Last Friday, Senator Kyrsten
Sinema from Arizona caused headlines when she announced she would quit the
Democrat Party to become independent.
Sinema told Politico that she “never really
fit into a box of any political party.”
Sinema began her
political career in the Arizona Green Party and rose to prominence for her
advocacy of LGBT rights and opposing the war on terror. However
when Sinema first ran for office as a
Democrat in 2004, perhaps to increase her clout in politics. It turned out to
be an astute decision, it enabled her to be elected to the United States
House of Representatives in 2012 and to the US Senate in 2018.
In recent years,
Sinema has shown reluctance to blindly side with the Democrats’ far-left agenda.
Still, it is rare for
an incumbent to quit their party and choose to be independent where there is
no party support for multimillion-dollar reelection campaigns.
There is a probability that
she knew she would suffer certain defeat in a Democrat primary against a far-left Democrat. Hence being independent is her sole chance at re-election.
Another benefit of
being a Democrat is that it offers protection from media attacks. The media may
have despised Sinema for blocking Biden’s far-left agenda, yet they never attacked
Sinema the way they target MAGA Republicans.
But all that has changed.
The Independent
seemed irked by Sinema’s independence. Their columnist Eric Garcia claimed she
was more comfortable
working with Republicans. He supported his assertion by claiming that
Sinema has been seen chatting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell and Minority Whip John Thune, prior to key votes. MSNBC also
slammed Sinema’s exit, claiming that her move was calculated rather than
sincere because she needs to
appeal to a broader electorate in the Land of Goldwater and McCain.
But they purposefully
overlooked Arizona re-elected Senator Mark Kelly and elected Democrat Katie
Hobbs as Governor. Perhaps voter fraud had
a lot to do with these victories. Also, the
fact that Democrats control the election infrastructure, as secretary
of state, Democrat Katie Hobbs oversaw the election while running for
governor. Sinema will face an uphill challenge when she runs for re-election in
2024.
Why are the Democrats
concerned?
The Democrats had 51
seats in the Senate following a victory in the Georgia Senate Runoff. However,
with Sinema’s departure, the Democrats are back to 50. The GOP holds an
identical number of seats in the Senate. But, Democrats have Vice President
Kamala Harris as the potential tie-breaker.
Democrats fear that
Sinema's departure may open the floodgates and cause ‘conservative’
Democrat Senator Joe
Manchin, from West
Virginia who also faces re-election in
2024 to also seek independence
This could bring down
the Democrat Senate seat count to 49 with VP Harris’s vote making it 50 causing
both parties will have 50 Senators.
The Democrats have
good reason to be concerned, Manchin and Sinema have a great deal in
common.
The two blocked
Biden’s far-left agenda to some extent.
They both supported
maintaining the filibuster while most Democrats were against the 60-vote
threshold. The abandonment of the Senate's filibuster rule
would have enabled Democrats to pass their 'voting rights' bill. Among the
items on this bill was a ban on state photo voter ID laws, which makes voter
fraud much worse than it already is.
Biden’s plan for the
big government via Build
Back Better was stopped once again by Sinema and Manchin.
It caused the duo to
be named called “Manchinema.”
So what is the
situation in Manchin’s home state of West Virginia and will it enable him a
path to independence?
From 1932 to 1996,
the only Republican presidential nominees to win West Virginia were Richard
Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984 in their respective landslide victories.
But the tide began to
change in 2000, when Al Gore’s environmental extremism repelled Democratic
voters working in and around the coal industry, causing George W Bush to win
that state. Bush won again in 2004 against John Kerry. In 2008 and 2012 Obama
lost the state while Trump won both in 2016 and 2020.
However, West
Virginia Democrat Party Chairman Mike Pushkin dismissed rumors of Manchin
wanting to take the independent route branding it wishful
thinking on the part of Republicans.
Manchin told CNN
he has no intention of leaving his party immediately. However, he didn’t rule
out the possibility of the distant future.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1602367204695183366
Manchin probably sees
Sinema’s departure as an elevation of his importance in his party. He could be
the sole difference in between the passage and failure of any bill. It gives
him more bargaining power. Remaining in the party gives him the support and
funding for his reelection and some protection from media hitjobs.
Perhaps he may switch
after being reelected in 2024. It remains to be seen if Manchin faces a tough
primary challenge from a far-left Democrat.
Beyond ‘Manchinema’
this movement of the independent politician must be welcomed by voters.
Over the years both parties have become so entrenched in the D.C.
Establishment that there is very little difference. They may make tall claims
and attack each other during hearings and on their respective partisan TV news
channels, but behind closed doors there is agreement.
Most across party
lines vote to send billions to Ukraine, for amnesty
for illegal aliens, for gratuitous but big
government spending, gun
control. They support vaccine
mandates. Even on social
issues, there is agreement.
The Republicans are
usually mum when the Democrats wreak havoc by breaking myriad inviolable norms
in Washington.
It makes sense to
have more independents.
These independents may not always turn out to be angels, yet the
fact that they are not affiliated with either party is a boon.
In fact, it could be
argued that Donald Trump was the first independent President to be elected, he
merely rented space in the GOP, but he face stiff opposition from within his
party at every crucial juncture of his election and big for reelection. The GOP
establishment remained bystanders as the Democrats waged wars against Trump.
Back to the
Legislative branch.
Supporting
independent candidates may be a route for voters to take on the establishment.
It just has to be a handful of independents that prevent either party from
having majorities.
These few independents could end up asking the right questions without the fear of
facing reprisal from party bosses and voting against bills that stand against the
public interest. If the public sees some effectiveness, they may vote for more
independents.
But the road to
independence won’t be easy for any politician
Both parties have a
monopoly in Washington, and they will not allow this monopoly to slide away
easily.
They could tag teams
and spend millions to attack independent rivals. The independent candidate may
not have the fund to counter these attacks, causing the voters to be swayed
back to the old parties.
The other risk
obvious is that independents themselves could fall prey to the inducements from
D.C.
But since the two-party system seems to be failing the public, trying something such as supporting independents, may not be such as a bad idea.
Also appears on American Thinker
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