Ms Lieberman

 Josh Marshall has done yeoman's work trying to figure out what the hell is going on with Krysten Sinema. Joe Manchin's positions make a certain amount of sense for a septuagenarian from West Virginia. Sinema is a young, ambitious politician from a purpling state. Why is she taking positions that would seem to alienate herself from her party base?

As Marshall notes, her support - as measured by favorability - is cratering with Democrats and Independents. She has high favorables from Republicans. If she thinks she can convert that Republican favorability into Republican votes, she's dumber than a box of rocks. Republicans will vote for Republicans. Right now, her favorables are high, because Republicans like the fact that she is making it impossible for Joe Biden and Democrats to pass a popular legislative agenda. Come the next election, though, they will vote for the Republican.

Her decision making seems to be a re-hash of what we had to go through with Joe Lieberman here in Connecticut. Now, Connecticut is much bluer than Arizona, so maybe this strategy works. But partisanship continues to grow, regardless of where you are. 

I've wondered these past couple of months where Sinema's primary challenger was. True, she's not up for re-election until 2024, but having a primary challenger who racks up major donations on ActBlue and presents a consequence for her obstreperousness might nudge her back into the fold.

My only guess is that Democratic Party officials worry that a primary challenger will push her over towards the GOP entirely. It seems pretty clear that Sinema has no deeply held convictions beyond the fact that Krysten Sinema is awesome and should be a Senator. While Lieberman was the same way, he did have core beliefs, though many of them were odious. 

Every once in a while, I think about the 2020 election in Maine. Joe Biden won 53.1% of the vote and yet Susan Collins won 51%. Every one of those Mainiacs who voted for Biden and then voted for Susan Collins...fuck y'all. You're dumb. If you wanted to end Trumpism, you cannot split your votes. Also, I really wish Cal Cunningham had kept it in his pants. Having 50 votes is better than having 49, but man...