An interesting tidbit from some of Sinema’s Democratic colleagues inside the Beltway from Julia Ioffe…
The Sinema Lovefest: One of the more counterintuitive themes to emerge from my recent conversations with Senate Democratic sources is that Kyrsten Sinema, who officially left the party late last year, is surprisingly now being seen by many inside the party as an asset. Beyond functioning as a warm body who supports the Democrats’ hold on the majority, while also holding Democratic slots on four different committees, several Senate sources tell me that her habit of hanging out with Republicans actually works in Democrats’ favor when counting votes.
Julia Ioffe’s Puck 9/12/23 Newletter
In this worldview, Sinema is an aisle-hopping ambassador, effective at pulling Republican senators over to join Democrats on some legislation. A source pointed to her usefulness in helping the Senate consolidate behind a recent short-term spending measure. “As a creature of private equity interests, there is one thing she’s good at: making a case to prevent economic turbulence with certain G.O.P. leaders,” a Democratic Hill source tells me.
Sinema has yet to announce whether she will seek a second term, and plenty of sources on the Hill speculate that she will retire. But she is raising money as if she is serious about reelection. Should she run again, she risks playing a spoiler role in a battle royale that will likely feature Democrat Ruben Gallego and possibly Republican Kari Lake, who’s expected to launch her own Senate campaign in October.
Despite this bit of Senate floor goodwill, the Arizona Senate race remains a complicated dance for the D.S.C.C. For now, the Senate Democratic campaign arm is in wait-and-see mode until she makes a decision, which could be a while from now—Arizona Senate filing is in April.
Much as it is useful and practical to have someone who can convince a few GOP Senators to support common-sense legislation, a “creature of private equity interests” is perhaps not the best representative for the interests of Arizona’s citizens.
It remains unclear whether and when Sinema will make a decision whether to run again or chose to float away on her golden parachute, but I’m quite sure there is an intensely self-interested calculus in Sinema’s head that will determine those details, and the result will have nothing to do with the interests of Arizona – only those of Sinema.
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Yep, Girlfriend thinks she can pull a rabbit out of a hat. She’s apparently not ready to be a lobbyist.
Kyrsten Sinema pitches donors on a ‘path to victory’ in Arizona by courting Republicans
Sept. 25, 2023, 4:00 AM MST
By Sahil Kapur
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat-turned-independent, hasn’t publicly announced whether she’s running for re-election next year. But privately, her political team has been mapping out a campaign strategy, pitching donors and potential supporters on how she can win the marquee Senate race.
In a two-page prospectus obtained by NBC News, Sinema charts out a path to victory as an independent candidate in Arizona, with a glimpse of her possible campaign message and new details about the unique cross-party coalition she would seek to build in the competitive state.
Under the banner “Kyrsten’s Path to Victory,” the document says Sinema can win by attracting 10% to 20% of Democrats, 60% to 70% of independents and 25% to 35% of Republicans.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/krysten-sinema-pitches-donors-arizona-senate-race-path-victory-rcna117002
My guess is that Gallego is doing too well, and she’s looking to achieve relevance by giving the race to whoever the Rs nominate.
Which may happen.
Her actually winning? Not so much.
The national Democrats could really screw this up by not supporting Gallego. And I believe they might be that dumb. Schumer might want to help Sinema, his hand picked protege.
Sinema’s spokesperson says she’s got 10 million cash on hand. Well, Kelly’s seat and Warnock’s seat both cost over 100 million to win and that is to be expected in these battleground states. Sinema only needs another 90 million. And Gallego is going to need national and state Democratic leaders to raise that kind of money.
Sinema is so unpopular in Arizona that an endorsement from God himself couldn’t get her elected. Her reasons for not taking her millions and calling it a day are anyone’s guess at this point. I suppose it’s possible she’s just trying to hang on to her sweet gig. To all appearances she’s having a good time (while we suffer.)
“The national Democrats could really screw this up by not supporting Gallego.”
They probably will, it’s in the DSCC’s DNA. If history holds any lessons they may run their own primary candidate and that candidate loses the DSCC will foolishly withdraw Gallego’s support and encourage others to do the same. (Insert Deity of choice) willing I really hope I’m wrong here.
Well, in their brilliance they gave away the Ohio Senate seat in 2022 to JD Vance by not supporting Tim Ryan. I suspect he offended Chuck Schumer. That seat was theirs to lose and they did.
Gallego’s going to win the Democratic nomination, and the party leaders need to get behind the people’s choice. That should be the strategy.
Yeah Liza, as Howie Klein has said the DSCC (& the DCCC for that matter) would rather see a Repug than a Progressive Democrat win.
How long before Little Chucky Schumer swoops in to protect his preferred candidate?
If Sinema does something that benefits an average person, it wasn’t her original intent.
Got fantasy?