XPost: alt.politics.democrats.senate, sac.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, rec.arts.tv   
   From: siya.biden@assholes.us   
      
   There’s a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from   
   our politics, and what political parties are offering.   
      
   I am privileged to represent Arizonans of all backgrounds and beliefs in   
   the U.S. Senate and am honored to travel to every corner of our state,   
   listening to your concerns and ideas.   
      
   While Arizonans don’t all agree on the issues, we are united in our values   
   of hard work, common sense and independence.   
      
   We make our own decisions, using our own judgment and lived experiences to   
   form our beliefs. We don’t line up to do what we’re told, automatically   
   subscribe to whatever positions the national political parties dictate or   
   view every issue through labels that divide us.   
      
   Each day, Arizonans wake up, work and live alongside people with different   
   views and experiences, usually without even thinking about partisan   
   politics.   
      
   Arizonans expect our leaders to follow that example – set aside political   
   games, work together, make progress and then get out of the way so we can   
   build better lives for ourselves and our families.   
      
   It’s no surprise that Washington, D.C., often fails to reflect that   
   expectation.   
      
   Kyrsten Sinema:Help! Our Constitution is under attack   
      
   Everyday Americans are increasingly left behind by national parties’ rigid   
   partisanship, which has hardened in recent years. Pressures in both   
   parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme   
   voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the   
   rest of us to fall in line.   
      
   In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance   
   for diversity of thought. Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely   
   acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting   
   progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful   
   legislating.   
      
   Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican   
   – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold,   
   views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes.   
      
   Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S.   
   House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different. I pledged   
   to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I   
   committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-   
   calling, or get distracted by political drama.   
      
   Sinema's background:The congresswoman who grew up in a gas station   
      
   I promised I would never bend to party pressure, and I would stay focused   
   on solving problems and getting things done for everyday Arizonans.    
      
   My approach is rare in Washington and has upset partisans in both   
   parties.    
      
   It is also an approach that has delivered lasting results for Arizona.   
      
   I work proudly with senators in both parties who have similarly rejected   
   political extremes and forged consensus, helping drain some of the poison   
   from today’s politics.   
      
   That includes successful laws I was honored to lead rebuilding our   
   country’s critical infrastructure, protecting our economic   
   competitiveness, addressing historic drought to help secure our water   
   future, expanding veterans’ benefits, boosting innovation and small   
   businesses, protecting marriage access for LGBTQ Americans, strengthening   
   mental health care and making our communities safer, more vibrant places   
   in which to live and raise families.   
      
   Because we built support in both parties for these solutions, rather than   
   pursuing more extreme party-line policies, these laws are lasting   
   solutions – less likely to be overturned by a next Congress resulting in   
   whipsawing federal policy, greater uncertainty and deeper divisions.   
      
   Americans are more united than the national parties would have us believe.   
   We’ve shown that a diverse democracy can still function effectively.   
      
   Arizonans – including many registered as Democrats or Republicans – are   
   eager for leaders who focus on common-sense solutions rather than party   
   doctrine.   
      
   But if the loudest, most extreme voices continue to drive each party   
   toward the fringes – and if party leaders stay more focused on energizing   
   their bases than delivering for all Americans – these kinds of lasting   
   legislative successes will become rarer.   
      
   Another view:Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is reinventing American politics   
      
   It’s no wonder a growing number of Americans are registering as   
   independents. In Arizona, that number often outpaces those registered with   
   either national party.    
      
   When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a   
   victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose   
   are everyday Americans.    
      
   That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party   
   politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in   
   Washington.   
      
   I registered as an Arizona independent.    
      
   Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national   
   party.    
      
   Becoming an independent won’t change my work in the Senate; my service to   
   Arizona remains the same.   
      
   Arizonans who’ve supported my work expanding jobs and economic   
   opportunity, or my opposition to tax hikes that would harm our economic   
   competitiveness, should know my focus on these areas will continue.   
      
   Arizonans who share my unwavering view that a woman’s health care decision   
   should be between her, her doctor and her family should know that will   
   always remain my position, as will my belief that LGBTQ Americans should   
   not be denied any opportunity because of who they are or who they love.   
      
   For those who support my work to secure the southern border, ensure fair   
   and humane treatment for migrants and permanently protect “Dreamers” who   
   are Americans in all but name, those will remain my priorities.   
      
   For Arizonans who’ve supported my work to make health care more affordable   
   and accessible, they should know I will continue that work, as I did when   
   I helped negotiate a historic law allowing Medicare to negotiate   
   prescription drug prices while still ensuring robust medical innovation.   
      
   But if anyone previously supported me because they believed, contrary to   
   my promise, that I would be a blindly loyal vote for a partisan agenda –   
   or for those who believe our state should be represented by partisans who   
   push divisive, negative politics, regardless of the impact on our state –   
   then there are sure to be others vying for your support.   
      
   I offer Arizonans something different.   
      
   Some partisans believe they own this Senate seat.    
      
   They don’t.    
      
    This Senate seat doesn’t belong to Democratic or Republican bosses in   
   Washington.    
      
   It doesn’t belong to one party or the other, and it doesn’t belong to me.    
      
   It belongs to Arizona, which is far too special a place to be defined by   
   extreme partisans and ideologues.    
      
   It’s an honor to represent the state I love so much in the U.S. Senate.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)