'Sinemanchin Watch': A Power Ranking For America's Moderate Senators

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 12:01pm

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Joe Manchin Kyrsten Sinema
U.S. Department of Energy, KJZZ
Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema

Tuesday’s U.S. Senate vote approving the bipartisan infrastructure plan gave Arizona’s senior Sen. Kyrsten Sinema an opportunity to bask in the success — as she played a major role with the group of five Democrats and five Republicans who made the package amenable to a supermajority of their colleagues.

Sen. Sinema has been criticized by some progressives for her approach during her first two and half years in office. But her influence — or perceived influence, some might say — is definitely receiving attention in Washington, D.C.

Jim Newell of Slate is fond of lists and determining, for example, which politicians may have “won” a particular week. He recently started an offshoot of that, called "Sinemanchin Watch," in which he decides who has been more influential — Sen. Sinema or her moderate Democratic colleague from West Virginia, Sen. Joe Manchin.

The Show spoke with Newell recently and asked him how "Sinemanchin Watch" came about.

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