美国国家公共电台 NPR--Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party

Transcript²

Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving her party to register as an independent. The decision shakes up the power dynamic in the closely divided U.S. Senate.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Kyrsten Sinema, a United States senator from Arizona, is leaving the Democratic Party. Here's the way she put it in a video she released.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KYRSTEN SINEMA: Registering as an independent and showing up to work with the title of independent is a reflection of who I've always been and it's a reflection of who Arizona is.

INSKEEP: She had sometimes been on a different page with the rest of her party. Sinema's decision shakes up the power dynamic in the closely divided Senate. Democrats³ did have 51 votes. So do they still? NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh joins us now. Good morning.

DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: First, the why - why would she leave her party now?

WALSH: Well, Sinema told CNN in an interview that she never fit neatly⁵ into any party box, and she hasn't really tried. That's been the frustrating⁶ thing for Democrats about Senator Sinema. Like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, Sinema did regularly break with her party. You know, both she and Manchin pushed back on the size and scope of President Biden's big policy agenda. Ultimately, a much smaller health care and climate bill did pass this summer...

INSKEEP: Yeah.

WALSH: ...With all Democratic votes. But in this very choreographed⁷ video announcement, Sinema talked about, you know, this is a reflection of who she is, and she says it's not going to change how she votes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SINEMA: I'm going to show up to work. I'm going to do my best for Arizona. I'm going to continue to deliver results for everyday people. Nothing's going to change for me, and I don't think anything is going to change for Arizona. And I think Arizonans across the state are going to say, yeah, that's the Kyrsten we elected. That's who we sent to D.C.

INSKEEP: OK. There is the question of what happens with Senator Sinema, but also what happens to her former party. Democrats were just celebrating that they had an extra vote in the Senate. But there are independents who have caucused⁹ with the Democrats. There are already a couple of independents who do this. Does this change anything, really?

WALSH: Effectively, it means the Democrats will still have this 51-49 Senate majority that they were celebrating with the runoff win in Georgia on Tuesday night. I'm told Senator Sinema notified Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer yesterday. She's going to keep her committee assignments through Democrats. And like you said, there already are these two independents who do regularly caucus⁸ with the Democrats and vote with the Democrats for the most part - Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine.

But Sinema, you know, really already sort of skipped party meetings. She says she will continue to scrutinize¹⁰ but support presidential appointees from President Biden. That's an important thing that some Democrats can still pass this year. You know, Sinema was already an independent in terms of her voting record. She said she wasn't comfortable in a partisan¹¹ box. She does team up with Republicans. Even this week, she had been working with North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis on an immigration bill. So, you know, she's going to continue to chart her own path. And, you know, we'll sort of see how she votes.

INSKEEP: Well, as much as some Democrats dislike Sinema, they still need her, it seems to me, particularly heading into a difficult Senate election cycle in a couple of years. What about her future?

WALSH: Right. The 2024 election cycle for Senate Democrats is a really rough map - a lot of vulnerable Democrats up in a lot of swing states. The political reality for Sinema - she was already facing a possible primary challenge from Democratic Congressman¹² Ruben Gallego. Progressives have been really angry about her voting record. But Arizona is a swing state, roughly a third Democrat¹, a third Republican, a third independents. So that may have played into her calculation in terms of whether she could win. She hasn't said whether she will run for reelection. If she does run as an independent, that could leave an opening for a Republican to potentially flip¹³ the seat red in 2024.

INSKEEP: Oh, yeah, if Democrats and independents were to split their votes. Deirdre, thanks so much.

WALSH: Thank you.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Deirdre Walsh.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

8 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

9 caucused   

v.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的过去式 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

10 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

13 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。