Erielle Davidson writes for the Federalist about the impact of an attack from the Democratic Party’s left wing on a freshman U.S. senator.
Arizona Republic reported that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) “is facing a censure vote from the Arizona Democratic Party,” whose farthest left members feel Sinema has been too acquiescent toward President Trump’s policies. Dan O’Neal, the state coordinator of Progressive Democrats of America, claims Sinema has abandoned the Democratic stances she supposedly ran on.
Sinema was elected senator of Arizona in 2018, replacing Jeff Flake and defeating Republican candidate Martha McSally. According to Arizona Republic, Sinema’s voting record indicates that, while in the House (where she served from 2013 to 2018), Sinema opposed Trump’s agenda 81 percent of the time; in the Senate, 46 percent of the time. The Democrats cite, among other things, her vote to confirm Attorney General William Barr and her unwillingness to revive “net neutrality” rules as spots of contention.
The censure vote against Sinema reveals the malady that plagues contemporary politics. In an age of hyperpartisanship, where party lines have taken on frustratingly tribal qualities, Sinema’s more moderate approach should be lauded, not censured. …
… They indicate that the narrative being spread by the farthest-left wing of the Arizona Democrat Party—that Sinema has somehow been unfaithful to the platform she ran on for Senate—is false. Rather, being someone who hopes to reach across the aisle seems to be precisely the platform on which she ran. Furthermore, Sinema wasn’t always a more moderate voice, making her determination to find commonalities with the opposing side arguably more admirable.
