Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is threatening party unity at a crucial moment. She doesn’t care.
By Burgess Everett | POLITICO
She rarely goes to party lunches and skipped Senate votes to run the Ironman. She endorsed a primary challenger against one of her own colleagues and hobnobs with Republicans at least as much as she does with her own caucus.
Kyrsten Sinema doesn’t really fit in with her fellow Senate Democrats. Don’t even ask her whether she watches the Democratic presidential debates.
“I’m not missing anything. I prefer happiness,” Sinema declares in a 25-minute interview, a rare extended conversation with an outlet not based in Arizona. “Look how happy I am.”
Arizona’s first Democrat to win a Senate race in 30 years has done little to raise her profile in Washington; she’s more focused on trying to balance her extreme workout regime with a moderate record on par with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s.
Sinema has long cultivated a bipartisan posture. But her support for Donald Trump nominees like Attorney General William Barr and her lack of zeal for impeachment are part of a political profile drawing blowback from progressives and cheers from the GOP.
Yet Sinema is also setting herself up to be a pivotal vote the next time the Democrats are in power. And her radical breed of centrism could be a headache for the party.
