I go back and forth on reading The New York Times. It has been one of my top go-to news sources (besides The Daily Kos) and there are a lot of great articles by terrific journalists but they can also make my eyes roll. Like Blake Hounshell’s interview with former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (I. CT) regarding U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I. AZ) abandoning the Democratic Party. Here’s what I mean:
What’s your reaction to Senator Sinema’s decision to switch parties to become an independent?
I’m encouraged by it. We’re in a time when the two major parties have not played the role that they are intended to play, which is to help the country solve some of our problems, when in fact the two parties have become the problem, at least in the way they are behaving. And that’s why, as I like to say, the fastest-growing political party in America is no party.
Sinema hasn’t said that she’s running in 2024, but I don’t think she has any choice but to run as an independent. It’s possible that the Democrats would somehow make peace with her and renominate her. But I consider that to be so unlikely as to be impossible.
Is there anything that the Democratic Party can do to persuade Democrats who are thinking of running in Arizona against Sinema in 2024 to stand down — that they would just be throwing that seat to Republicans?
Just watching the strong statements by the two congressmen who are thinking about running for her seat and the Arizona Democratic Party, I think Washington Democrats will have a hard time convincing Democrats in Arizona. But on the other hand, a year can be a lifetime. If, in 2024, it looks like a person running as an independent will help elect a Republican, who’s to say what might happen?
Lieberman is irrelevant in terms of today’s political landscape and the NYTs is pushing the stupid and completely false “both sides” narrative argument here. But he isn’t wrong that anything could happen from now and until 2024 and at least he acknowledges that Arizona Democrats are pissed at her for betraying the voters time and time again. But Rep. Ruben Gallego (D. AZ-07) is at least trying to make the case that Democrats shouldn’t rely on her to hold her seat in 2024:
Today, Public Policy Polling released a survey of Arizonans, showing that headed into the 2024 election, Senator Sinema is broadly unpopular and trails Rep. Ruben Gallego significantly in a three-way race. The poll shows Gallego at 40% and Republican Kari Lake at 41%, with Sinema in a distant third at 13%.
As PPP’s memo (below) explains, the survey of over 650 Arizona voters shows “Ruben Gallego is considerably more popular in the state than Kyrsten Sinema and would be a top tier Senate candidate regardless of what she decides to do in 2024.” While Sinema has no realistic path to victory in a 3-way race, Gallego would start effectively tied with the Republican. The only potential spoiler here is Sinema in her potential 3rd party run.
"You don’t need a poll to understand why voters aren’t happy with Senator Sinema: she’s consistently voted with Wall Street bankers and big drug companies, and against the interests of Arizonans. Sinema’s values are not Arizona’s values. Writing a different letter after her name isn’t going to change that,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego. “There’s clearly a strong desire for a Senator who will put Arizona first.”
But here’s the real kicker about Lieberman defending Sinema’s move to leave the Democratic Party:
Kyrsten Sinema once organized a protest against a Democratic senator who was trying to court Republican voters.
In 2003, the now-Arizona senator was outside of a meeting for presidential-hopeful Sen. Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reported at the time.
Lieberman, then a Democrat, was visiting Tucson, Arizona, ahead of the 2004 election to campaign and garner interest for his bid. Support for the war in Iraq was a top issue at the time.
About 40 anti-war protestors showed up outside of the Tucson hotel where Lieberman was in meetings, the Courant reported. One of those protestors was Sinema herself.
Then a social worker, Sinema disagreed with Lieberman's stances on the war — and even more so, his campaign strategy.
"He's a shame to Democrats," Sinema, who organized the protest, said, according to the Courant. "I don't even know why he's running. He seems to want to get Republicans voting for him — what kind of strategy is that?"
So yeah, it’s interesting that The New York Times failed to bring up Sinema’s past remarks about Lieberman’s strategy to win over Republican voters and going against the Democratic Party. I would’ve loved to hear Lieberman’s response had Hounshell bringing that up. We should have a decision from Gallego after the holidays but he sure is sounding like he’s gearing up for a run. Click here if you want to donate to Gallego’s potential bid.
Happy Holidays!