Multiple conservatives floated an excellent idea in the past week: Kyrsten Sinema, they independently note, would be an incredibly compelling running mate, especially for Joe Biden.
The Arizona senator, a young Gen Xer at age 43, would bring much-needed youth to a ticket that, if successful, would give us the oldest president in our nation’s history. She’s a moderate who wouldn’t alienate swing state voters, and she’s already demonstrated raw political prowess that a Biden presidency could cultivate. If Biden actually did step down after a single term of a boring presidency, Sinema would be poised to replace him.
But more importantly, she would drive the Left crazy.
Sinema is a bisexual woman, which the Left loves. But if the smear campaign against 2020 contender Pete Buttigieg has proven anything, it’s that the Left reviles queer candidates who step a single toe out of line with the intersectional agenda. Buttigieg is an out and proud gay man who parades his husband on the campaign trail, yet from the New Republic to BuzzFeed, the intersectional Left can’t stop smearing Buttigieg for being the wrong kind of gay man: the kind who cares about all sorts of evil, right-wing things such as faith, family, and fairness.
Mayor Pete isn’t even really a moderate. He may not want to eat the rich or burn down Chick-fil-A, but he’s still a fan of court-packing and late-term abortion. Just imagine how much the Very Online Left would fume at a bisexual woman who eagerly works with Republicans on paid leave legislation, openly supports ICE, and doesn’t spend the majority of her time hating on President Trump. They’ll have a field day. Just as is happening with Buttigieg, it will backfire.
Biden doesn’t need to boost turnout in California or New York, but he does in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Disaffected Republicans and centrists won’t be too keen on voting for a moderate 78-year-old with Stacey Abrams a heartbeat away from the presidency. But Sinema? Not only could Biden get back the Rust Belt, but Arizona would be in play.
Biden’s polling has firmed to a solid quarter of the field with no signs of diminishing, but if Bernie can get the rest of the Left to coalesce around him as the field continues to whittle, Biden preemptively announcing his running mate could provide a final boost to his bid. And yes, Sinema would be an ideal choice.
