Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has also gone about her life to the beat of her own drum, so no one should be shocked that she left the Democrat Party and registered as an independent.
Sinema is one of the few politicians in D.C. who will work with anyone and won’t conform to a party’s mold.
Sinema knows the majority of Americans also don’t fit the mold. She wrote in The Arizona Republic:
Everyday Americans are increasingly left behind by national parties’ rigid partisanship, which has hardened in recent years. Pressures in both parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the rest of us to fall in line.In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought. Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful legislating.Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes.Important point: “Americans are more united than the national parties would have us believe.”
Sinema continued:
It’s no wonder a growing number of Americans are registering as independents. In Arizona, that number often outpaces those registered with either national party.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.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.
Good for her.
Sinema expanded the explanation in an interview with CNN:
“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent. I know some people might be a little bit surprised by this, but actually, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sinema said in a Thursday interview with Tapper in her Senate office.“I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to,” she added. “Removing myself from the partisan structure – not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it’ll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship.”
The Democrat Party won an outright Senate majority 51-49, but Sinema has not confirmed which party she will caucus with.
Sinema promised not to change anything about herself except her registered party, so I doubt Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will throw a huge hissy fit:
“When I come to work each day, it’ll be the same,” Sinema said. “I’m going to still come to work and hopefully serve on the same committees I’ve been serving on and continue to work well with my colleagues at both political parties.”
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