So Krysen Synema said she won't vote for Chuck as leader

[MattP]

What happens if we win the Senate and by one is she going to hold out?

[JI7]

1. She vote for another democrat. Schumer still wins.

[mcar]

2. She won't

And it's a stupid thing for her to say now. We need all hands on deck now.

[grantcart]

3. We need her to turn a red state blue

[mcar]

4. Yep

And not foment discord amongst Democrats. I truly don't get some of these people.

[grantcart]

9. please see #8

Her main opponent campaigned for Congress on being very independent and very little Republican and then served with nearly 100% Republican voting record.

Kyrsten knows that AZ will only vote for an independently minded Democrat.


See # 8 for more detail

[mcar]

21. OK, I get this

Wish we wouldn't give it so much attention here. It's a local/state thing.

[EffieBlack]

7. And she'll do this by telling people she won't vote for Schumer?

Lord save us from Democrats chasing after Republicans by throwing their own under the bus.

[grantcart]

8. Absolutely, voters in Arizona don't like sychophantic team players, look at the record

1) Neither McCann nor Flake are team players

2) McSally who is her likely opponent, indicated that she was unlikely to vote with the leadership when she ran for Congress. Once she got elected she voted with leadership almost 100% of the time.

Kyrsten is setting up a major attack position against McSally who claimed she would be independent and then showed no real independence at all.


Most people look at a state and see red or blue. Arizona has that but it also divides candidates into "independent thinker" or "suckup".

That is why you might be surprised that Kyrsten is leading in the polls against all Republicans because they value her independence which she has shown by becoming the only openly bisexual to reach Congress and if elected the first openly bisexual Senator.

For people in Arizona it is a requirement that they show that they are not just team players but willing to play the maverick.

Krysten understands what she is doing and I am sure that Schumer is 100% in agreement, her winning here is the only chance he has of becoming Majority Leader.

[marybourg]

13. Agree completely. I have worked on a campaign

with Kyrsten and I can assure you that she truly IS independent minded.

[grantcart]

16. that's what my friends in Phoenix tell me.

[EffieBlack]

17. McCain and Flake are TOTAL team players

They talk a lot of shit, but when the time comes, with very rare exceptions, they toe the party line.

[grantcart]

26. You are proving my point

Both have gone out of their way to take independent positions at least on a superficial way, but because both were "team players" in essence their is a ceiling to their popularity.

McCain, for example, did show that he was outside of the 'club' when something big like the ACA is at stake.

However because he is perceived as an establishment guy he has still struggled politically. John McCain is the only person in the history of the United States (that I am aware of) who, after serving as the standard bearer, had to fight like hell (twice) to win his primary against very weak opponents.

As you point out Flake talks a good game but votes with the team. Flake has also become unelectable in AZ. McSally ran as an independent Republican then voted with the team 95% of the time and was unelectable in her district because of it.

So here is the background on the race for the Senate in Arizona. The Republicans had two candidates that led the field; Kelli Ward (extreme right wing nut job) and Martha McSally (first woman fighter pilot, pretends to be independent).

The reason that they needed Arpaio pardoned was so that he could siphon off enough nut job votes so that McSally would win the nomination because Ward was likely to win the primary and get slaughtered in the general, for things like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrsten_Sinema

The General Election will be like the old yarn about the fat guy (me) and the skinny guy taking a hike in the woods and taking a turn in the trail find themselves in front of a mama bear with two cubs who starts to run at them. They turn and run and the skinny guy starts laughing. "What are you laughing at? You cannot out run a bear".

The skinny guy starts running just a bit faster and yells back "don't have to out run a bear".

You can run as a big party person and a small Arizonan or a big Arizonan and a small party

Martha McSally voted with Trump 97.6% of the time

Krysten Sinema voted with the Democrats 73% of the time (down from 80%)

Sinema is putting together the strategy that will make it easier for more independent and Republican voters to vote for her.

That is how an openly bisexual woman is able to win in a conservative state.

By the way Sinema also didn't vote for Pelosi for Speaker and I am 100% positive that Pelosi was fine with it. In the debates McSally will have to explain why she voted for both Boehner and Ryan when she campaigned on being "independent". Sinema is setting up McSally for the debates.


https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/martha-mcsally/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/upshot/the-house-democrats-who-are-voting-with-republicans-more-often.html

[Blue_true]

12. From a practical standpoint, her vote would be meaningless unless Schumer

is tied with another democrat for leader and she is the only vote left. Otherwise, all Schumer needs is a simple majority. She has been a solid democrat in the House, although bluedog, she won't vote for a republican.

[Wwcd]

5. Who would she prefer? Has she given a few qualified names?

Just asking

[Blue_true]

14. Would be some other Dem. nt

[Wwcd]

23. Well, I hope so. So she has no one to name as Schumer's replacement

Would be good to know where she goes with a replacement.
Have to keep an ear to her statements. Maybe she'll give us a hint.
Thanks

[GulfCoast66]

6. She can vote against him as the party leader in a Democratic only vote.

And still support him as the majority leader.

[Blue_true]

10. She would vote for an alternative democrat.

I am not a expert, but if Schumer needed her vote, he would have to convince her, or step aside in favor of another democrat. She would not vote for a republican.

[msongs]

15. what make u think she would not vote for a republican?

[Blue_true]

19. Her past in the House.

She has never voted for a republican to be Speaker of the House, so I am basing my assumption on her history in voting at the federal level.

[grantcart]

11. by the way it is Kyrsten Sinema

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrsten_Sinema

[radius777]

18. Last Dem to carry AZ was Bill in '96.

Romney won it by +9 in 2012 and Trump won it by +4 in 2016, but largely because there was a 4% vote for the Libertarian (the state has such a streak) Johnson that would typically goto a regular Repub. IOW, the state is still a red state despite Trump underperforming.

Basically Sinema is running correctly for the state, as a Bill Clinton-esque centrist who sees a balance between business and gov't.. she grew up poor similar to Bill.. etc.

http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Kyrsten_Sinema.htm

She has good leads in the polls against any potential Repub contender.

Her desire to get a new leadership is not an ideological thing but about herself being a younger Dem who wants a new generation to take power.. what alot of Dems of all stripes are saying.

We must win this seat and Biden recently endorsed her.

Sinema is young and telegenic, has an inspiring bio, is ideological center-leftish, is not a Trump-lite DINO like Manchin and Heitkamp.

[Blue_true]

22. She has been a very solid Dem in the House.

And before that, in Arizona, she led the fight against republican craziness there when she was dramatically outnumbered. I have no concerns with her.

[Wwcd]

24. She comes fully endorsef by EMILY'S LIST also.

https://www.emilyslist.org/candidates/kyrsten-sinema-18

Quite the lengthy endorsement!

[NCTraveler]

20. Incorrect spelling of her name.

Let her campaign. Biden is holding a fundraiser for her in about a week.

[Wwcd]

25. K & R

We need her Dem win in AZ.

I'll stand by her Emily's List endorsement.
Can never go wrong with that Org

[NBachers]

27. I'm not in Arizona, but I've supported and contributed to Kyrsten Sinema all along.

She's said and done things I don't agree with, but so have Obama, Bill Clinton, and every other Democrat I've been loyal to.

I'll continue to contribute and support her. Kyrsten Sinema knows what she's doing, and I'll trust her campaign strategy.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kyrsten-1

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. Somehow I'd managed not to have heard of her until this thread,

even though I live in a neighboring state.

Which suggests she's not as big a player as she thinks she is.