Why We Need More Kyrsten Sinemas and Fewer AOCs
“I’m not a joiner,” says Sinema. “It’s not my thing.”
“I’m not a joiner,” says Kyrsten Sinema. “It’s not my thing.”
These eight words stuck out to me when I read the recent interview Kyrsten Sinema did with The Atlantic.
Sinema, the ranking US Senator from Arizona, famously left the Democratic Party in 2022, causing a bit of a stir. There are no doubt many reasons Sinema, whose political career began as a progressive activist, abandoned Democrats and registered as an Independent. But I think these words are at the heart of it. She’s not going to just do as she’s told. She’s going to do what she thinks is best.
Some may ask: best for whom? That’s a fair question, but those who think Sinema’s move was simply self serving, that her decision stemmed from pure selfishness, should consider that she would not be in jeopardy of losing her Senate seat if she had simply closed her mouth, gotten in line, and went along with the party.
She could have been like AOC, “the outsider” who is slowly morphing into the next Nancy Pelosi. But I get the sense this is not really Sinema’s style, and I respect her for that. She forged a different path, and I think she did it—I hesitate to even say this because I’m a cold-hearted cynic when it comes to DC politics—largely on principle. She couldn’t go in good faith where the left-wing of the Democratic Party was going.
Sinema said no to court packing. She said no to nuking the filibuster. She said no to other big spending bills that the United States, currently $31 trillion in debt, cannot afford.
And she paid for it. Think about these words on Sinema from The Atlantic.
“…it’s hard not to think about the protesters who have hounded her in recent years. They chase her through airports, yell at her at weddings. In one controversial episode, a group of student protesters at Arizona State University followed her into the bathroom, continuing to film as they hectored her. (The ASU police recommended misdemeanor charges against four students involved.)
I ask Sinema if, as a former activist herself, she could understand where those students were coming from. Would she have done the same thing when she was young?
“Break the law?” she scoffs. “No.”
Imagine being hounded by protesters like this, to the extent they are following you into the bathroom.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Take (by Jon Miltimore) to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.