Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions

Would that Sinema be as reliable a vote as Sanders and King.

— RSchooley@socel.net (@Rschooley) December 9, 2022

Suddenly everybody on Twitter is an expert on Senate rules. Me, I know nothing about them. I do know that "leading" the Senate has been described as herding cats.  Senators are singular, usually quite arrogant, and answer basically to nobody (there's a great scene in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" where Claude Rains scoffs at a request from the President.  The POTUS doesn't tell Senators what to do!  That was once the reigning culture of the body.).  Unlike the far more partisan-aligned House, the Senate is famous for Senators who toe no party line:  McCain, of blessed memory.  The "Dixiecrats" who opposed LBJ.  Sinema.  Manchin.  I seem to remember Robert Byrd was a pain in the ass, too.

Short explainer on Sinema: have Dems lost their majority? No. Even if she caucuses with the GOP that wld still be 50-50. So same as the last Congress. Not great but not terrible. But she’s saying she won’t caucus with the GOP. If she caucuses with neither party then it’s 50-49.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 9, 2022

Everybody talks about the head count and declared party affiliation as if they were magical.  But Democrats have only 48 Senators now.  King and Sanders, like Sinema, are independents. But King and Sanders "caucus" with the Democrats, which I presume means they vote for Democratic leadership of the body and so get rewards from Democratic Majority leaders like committee assignments. Sinema wants to keep the majority buttering her bread, too.

3/ more interesting but also, of course, more stupid. In Vermont and Maines Ds agree not to run a candidate against Sanders and King. That is almost certainly not going to happen in Arizona. Sinema was facing the increasing likelihood of a primary she would likely lose.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 9, 2022

Yeah, I don't care what Sinema does in '24. If she caucuses with the Democrats, she can probably keep her committee assignments. Speaking of which:

Okay Greg has confirmation that she will continue to caucus with the Dems, which means this is 100% meaningless. Angus King and Bernie Sanders already do the same thing. Just with less attention seeking. Still 51-49. False alarm. Go about your business. https://t.co/u0NfGWVzHU

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 9, 2022

Nothing really changes. Sinema got some interviews today, and people are chattering about her. That's all. She'll be as reliable a vote as ever she was. And she's still trading her votes for committee plums. Which is pretty much what they all do.

Watch the donut, not the holes.