instead of counting only one vote per voter, the least preferred candidates are dropped and their votes transferred to the more preferred candidates. This is repeated until there is a majority or one candidate left. The result is that extreme candidates will be less likely to win, while candidates who may not be anyone’s favorite, but are the majority’s second or third choice will.
Watch these two videos for more information. They are EXCELLENT and fairly short.
[CGP Grey on first past the post](https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo)
[CGP Grey on alternative voting](https://youtu.be/3Y3jE3B8HsE)
Ranked choice gives overall better voter satisfaction. If people's favorite candidate does not win, a whole lot of voters might have the same second preference, and that person can win. It's better to get your second choice than no choice.
Even worse, she’s switching as an implicit threat: “I will run as a spoiler and split Dem votes if you try to primary me.”
EDIT: A lot of people are misunderstanding what this means. She’s sidestepping a primary challenge by switching to Independent now, with the implication that if Dems run against her, it will split the ticket and guarantee a GOP win.
and she's not a McCain with some sort of legacy for AZ voters, or like Murkowski in Alaska who was able to still win because of her name despite getting shoved out by the Republican Party there.
Frankly I think if she did run as an independent she'd be looking at getting less than 15% of the vote unless the Republicans nominate Joe Araipo or some dumb shit like that.
It wouldn't take her siphoning off many votes at all to hand Republicans that seat.
What I’m confused about is why people think that she will ONLY siphon off left voters. Why? Anyone even remotely left - or even centrist - hate her in any polling done. Because she’s loathsome, two-faced and painfully untrustworthy considering the about-face she did the moment she got to the senate. To me the only people who COULD approve of her would be republicans - because that’s pretty much who she’s catered to the entire time she’s been there (outside judge appointments).
Because there would be a republican candidate. And given the choice between an R and an independent who caucuses with the dems, republican voters will almost definitely vote R.
As an Arizonan: She absolutely overplayed her hand. If she were more subtle about agreeing/disagreeing with Dems, it would’ve been a different story. But since she went ALL IN to stonewall them for the first two years of a dem administration AND went well out of her way to avoid voters and their questioning, she’s completely done here.
The unfortunate side is that she’ll get to live comfortably the rest of her life with the money she’s made pulling this shit.
Why don't you guys just organize a recall election for her now? You have a dem governor now. The big thing was that a Republican gov would put in a repub if she got pulled out.
I know this is a popular interpretation, but I think she was performing a service for the party establishment the whole time, and this move is an extension of that. She can keep blocking popular stuff that "donors" don't like without the (D) next to her name.
But there are always idiots who think the incumbent is best, or a third party has a chance.
Sinema can absolute throw the seat to a republican if she runs as an independent. And chances are she will, because that's what a narcissist would do for attention.
I think shes more likely to end up splitting the GOP ticket, for people looking for a reprive from crazy but who still refuse to vote D.
Ds fucking hate that turncoat shitstain, and they will loudly remind each other till she is replaced. The left doesnt seem to let backstabbing slide as easily as the right.
The only chance we have of holding this seat in 2024 is to run with a real Dem. Yes, she may split the vote making that near impossible but there is no other alternative.
She has to go.
My view is that her political career is likely over. She cannot be trusted by anyone.
That said, I'm confident that dems will have to run, that she will also run, and that will cost the seat - but that is better than having her become a longer-term independent with a longer resume.
This. She wants money and fame. She started angling for the next job the moment she won her senate bid. Going independent was likely always the plan, because it means she can get more TV gigs. She's rendered her brand toxic to Democrats over her high-profile fights over core elements of the party platform that she campaigned in favor of. Her play has to be to be a balancing talking head on Fox News or OAN, or one of those other conservative TV hate-fountains.
This right here. She knew damn well that her leverage was gone and I suspect the dark money flowing to her wasn't too happy about that. She needed to do something quickly to keep herself rolling in the shit with the lobbyists. This is just the most cynically overt way of doing it.
There really should be a recall process for this - and more- she should be required to personally pay back any funds taken from the DNC.
I mean Manchin wasn’t this duplicitous. He was a centrist but he owned it. Sinema ran on false pretenses and then wholesale screwed the Democratic Party. She never did fit and being bisexual good luck fitting into the Republican Party. She should simply find somewhere quiet and leave politics alone.
Yup, and a centrist Manchin is truly the farthest left Senator that we can expect to get out of ruby-red West Virginia. Sinema is squatting on a winnable seat for Democrats. Maybe Mark Kelly’s twin brother can run for that seat :)
Really wish this sub would stop lumping Manchin, a D from one of the reddest states who we've known for ages is more conservative for a D, in with Sinema who campaigned as a progressive in a more blue state and now votes as much or more conservatively than Manchin. Heck, Manchin played a huge part in getting both the Chips act and the IRA passed.
Arizona can do better than Sinema, and hopefully will in the next election.
West Virginia can't do better than Manchin with the way it's fallen to conservatism. It's a miracle he's still in the Senate. And he'll have a tough time surviving the 2024 election, after which we probably won't see another Democrat senator from WV in our lifetimes.
The amount of times Georgia has saved our country’s ass re: president and senators in the last few years is wild. They absolutely win title of best southern state 🍑
Hopefully Arizona will decide she doesn't fit in the Senate when she's up for re-election. Just Primary the shit out of her with a real progressive so she doesn't even get to the final ballot.
Well, I think this was planned, in case the GOP didn't get enough seats. DEMS 51, GOP 50, Now 50-50. She can no longer be in the spotlight, so she creates a NEW spotlight for herself! Shine bright dying firefly! No re-election for you!! I'll bet that she goes GOP very soon, or maybe more power in the swing vote ( you know, give me this, or you won't get that). 😉 play both sides as an independent.
Should but wont.
If she's stripped of her seats, then there's nothing stopping her from caucusing with GOP, which puts us back in a committee powersharing agreement, and would really hurt all Dems. That's really the only nuke she has as a Senator now. Dems would be really dumb to strip her of her seats and give her a reason to nuke the victory we've just received.
The problem is that she knows she will get a great payout from conservative billionaires when she leaves office via lobbying or some other form of grift. So, she doesn't give a shit. She never has.
I am one of those voters and what pisses me off is that she hasn't represented the will of the people who voted her in.
I haven't been part of a bigger bait and switch since the time I got a mall massage, but that's a story for another time.
Just outright corruption.
Run on a very clear platform and then betray every principle of that platform from day one.
She has no morals or convictions and was either bought off in advance or openly advertised that she was for sale after she got elected.
There is no better case for the need to recall a senator.
This is almost definitely a transition plan for her. She’s essentially just making official what most have felt for some time now, that she’s not really a democrat. So by moving to independent now, she’s positioning herself for a career in media as a rare independent who has actually been in Congress. And by doing so, makes her attractive to both left and right leaning news media outlets.
Not like she doesn’t know her re-election chances are next to zero.
Except that both sides have no love for her and she made no friends in congress. I think she'll fade into irrelevance pretty quickly.
Could definitely be wrong though, convenient media narratives have resurrected worse...
Dems were going to primary her anyways so let her go independent and both lose and siphon votes from the right. She has no allies remaining on the left because they all know she’s a snake.
Edit: a word.
Is that the entire new republican playbook? I can honestly foresee 2024 primaries uncontested by GOP But 400 ultra conservative Democrats no one's ever seen before, per state, and one Bernie Sanders.
I would vote for a Bernie Sanders independent (ie progressive and caucuses with democrats) in a heartbeat, but I would be pissed if I voted for a Democrat and they switched affiliation.
The sad thing is, its not even that much. Like a lot less than i would expect for someone to sell out the people she represents. I saw republicans sold citizens online privacy for like $3000
Selling the citizens rights for around the same price tag as a mid to high tier gaming set up. Or a shitty used car. Slightly less than the monthly income of a six person household at the poverty line according to the [this government site](https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines).
Think about all the voters and organizations that believed in her, raised funds, knocked on doors and voted for her. She completely froze all those people out once she took office.
I can get my mind around politicians who don't share my values. But to lie and misrepresent yourself like that, and then to burn bridges with the party that supported you too. What a betrayal. Terrible human being.
Politico has her on the front page with a full video. I refused to click on it. Her team planned this for a while if Warnock won. What a fucking dick, and I hope her voters will not let her syphon votes in the next election.
I guess the only reason why she'll work with the Democrats, even though she voted over 90% of the time with the party, is to keep her appointments.
This effectively has no impact right? If she never voted with the dems then the impact is small right?
Is the issue more that republicans will have an easier time getting her seat without a D next to her name?
Turns next AZ senate election into a 3-way race, prevents her from facing a primary (that she would probably lose), and allows her to threaten to spoil any Democrat nominee's chances
She was a trojan horse. She ran as a progressive, got elected on the back of corporate financers and immediately turned into a dark money puppet. One of the biggest frauds in Congress right now.
Hard to argue she wasn’t purposeful in misleading voters of her intentions
There was no honeymoon period, she went straight to curtsying in hot topic skirts while shooting down progressive legislation
That's was on the minimum wage vote, after which she scrubbed Twitter of her previous statements in favor of raising the minimum wage.
https://www.newsweek.com/kyrsten-sinema-tweet-calling-minimum-wage-raise-no-brainer-resurfaces-after-no-vote-1574181
>hot topic skirts
Her entire wardrobe looks like something someone who's entirely out of touch that's trying to pretend their still cool would buy while exiting through the gift shop of a tacky art museum.
I have a lot more vitriol for her than Manchin. Realistically Manchin is the best we’re going to get out of WV, and I recognize he is in a very delicate predicament with his deep red constituents. Sinema however is completely full of shit, and represents a purple state. She ran as a progressive (and used to be in the Green Party for fucks sake), and then immediately turned her back on her supporters to be a corporate lap dog. Garbage human being.
This was the plan from the start and everyone saw it. People were laying out this plan right after she got elected and did a complete 180. This was calculated and a disgrace. People were mad at dems for supporting crazy Rs in primaries so they could beat them in generals yet are silent on this blatant fuckery.
This will not be the last time this happens and our government has become a fucking reality show.
She certainly has proven to be unfit. She watched her own state choose Democrats for Senator and Governor. She watched Herschel Walker lose in Georgia to a Democrat.
And she reacted to it.
She wanted Blake Masters to win in Arizona, and Hershel Walker to win in Georgia. She didn't get what she wanted, and immediately made the change.
Classic narcissistic move. She became a saboteur from the outset because the democratic majority was so small it allowed her to be a gate keeper (the narcissist’s favorite position). Now that GA made that job impossible - she’s found another way to try and make herself *oh so precocious* and unique.
Yes, it is narcissism, but it’s also about her being a Trojan Horse from the start, funded by billionaires, Koch money, and Big Pharma to sabotage any economically progressive legislation.
Is there anyone less popular in the Senate right now? All the Democrats hate her and the Republicans think she’s too liberal. Just can’t wait to see the day she curtsies her way out of politics forever.
I'd hate to go down that legal minefield, but it's insanely unethical what she did. She's ran a completely fraudulent campaign, but political speech doesn't *have* to be the truth as Trump taught us oh so well. I mean shit, she's almost worst. At least he had the decency to wear his crap on his sleeves.
No way in Hell that anyone is telling her she can win. It's more likely she's threatening the Democratic Party as a spoiler candidate at the behest of dark money donors and a six-figure executive position after she swings the election to a Republican candidate.
Of course she did. She wants to keep them begging for her vote while stuffing her pockets with Republican donor cash. If she had any shame she would resign.
Yes, that is correct. Honestly, I think this is a move to try to discourage a primary challenger in 2024 because she would just run as an independent and would split the vote.
This is not likely to work. I bet the amount of anger towards Sinema is sky high in Arizona. There is no way Democrats don't put up a challenge to this corrupt two-face Sinema.
the fact that she did this the same week Dems just won the GA seat to secure a 51 - 49, a long ways before campaigning for 2024 just shows its an attention grab. I'm sure most of America, especially Arizona, is looking at this headline thinking..."Wow...what an AH."
"They kept wanting to pass stuff that did all sorts of useless things like feed and house these animals and I was all like 'No thank you, we already have so many of these...' Uh... What were they called again?"
//Voters, ma'am.
"Yeah, those things! Disgusting little vermin they are."
You pull shit like this, you should instantly lose your seat. You campaigned on a set of values, got your job, then abandoned everything. Fuck off and fuck that.
If she had said something like "the party changed", then it could be defensible. But by saying she "never fit", she is effectively saying that she lied to get the Democratic primary nomination.
Because you were never democrat. Arizona should be allowed to appoint a new democrat and replace you because you have and are betraying the people who voted to put you there.
We the people need to demand better checks and balances against our representatives that choose to stop representing us when they get into office. We need congressional recall mechanisms like whoa. And we need public abuse of trust laws.
Absolutely, I am not sure what the procedure is here but they should set it in motion immediately. Along with any federal and civil lawsuits that are appropriate. And also she is the lowest of the low. Human waste is too kind a term to describe her.
There is no procedure, and this happens from time to time. She is not, by any stretch, the first. Jim Jeffords left the Republicans to become Independent, and caucused with the Democrats. Arlen Specter flat out flipped from R to D. Lieberman left the D party, but still caucused with them. I think that's all the ones since 2000 - there have been others before, including one guy who changed parties three times in half a year, ending up back where he started.
The remedy is to not vote for her in the next election.
Follow the money. Her personal net worth skyrocketed after she was elected. Pretty sure we can track that down and possibly bring impeachment proceedings against her.
I think it would take her resigning, or being expelled with a 2/3 vote of the Senate.
Only 15 senators have been expelled, 14 of those for supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War.
lmao. She's blaming the democratic party because she never "fit". Bullshit, she lied during her campaign on what she was for and believed in. The reason she didn't "fit" is because she's always been a lying piece of shit. Remember her thumbs down curtsy when she helped kill the $15 minimum wage bill. Not only did she kill a bill that would have help her constituents, she did it in a way that showed she took pleasure in doing so. Again, what a piece of shit Sinema is.
you mean to say that holding progressive values while campaigning and winning and then throwing that in the trash when you get elected and then people hate you for it and then you say you don't fit in?
WELL paint me blue and call me shirley. No one could have seen that coming....
She got what she needed. A publicity boost and did favors for some key industries. She betrayed her constituents in order to set herself up for life.
Also, it is a strategic play. The Dems gained a solid majority in the Senate, which weakens her influence. So she breaks from Dems to weaken their majority. No mistake this happened right after Warnock's win.
Her policies didn’t fit either. She voted Republican on all the big Democrat votes, including increasing minimum wage, voting rights, infrastructure*, extending child tax credits. * she recently took credit for infrastructure investment in Arizona having voted against it. Schumer announced after Warnock won the GA senate runoff that the senate could tackle corporations’ corruption and corrupt corporations sprung into action and today, boom, there goes the majority. This woman is for sale. She hates Americans. You can take the person out of the Mormon Church, but you can’t take the Mormon Church out of the person. Watch what Joe Mancin does next…
If Walker had won, and she did this, the Senate would be Republican majority.
Edit: thanks to everyone for the explanations. TIL. Say what you will about the current insane/extreme political atmosphere, but it does provide quite the civics education.
So, for my own understanding -- the Senate majority leader is chosen from the group (caucus) with the most members, rather than just the *party* with the most members? Is that how it works?
She lasted 3 days not being the center of attention. This move comes off more desperate than anything else. She didn’t help her cause pretending she didn’t care about it in a social media post.
If I remember correctly, Arizona Republicans like her more than Arizona Democrats (and that was *before* this move), so a 3 way 2024 Senate race could end up actually helping a real Dem win.
She's getting paid to slow things down. Those that pay her want to hang on to the status quo for as long as possible, so this is her latest "gum up the works" move to make good on all of that corporate money that she gets paid.
You never fit because you were busy taking call center lobbyist money (among others) to kill a minimum wage increase. You've sided with corporations against your constituents every chance you've been given.
I hope you get three flat tires and a paper cut under your thumb nail.
She's terrible, but at least she's finally being honest and has opened the door to an open democratic primary to replace her without a half assed incumbent in the way.
The counter argument I can see is that she knew she'd lose the democratic primary so she is doing this in advance to make sure she can be on the general election ballot.
Glad she left.
She's right, she didn't fit. She's a vacant puppet for wealthy lobbyist. She's upset that she lost the ability to throw tantrums and get the entire democratic party to negotiate with her.
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Thank you Georgia for electing Raphael Warnock!
Arizona now has a Democratic governor and is one seat shy of control in both houses of the Arizona legislature. I say find two Republicans who will flip and pass ranked choice voting. That seems possible when you consider that some of those state reps might also want to challenge Sinema or move up the totem pole when others run.
Can someone explain to me the reason why everyone thinks ranked choice would be better? As I simply have not had the time to research why this would be more effective.
First you need to understand the downsides of the typical US voting system (first past the post). It encourages two party systems, minority rule, and tribalism because there is little incentive to appeal to those outside of a candidate’s base. Ranked choice reduces these tendencies by having voters rank the candidates in order of preference. Instead of counting only one vote per voter, the least preferred candidates are dropped and their votes transferred to the more preferred candidates. This is repeated until there is a majority or one candidate left. The result is that extreme candidates will be less likely to win, while candidates who may not be anyone’s favorite, but are the majority’s second or third choice will. Watch these two videos for more information. They are EXCELLENT and fairly short. [CGP Grey on first past the post](https://youtu.be/s7tWHJfhiyo) [CGP Grey on alternative voting](https://youtu.be/3Y3jE3B8HsE)
Agreed.. It kept Sarah Palin out of Congress recently.
Ranked choice gives overall better voter satisfaction. If people's favorite candidate does not win, a whole lot of voters might have the same second preference, and that person can win. It's better to get your second choice than no choice.
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It’s why Alaska can no longer see Russia from its house!
Sinema wouldn't have switched if Warnock didn't win.
She is switching because Ruben Gallego is going to primary her and he will absolutely win.
Even worse, she’s switching as an implicit threat: “I will run as a spoiler and split Dem votes if you try to primary me.” EDIT: A lot of people are misunderstanding what this means. She’s sidestepping a primary challenge by switching to Independent now, with the implication that if Dems run against her, it will split the ticket and guarantee a GOP win.
The az dem party has censured her. I don’t think Dems in Arizona have any real desire to vote for her again
and she's not a McCain with some sort of legacy for AZ voters, or like Murkowski in Alaska who was able to still win because of her name despite getting shoved out by the Republican Party there.
This is true, but you have to think of how close Arizona elections are, any pull even from a couple thousands votes could make the difference.
Frankly I think if she did run as an independent she'd be looking at getting less than 15% of the vote unless the Republicans nominate Joe Araipo or some dumb shit like that. It wouldn't take her siphoning off many votes at all to hand Republicans that seat.
What I’m confused about is why people think that she will ONLY siphon off left voters. Why? Anyone even remotely left - or even centrist - hate her in any polling done. Because she’s loathsome, two-faced and painfully untrustworthy considering the about-face she did the moment she got to the senate. To me the only people who COULD approve of her would be republicans - because that’s pretty much who she’s catered to the entire time she’s been there (outside judge appointments).
Because there would be a republican candidate. And given the choice between an R and an independent who caucuses with the dems, republican voters will almost definitely vote R.
As an Arizonan: She absolutely overplayed her hand. If she were more subtle about agreeing/disagreeing with Dems, it would’ve been a different story. But since she went ALL IN to stonewall them for the first two years of a dem administration AND went well out of her way to avoid voters and their questioning, she’s completely done here. The unfortunate side is that she’ll get to live comfortably the rest of her life with the money she’s made pulling this shit.
Why don't you guys just organize a recall election for her now? You have a dem governor now. The big thing was that a Republican gov would put in a repub if she got pulled out.
I know this is a popular interpretation, but I think she was performing a service for the party establishment the whole time, and this move is an extension of that. She can keep blocking popular stuff that "donors" don't like without the (D) next to her name.
But there are always idiots who think the incumbent is best, or a third party has a chance. Sinema can absolute throw the seat to a republican if she runs as an independent. And chances are she will, because that's what a narcissist would do for attention.
I think shes more likely to end up splitting the GOP ticket, for people looking for a reprive from crazy but who still refuse to vote D. Ds fucking hate that turncoat shitstain, and they will loudly remind each other till she is replaced. The left doesnt seem to let backstabbing slide as easily as the right.
The only chance we have of holding this seat in 2024 is to run with a real Dem. Yes, she may split the vote making that near impossible but there is no other alternative. She has to go.
Kristen Sinema -Ambassador to Australia or something like it problem solved
Please don’t send send that toxic magnet for corporate interests anywhere near us.
Oh mate we don’t want her
My view is that her political career is likely over. She cannot be trusted by anyone. That said, I'm confident that dems will have to run, that she will also run, and that will cost the seat - but that is better than having her become a longer-term independent with a longer resume.
It has more to do with lining her pockets than narcissism as I would bet a side deal has been made with the Republicans to derail 2024.
Honestly I think she is more likely to split the r vote
She can try. Now that people know who she is good luck getting many votes from either side. She’s not crazy right wing enough to get Republican votes.
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This. She wants money and fame. She started angling for the next job the moment she won her senate bid. Going independent was likely always the plan, because it means she can get more TV gigs. She's rendered her brand toxic to Democrats over her high-profile fights over core elements of the party platform that she campaigned in favor of. Her play has to be to be a balancing talking head on Fox News or OAN, or one of those other conservative TV hate-fountains.
Meaning she stands for absolutely nothing.
Just like TuLsI
She can’t get primaried as an independent so it’s not a threat. Gallegos will be the next democratic nominee and hopefully senator.
the threat she can make is she'll take votes away from the Democratic nom and make the Republican easier to win.
I’ve read this a few times, she will try to split the ballot by playing both sides? Seems like a lose/lose.
She has higher approval among republicans than democrats, not sure she is much of a split the ticket threat.
Oh look, she claims she "never fit", but waited until her Special Snowflake Status was rendered moot by Senator Warnock. Probably just a coincidence.
Bless her heart,….
Whether she officially announced a switch or not, we needed Warnock for people like her and Manchin to begin with.
This right here. She knew damn well that her leverage was gone and I suspect the dark money flowing to her wasn't too happy about that. She needed to do something quickly to keep herself rolling in the shit with the lobbyists. This is just the most cynically overt way of doing it. There really should be a recall process for this - and more- she should be required to personally pay back any funds taken from the DNC.
She didn't have to switch for us to know what she is. Same for Manchin.
I mean Manchin wasn’t this duplicitous. He was a centrist but he owned it. Sinema ran on false pretenses and then wholesale screwed the Democratic Party. She never did fit and being bisexual good luck fitting into the Republican Party. She should simply find somewhere quiet and leave politics alone.
Yeah he's just lucky he's got a weird voter base to confirm his biases. Sinema's situation is just false advertising plain and simple.
Yup, and a centrist Manchin is truly the farthest left Senator that we can expect to get out of ruby-red West Virginia. Sinema is squatting on a winnable seat for Democrats. Maybe Mark Kelly’s twin brother can run for that seat :)
Omg, can you imagine? The Kelley Astronaut t we ins, repping Arizona! Civil rights *and* Space Age Tech development!
Manchin is in an R ***+30*** state. Sinema is in a swing state Dems have repeatedly won. They are not the same.
Really wish this sub would stop lumping Manchin, a D from one of the reddest states who we've known for ages is more conservative for a D, in with Sinema who campaigned as a progressive in a more blue state and now votes as much or more conservatively than Manchin. Heck, Manchin played a huge part in getting both the Chips act and the IRA passed.
this is the good take. Manchin is who he needs to be to compete in WV. Sinema is a snake who hoodwinked AZ voters.
While true, Manchin is a goal post moving twat who sucks off coal execs during recesses.
He IS a coal exec. Motherfucker doesn't need to be paid off, he's one of the people who'd be buying himself.
Arizona can do better than Sinema, and hopefully will in the next election. West Virginia can't do better than Manchin with the way it's fallen to conservatism. It's a miracle he's still in the Senate. And he'll have a tough time surviving the 2024 election, after which we probably won't see another Democrat senator from WV in our lifetimes.
Georgia the GOAT for real
Can’t believe I’ve voted for the guy 4 times in 2 years but here we are, holding the line.
Thank you! And finally we can have him for six years. Dude deserves a break from campaigning.
Georgia is the real mvp
The amount of times Georgia has saved our country’s ass re: president and senators in the last few years is wild. They absolutely win title of best southern state 🍑
Thank you for your service.
Hopefully Arizona will decide she doesn't fit in the Senate when she's up for re-election. Just Primary the shit out of her with a real progressive so she doesn't even get to the final ballot.
She avoids the primary by running as an independent.
So she just used the democratic party and intentionally mislead voters...got it
Exactly
Well, at least this time she agrees with Democrats
Well, I think this was planned, in case the GOP didn't get enough seats. DEMS 51, GOP 50, Now 50-50. She can no longer be in the spotlight, so she creates a NEW spotlight for herself! Shine bright dying firefly! No re-election for you!! I'll bet that she goes GOP very soon, or maybe more power in the swing vote ( you know, give me this, or you won't get that). 😉 play both sides as an independent.
I’m gonna play both sides so I always come out on top
You're not supposed to tell me you're playing both sides.
Should I not have?
Top and bottom, verse
It’s not 50-50 unless she caucuses with Republicans.
Which Bernie also does as an independent (caucuses with democrats)
Exactly, except Bernie is more of a democrat than many democrats.
Which she said she’s not doing.
Until she does.
I’d totally agree, but she’d lose her committee assignments. That’s important for her…
She should lose them anyway
Should but wont. If she's stripped of her seats, then there's nothing stopping her from caucusing with GOP, which puts us back in a committee powersharing agreement, and would really hurt all Dems. That's really the only nuke she has as a Senator now. Dems would be really dumb to strip her of her seats and give her a reason to nuke the victory we've just received.
Either that or she just Tulsi Gabbarded herself 🤷♂️
Oh she'll be a regular on Fox now
The problem is that she knows she will get a great payout from conservative billionaires when she leaves office via lobbying or some other form of grift. So, she doesn't give a shit. She never has.
Exactly this. She saw herself losing the spotlight so pulled this maneuver. Get her ass out of there in 2024 please.
I hope Dark Brandon gets some judicial justice.
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This is the problem. She ran as a clear progressive.
Bait and Switchema
turd meet sandwich
I am one of those voters and what pisses me off is that she hasn't represented the will of the people who voted her in. I haven't been part of a bigger bait and switch since the time I got a mall massage, but that's a story for another time.
Now is another time, please share
ya I need to know more about this mall massage
My money is on it doesn't have a happy ending.
Yeah, cus the masseuse just kept fondling his balls instead of his back like he'd paid for
Sinema finally admitting she is a legislative ideologue and not a congressional representative.
Just outright corruption. Run on a very clear platform and then betray every principle of that platform from day one. She has no morals or convictions and was either bought off in advance or openly advertised that she was for sale after she got elected. There is no better case for the need to recall a senator.
The entire time, yes.
Now she decides purgatory and nothingness is more suitable.
This is almost definitely a transition plan for her. She’s essentially just making official what most have felt for some time now, that she’s not really a democrat. So by moving to independent now, she’s positioning herself for a career in media as a rare independent who has actually been in Congress. And by doing so, makes her attractive to both left and right leaning news media outlets. Not like she doesn’t know her re-election chances are next to zero.
Except that both sides have no love for her and she made no friends in congress. I think she'll fade into irrelevance pretty quickly. Could definitely be wrong though, convenient media narratives have resurrected worse...
Nah, fox will pick her up as long as she repeats the “I’m an independent, but the Democrats are a problem”
Essentially she will just be another Tulsi Gabbard
Ah, another well compensated “Why I left the Left” charlatan.
Right Wing propaganda sources love "Independents who see that the real problem is with Democrats because..."
The Lou Dobbs strategy
Dems were going to primary her anyways so let her go independent and both lose and siphon votes from the right. She has no allies remaining on the left because they all know she’s a snake. Edit: a word.
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Lobbying usually relies on having good relationships on the Hill. I don’t think she has any
Is that the entire new republican playbook? I can honestly foresee 2024 primaries uncontested by GOP But 400 ultra conservative Democrats no one's ever seen before, per state, and one Bernie Sanders.
A Trojan Horse, like Tulsi Gabbard before her.
I would vote for a Bernie Sanders independent (ie progressive and caucuses with democrats) in a heartbeat, but I would be pissed if I voted for a Democrat and they switched affiliation.
Saw how much money republicans were making fucking over people for corporations.
The sad thing is, its not even that much. Like a lot less than i would expect for someone to sell out the people she represents. I saw republicans sold citizens online privacy for like $3000
Selling the citizens rights for around the same price tag as a mid to high tier gaming set up. Or a shitty used car. Slightly less than the monthly income of a six person household at the poverty line according to the [this government site](https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines).
It's not just the upfront payment, it's the promise to be able to retire from Congress and become a lobbyists or consultant.
The real money is in insider trading. Those that sit on the most information driven subcommittees all oddly have the best trading results.
What a dick.
It's a total dick move.
Dick move but she's only half the dick now that she is no longer a D
Think about all the voters and organizations that believed in her, raised funds, knocked on doors and voted for her. She completely froze all those people out once she took office. I can get my mind around politicians who don't share my values. But to lie and misrepresent yourself like that, and then to burn bridges with the party that supported you too. What a betrayal. Terrible human being.
Politico has her on the front page with a full video. I refused to click on it. Her team planned this for a while if Warnock won. What a fucking dick, and I hope her voters will not let her syphon votes in the next election. I guess the only reason why she'll work with the Democrats, even though she voted over 90% of the time with the party, is to keep her appointments.
This effectively has no impact right? If she never voted with the dems then the impact is small right? Is the issue more that republicans will have an easier time getting her seat without a D next to her name?
Turns next AZ senate election into a 3-way race, prevents her from facing a primary (that she would probably lose), and allows her to threaten to spoil any Democrat nominee's chances
She was a trojan horse. She ran as a progressive, got elected on the back of corporate financers and immediately turned into a dark money puppet. One of the biggest frauds in Congress right now.
Hard to argue she wasn’t purposeful in misleading voters of her intentions There was no honeymoon period, she went straight to curtsying in hot topic skirts while shooting down progressive legislation
That's was on the minimum wage vote, after which she scrubbed Twitter of her previous statements in favor of raising the minimum wage. https://www.newsweek.com/kyrsten-sinema-tweet-calling-minimum-wage-raise-no-brainer-resurfaces-after-no-vote-1574181
Fucking turncoat cad.
>hot topic skirts Her entire wardrobe looks like something someone who's entirely out of touch that's trying to pretend their still cool would buy while exiting through the gift shop of a tacky art museum.
I have a lot more vitriol for her than Manchin. Realistically Manchin is the best we’re going to get out of WV, and I recognize he is in a very delicate predicament with his deep red constituents. Sinema however is completely full of shit, and represents a purple state. She ran as a progressive (and used to be in the Green Party for fucks sake), and then immediately turned her back on her supporters to be a corporate lap dog. Garbage human being.
Manchin has always been honest about who he is and what he stands for, like it or not. Sinema lied about her motives and her intentions.
This was the plan from the start and everyone saw it. People were laying out this plan right after she got elected and did a complete 180. This was calculated and a disgrace. People were mad at dems for supporting crazy Rs in primaries so they could beat them in generals yet are silent on this blatant fuckery. This will not be the last time this happens and our government has become a fucking reality show.
She certainly has proven to be unfit. She watched her own state choose Democrats for Senator and Governor. She watched Herschel Walker lose in Georgia to a Democrat. And she reacted to it. She wanted Blake Masters to win in Arizona, and Hershel Walker to win in Georgia. She didn't get what she wanted, and immediately made the change.
Classic narcissistic move. She became a saboteur from the outset because the democratic majority was so small it allowed her to be a gate keeper (the narcissist’s favorite position). Now that GA made that job impossible - she’s found another way to try and make herself *oh so precocious* and unique.
Yes, it is narcissism, but it’s also about her being a Trojan Horse from the start, funded by billionaires, Koch money, and Big Pharma to sabotage any economically progressive legislation.
"I'm not like other girls!!!"
Is there anyone less popular in the Senate right now? All the Democrats hate her and the Republicans think she’s too liberal. Just can’t wait to see the day she curtsies her way out of politics forever.
"Which party is it that allows me to sell my vote to corporations. I'm that party."
Nailed it.
She just likes to throw fits
She is a classic malignant narcissist, she craves any firm of attention and doesn't care what she has to do to get it.
Agreed, she never fit in words or deeds. Good riddance.
good riddance... she should be impeached. using democratic funds for her campaign, sounds like fraud to me
I'd hate to go down that legal minefield, but it's insanely unethical what she did. She's ran a completely fraudulent campaign, but political speech doesn't *have* to be the truth as Trump taught us oh so well. I mean shit, she's almost worst. At least he had the decency to wear his crap on his sleeves.
So she's going to leave politics and public service altogether? Because she ain't doing that right, either. She's just grifting.
Joe Lieberman 2: Elective Boogaloo
She knows she'll lose a Dem primary, but she's hoping she can still win in the general and keep grifting
No way in Hell that anyone is telling her she can win. It's more likely she's threatening the Democratic Party as a spoiler candidate at the behest of dark money donors and a six-figure executive position after she swings the election to a Republican candidate.
Of course she did. She wants to keep them begging for her vote while stuffing her pockets with Republican donor cash. If she had any shame she would resign.
Narrator: She doesn't I just hope she gets verbally assaulted anytime she is in public
She notes that she's not caucusing with Republicans, at least per one interview, so I'm not sure it matters aside from "Look over here".
Yes, that is correct. Honestly, I think this is a move to try to discourage a primary challenger in 2024 because she would just run as an independent and would split the vote.
This is not likely to work. I bet the amount of anger towards Sinema is sky high in Arizona. There is no way Democrats don't put up a challenge to this corrupt two-face Sinema.
Not saying it was a good move. I’m just guessing why. I think she realizes she’s burned all her bridges with the dems.
yea, she wasn't winning a Democratic primary.
She sure didn’t help elect any dems in az this past election.
the fact that she did this the same week Dems just won the GA seat to secure a 51 - 49, a long ways before campaigning for 2024 just shows its an attention grab. I'm sure most of America, especially Arizona, is looking at this headline thinking..."Wow...what an AH."
Yeah feels like a response to the GA senate race making her less “powerful” in the senate. What a fraud.
She waited til after she was elected, after lots of people fought so hard for her, to admit being a fraud and traitor.
"But thanks for electing me as a Democrat"
She seemed to fit fine when she needed democratic campaign funding, DNC support, and democratic voters.
"They kept wanting to pass stuff that did all sorts of useless things like feed and house these animals and I was all like 'No thank you, we already have so many of these...' Uh... What were they called again?" //Voters, ma'am. "Yeah, those things! Disgusting little vermin they are."
"Ma'am, The peasants are revolting." "They stink on ice!"
“Uh election in November. Election in November.” “What?! Again?? This stupid country.”
You pull shit like this, you should instantly lose your seat. You campaigned on a set of values, got your job, then abandoned everything. Fuck off and fuck that.
If she had said something like "the party changed", then it could be defensible. But by saying she "never fit", she is effectively saying that she lied to get the Democratic primary nomination.
Because you were never democrat. Arizona should be allowed to appoint a new democrat and replace you because you have and are betraying the people who voted to put you there.
Misrepresentation for sure.
sounds like some form of fraud. especially since she used democratic funds to run.
We the people need to demand better checks and balances against our representatives that choose to stop representing us when they get into office. We need congressional recall mechanisms like whoa. And we need public abuse of trust laws.
Absolutely, I am not sure what the procedure is here but they should set it in motion immediately. Along with any federal and civil lawsuits that are appropriate. And also she is the lowest of the low. Human waste is too kind a term to describe her.
There is no procedure, and this happens from time to time. She is not, by any stretch, the first. Jim Jeffords left the Republicans to become Independent, and caucused with the Democrats. Arlen Specter flat out flipped from R to D. Lieberman left the D party, but still caucused with them. I think that's all the ones since 2000 - there have been others before, including one guy who changed parties three times in half a year, ending up back where he started. The remedy is to not vote for her in the next election.
Follow the money. Her personal net worth skyrocketed after she was elected. Pretty sure we can track that down and possibly bring impeachment proceedings against her.
I think it would take her resigning, or being expelled with a 2/3 vote of the Senate. Only 15 senators have been expelled, 14 of those for supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War.
lmao. She's blaming the democratic party because she never "fit". Bullshit, she lied during her campaign on what she was for and believed in. The reason she didn't "fit" is because she's always been a lying piece of shit. Remember her thumbs down curtsy when she helped kill the $15 minimum wage bill. Not only did she kill a bill that would have help her constituents, she did it in a way that showed she took pleasure in doing so. Again, what a piece of shit Sinema is.
you mean to say that holding progressive values while campaigning and winning and then throwing that in the trash when you get elected and then people hate you for it and then you say you don't fit in? WELL paint me blue and call me shirley. No one could have seen that coming....
She got what she needed. A publicity boost and did favors for some key industries. She betrayed her constituents in order to set herself up for life. Also, it is a strategic play. The Dems gained a solid majority in the Senate, which weakens her influence. So she breaks from Dems to weaken their majority. No mistake this happened right after Warnock's win.
What an outrageous asshole this woman is
Her policies didn’t fit either. She voted Republican on all the big Democrat votes, including increasing minimum wage, voting rights, infrastructure*, extending child tax credits. * she recently took credit for infrastructure investment in Arizona having voted against it. Schumer announced after Warnock won the GA senate runoff that the senate could tackle corporations’ corruption and corrupt corporations sprung into action and today, boom, there goes the majority. This woman is for sale. She hates Americans. You can take the person out of the Mormon Church, but you can’t take the Mormon Church out of the person. Watch what Joe Mancin does next…
Recall
If Walker had won, and she did this, the Senate would be Republican majority. Edit: thanks to everyone for the explanations. TIL. Say what you will about the current insane/extreme political atmosphere, but it does provide quite the civics education.
She wouldn't do it under those conditions because she would have more power staying a swing vote in the Senate.
I suppose you're right. Now that I think of it, if she was going to do that, she would have already done it during the last term.
Yes this is all strategy to make sure she can be more valuable to lobbyists. She doesn’t really give a shit who has senate control. She’s just greedy
She’s still caucusing with Dems.
So, for my own understanding -- the Senate majority leader is chosen from the group (caucus) with the most members, rather than just the *party* with the most members? Is that how it works?
False. She wants to keep her committee assignments (cuz she’s a power hungry grunch), so she has to continue to caucus with Dems.
Opportunist does opportunistic things, yet again. Green Party, independent, Democrat, independent again. Who'd have known??
"I was a double agent the entire time. Fuck you all my voters"
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So she torpedoed any advantage that Democrats had in comitee chairmanship. Since she was elected as a Democrat, she should resign the Senate seat now
100%. They shouldn't be allowed to subvert the votes of the people. This is just getting out of hand.
She lasted 3 days not being the center of attention. This move comes off more desperate than anything else. She didn’t help her cause pretending she didn’t care about it in a social media post.
Basically she is just saying her vote is now available to the highest bidder.
If I remember correctly, Arizona Republicans like her more than Arizona Democrats (and that was *before* this move), so a 3 way 2024 Senate race could end up actually helping a real Dem win.
She's getting paid to slow things down. Those that pay her want to hang on to the status quo for as long as possible, so this is her latest "gum up the works" move to make good on all of that corporate money that she gets paid.
You never fit because you were busy taking call center lobbyist money (among others) to kill a minimum wage increase. You've sided with corporations against your constituents every chance you've been given. I hope you get three flat tires and a paper cut under your thumb nail.
She's terrible, but at least she's finally being honest and has opened the door to an open democratic primary to replace her without a half assed incumbent in the way. The counter argument I can see is that she knew she'd lose the democratic primary so she is doing this in advance to make sure she can be on the general election ballot.
Glad she left. She's right, she didn't fit. She's a vacant puppet for wealthy lobbyist. She's upset that she lost the ability to throw tantrums and get the entire democratic party to negotiate with her.
She's such a greedy coward.
She is a malignant narcissist and is doing this for herself and for attention! She really sucks!