Even though the retiring Kyrsten Sinema won’t be a senator much longer, you can tell she’s basking in the afterglow of Democrats’ Election Day defeats, which not only saw Vice President Kamala Harris defeated but the party also lost control of the Senate in spectacular fashion, with four seats (West Virginia, Ohio, Montana and Pennsylvania) flipping to the GOP.
As RedState previously reported, the Arizona senator is already handing out “toldya so” reminders to her soon-to-be former colleagues, including Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is now suddenly interested in “bipartisanship.” After years of trying to get rid of the filibuster (and denigrating Sinema’s opposition to the plan), Democrats were able to push through their woke agenda while they still had the majority.
READ MORE: Kyrsten Sinema is dragging out Chuck Schumer and the Lib reactions are gold
In that context, a growing number of Democratic senators who once firmly believed that the filibuster needed to be overhauled or eliminated are now joining Sinema’s line of thinking about keeping it now apparently on board, which may even strengthen what they previously classified as a relic of the “Jim Crow past”:
“I would be lying if I said we would be in a better position without the filibuster,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). “We have a responsibility to stop autocratic and far-sighted abuses of power or policy, and we will use all means at our disposal. We will not fight this fight with one hand tied behind our backs.”
Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) sees the filibuster as “part of the calculation” of how Democrats will lead opposition in the next Congress in a chamber with a 53-47 GOP majority.
“We had to live with it when we were in the majority,” he said.
[…]
“I will try not to distort my position on this issue,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who has long advocated for eliminating the filibuster in legislation.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) simply told the DC Examiner, “You’re playing by the rules that exist.”
Not surprisingly, Sinema — who left the Democratic Party in December 2022 and registered as an independent — had thoughts:
Please, please, please stop what you are doing and read these quotes.
Archived under: Schadenfreude https://t.co/r87ajTpD4F
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) November 25, 2024
As RedState readers will recall, the contentious debate over the filibuster took a shadowy and troubling turn when President Joe Biden visited Georgia in January 2022 to push for the abolition of the filibuster so that Democrats could pass “voting rights legislation” over the objections the Republicans were able to pass.
At one point during his speech, a red-faced Biden pulled the “Either you’re with us or you’re evil” card, implying that those like Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who disagreed with him and Schumer on federalizing elections was similar to racist Democrats of the past, including Jefferson Davis, Bull Connor and George Wallace.
“I ask every elected official in America: How would you like to be remembered?” Biden asked rhetorically. “Would you like to visit Dr. King or George Wallace? Would you like to side with John Lewis or Bull Connor? Would you like to side with Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? This is the moment of decision. To defend our elections. To defend our democracy.”
Even if Biden’s opinion on the filibuster is all but irrelevant now that his weeks in the Oval Office are numbered, it would be engaging to see a reporter revisit the infamous speech to see if he can now, since his party has once again changed its mind on this issue will be in the minority and the presidency will be held by his arch-enemy Donald Trump.
In any case, I commend Sinema for reminding people where she stands on this issue, as opposed to the position of Senate Democrats who are now singing a different tune. I’m not sure what her post-Senate plans will be, but it would be fun to see her stay in the spotlight via podcasts, television interviews, and the like, just to remind voters what the Democrats are are ecstatic to do so if they have the opportunity.
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