Kyrsten Sinema has changed her party affiliation. But, Alexandra Petri writes, if you think that change signals a change in other things -- like who she is, or how she'll vote -- you're mistaken:
Anyone concerned that this new swerve toward independence would make her any less the human version of an eviction notice written in glitter gel pen can relax. Sinema will continue to serve up exactly the same quirks that we have come to know and … know, from her time as a Democratic senator.
From voting against raising the minimum wage with a cutesy thumbs-down, to impeding legislation to close corporate tax loopholes for unclear reasons, to generally waltzing through the Senate with her signature brand of cheese-grater-to-the-eardrum whimsy, we can expect more of the same! No longer being a Democrat will, in fact, alter nothing about her (this should come as a surprise, but less of a surprise than you wish it would).
On the one hand, it is a relief that she does not plan to concoct new, different ways of being awful: deciding that, for instance, that we actually need a second, bonus filibuster, or forging an even tighter bond with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). On the other hand, it could be more of a relief.
Increasingly, it seems, politics is less about public service and more about self-service:
Sinema will continue to be the self-crowned protagonist of the Senate, an AIM away status with really deep song lyrics in it that you probably wouldn’t really get. She is still a party of one, just as rAnDom as ever, and now everyone gets to celebrate that fact! Get excited to pay attention to her and her constantly surprising wants — or rather, to continue paying attention to them in exactly the same way! You have a broadly popular policy idea that will benefit her constituents? She’ll support it … maybe!
Anyone worried that now, legislating with her would be any less like “50 First Dates,” where each day you had to wake up and woo her anew, can stop their fretting. You do not need to put away the ukulele, or the private equity dollars, for that matter. Sinema is unaltered.
The Sinema Show has changed networks. But it's still the same show.
Image: The Washington Post
