Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona knows she is walking a political tightrope. What the Democrats don’t seem to realize is, she’s not walking a tightrope for THEM.

Politico got a sit-down interview with Kyrsten Sinema, which was interesting for a few reasons. Let’s look at them, and consider what it means for the year before the 2022 midterms.

First, Sinema knows who she is aiming to please, and it’s not Democrat leadership. She is there for the people of Arizona and no one else.

“I’ve been doing this work for almost 20 years and I make decisions based on what’s right for Arizona and what’s most important for Arizona families,” she said. “And, you know, the stories that folks want to write, that they’re making up? They can do that.”

Her philosophy flies in the face of many in the Senate, especially those (on both sides of the aisle) who have been in office long enough to accumulate institutional power which allows them to set agendas. By simply sticking to her point that she is there to represent the people of Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema has thrown off the power broker system. The Democrats expected her to be a radical, which was a fair assumption given her Code Pink history. But she hasn’t done that. She might be colorful, but she is calculating. It’s clear that she knows the political leanings of Arizona, and her approval rating (compared to the other Democrat senator from the state, Mark Kelly) illustrates that she knows exactly what she is doing.

But now to the second point – Kyrsten Sinema is not, nor ever will be, a Republican. And those who have pressured her to switch parties are frankly, being politically dumb.

“No. Why would I do that?” the moderate Arizonan says in her trademark deadpan.”

(John) Thune, the GOP whip, wishes it were otherwise, confirming in an interview he’s pressed Sinema to join his party multiple times. But Sinema’s goal in an evenly split Senate isn’t to toss away Democrats’ majority, despite enduring months of criticism from progressives on her policy positions, rock-solid protection of the filibuster and yes, even her fashion choices.”

Getting Sinema to switch parties would be a short-term gain and a long-term loss. She does believe in Democrat priorities of spend, spend, and spend some more on social issues – she is just smart enough to read the room, and knows that the current economic situation makes a “Build Back Better” bill of $3.5 trillion an extremely foolish idea. Sinema would never be on board with Republican policies, and the GOP can put forward a better conservative candidate than simply co-opting Sinema. It does appear to be an open question as to whether or not Republicans decide to mount an aggressive challenge to Sinema when she is up for re-election. However, that isn’t until 2024 – and Kyrsten Sinema herself hasn’t even confirmed that she’s running for re-election yet. If nothing else, this interview shows how much Sinema likes to keep her cards to herself. She isn’t going to go spill her guts to the media to just get some press for herself – something almost as heretical to the media as not voting in lockstep with the Democrats.

Also, Sinema is a senator in her first term who is wielding an outsized portion of power on an evenly divided Senate. Switching parties would automatically mean that her power is gone. While she isn’t apparently looking to use her power for personal gain, she is fully aware that she DOES have power at the moment. She is just trying to rein in Democrats instead of rubber stamping Biden’s agenda. Just because she is *gasp* friendly with Republicans doesn’t mean she wants to be one.

Sinema also revealed why she’s constantly spotted on the floor chatting with GOP leader McConnell: “He has a dry sense of humor. It’s underrated.”

Sinema sometimes even serves as a go-between with Republicans for her Democratic colleagues, capitalizing on the years she spent in both the House and Senate cultivating relationships with the GOP. She insists those relationships are not transactional but instead reflect the fact that “I’m a human who has friends.”

She’s suggesting that Republicans are HUMAN??? How COULD she???

Thirdly, the one thing Sinema does make abundantly clear is that she despises the far-left’s tactics when it comes to their attempts to get her in line – from chasing her down in a bathroom to harping on her fashion sense.

She also defended the right of her critics to protest her, but not to follow her into a bathroom and “unfairly and illegally” victimize the students she teaches at Arizona State.”

And she’s definitely fed up with the emerging niche literary genre regarding what she wears on the Senate floor — something her male colleagues don’t have to endure.

“It’s very inappropriate. I wear what I want because I like it. It’s not a news story, and it’s no one’s business,” Sinema said. “It’s not helpful to have [coverage] be positive or negative. It also implies that somehow women are dressing for someone else.”

For a group that constantly likes to praise Barack Obama for wearing a tan suit, these progressive leftists sure seem to have issues with Kyrsten Sinema and her wardrobe.

AOC wears a “Tax The Rich” dress and the left slobbers all over her. Kyrsten Sinema has an expressively quirky wardrobe and doesn’t vote like AOC so BOOOOO HISSSSSS SHUN HER FASHION CHOICES which might even be RACIST. How predictable.

The entire Politico piece is an interesting read, clearly because the media is very anxious to read the tea leaves of Kyrsten Sinema and figure out, right down to the smallest detail, what the Democrats could do to make her happy. If they could just make her happy, then she would vote for what they want. Sinema remains an enigma to them, because they haven’t figured out how to buy her off yet. What if she sticks to her principles and she can’t be bribed by Democrat leadership into rubber stamping the Biden agenda? What if she *gasp* means what she says when she is only thinking about what is best for Arizona?

The Democrats’ reaction to Sinema’s ethics should tell you everything you need to know about their own.

Featured image: Kyrsten Sinema (official 2018 photo), modified, public domain