Ruben Gallego/Flickr
Opinion: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s vote this week on the filibuster, like all of her votes, was calculated with an eye on winning re-election. This time, however, she may have miscalculated.
By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic
Did Sen. Kyrsten Sinema miscalculate with her continued support for the filibuster? Keep your eyes on Rep. Ruben Gallego.
I envision Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reaching for the Excedrin today.
Arizona’s senior senator became public enemy No. 1 within her own party this week when she forced President Joe Biden into a ditch in her headlong pursuit of reelection in 2024.
But did she miscalculate?
Keep your eyes on Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Sinema has long clung to the middle of the road. Oh, not because it’s her natural inclination. She was once a Green Party activist, considered “too extreme” even for the Democratic Party when she first ran for the state Legislature in central Phoenix in 2002.
Her move to the middle was a savvy calculation, one she made in order to climb the political food chain in what was then a deep red state.
Sinema won because of moderate voters
Sure, the state is changing. Sinema’s the first Democrat Arizona has sent to the Senate in three decades. But she didn’t win by much in 2018 and that victory over then-Rep. Martha McSally, R-Trump, came with the support of moderate Republicans and independent voters.
The sort who were having buyer’s remorse over their 2016 vote for Trump.
The sort who aren’t all that excited about ending the filibuster and allowing progressive bills to flow forth.
Thus came the decision by Sinema to put on a purple dress and take to the Senate floor last week to announce (yet again) her support for the filibuster.
Before, liberals just had to deal with Sinema
