Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's foolish fealty to filibuster is exposed by Tuesday's Senate vote

She got conned. She got outwitted, outsmarted and outplayed.

Going into Tuesday’s vote in the U.S. Senate if debate would be opened on the sweeping voter protection proposal called For the People Act, legislation that Sinema co-sponsored, the senator wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post defending her support of the filibuster.

That, of course, is the Senate rule that requires a 60-vote majority to pass any legislation and, essentially, gives power to the minority party.

Sinema waxes poetically, if not naively, about how the rule forces senators from different parties to find common ground.

In Tuesday’s vote, however, Republican senators used the filibuster to prevent even a discussion among senators about the For the People Act. How can you find common ground if Republicans aren't even willing to talk?

In her essay for the Post, Sinema wrote in part, “My support for retaining the 60-vote threshold is not based on the importance of any particular policy. It is based on what is best for our democracy. The filibuster compels moderation and helps protect the country from wild swings between opposing policy poles.”

That may be what the senator would like the filibuster to do. Maybe it’s what we all would like the filibuster to do.

Instead, the filibuster’s current use is purely for obstruction.

In this instance, Republican senators are preventing the discussion and passage of a bill meant to protect the most precious right of Americans. The right to vote.

Instead, their action provides a blanket of protection and a clear endorsement of the many Republican-controlled state legislatures – including Arizona's – actively passing voter suppression laws.

The only way the For the People Act has a chance is if the filibuster rule is altered or eliminated, which the senate has the power to do.

Is it worth ending the filibuster? Yes

But Sinema says no.

She wrote, “To those people who want to eliminate the legislative filibuster to pass the For the People Act (voting-rights legislation I support and have co-sponsored), I would ask: Would it be good for our country if we did, only to see that legislation rescinded a few years from now and replaced by a nationwide voter-ID law or restrictions on voting by mail in federal elections, over the objections of the minority?”

Actually, yes, it WOULD be good for the country to pass the For the People Act, because the provisions in the bill are wildly popular. One survey showed that 70% of Democrats, 68% of independents and 57% of Republicans approved of the bill.

So, yes, pass it.

And then see if Republicans – should they regain control of the House and Senate – would dare to attempt to rescind such legislation.

Cooperation and bipartisanship are wonderful things, important things. They should be strived for at every turn. But they can’t always be achieved. Sinema isn’t helping to introduce a new era of collaboration and fellowship in the Senate.

She’s simply serving the interests of those whose only goal is to suppress voters.

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