Sinema began her political career in the Arizona Green Party before joining the Arizona Democratic Party in 2004, and called herself a "Prada socialist".
In 2000, Sinema worked on Ralph Nader's presidential campaign. In 2001 and 2002, she ran for local elected offices as an independent and lost. In 2002, The Arizona Republic published a letter from Sinema criticizing capitalism.
You might think that a former Green Party member would be allied with the progressives in Congress. But she is not so much a progressive as she is a perfectionist with her own definition of perfect. She does not accept the aphorism "perfect is the enemy of good". She does not agree that the insistence on perfection often prevents implementation of good improvements.
She supported Ralph Nader for president. Al Gore wasn't environmentally correct enough for her. As an independent candidate for office she could have the "perfect" platform that met her own definition of perfect. Of course her idea of perfect didn't result in election wins.
In America we don't have a parliamentary system with coalition governments. In some countries you can vote for a socialist and know that if they are elected they will influence and work with the Green, Liberal and Labor party members. The opposite is true on the right political side in parliamentary governments.
In America, we have a two party system. In close vote situations, your vote for a minor party or independent candidate tends to help the major party that is the least to your liking.
Sinema indicates she may want to change Schumer-Manchin deal
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) had a message for her Democratic colleagues before she flew home to Arizona for the weekend: She's preserving her options.
Why it matters: Sinema has leverage and she knows it. Any potential modification to the Democrat's climate and deficit reduction package — like knocking out the $14 billion provision on carried interest — could cause the fragile deal to collapse.
Her posture is causing something between angst and fear in the Democratic caucus as senators wait for her to render a verdict on the secret deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin last Thursday.
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