Grand Canyon Times

Virginia Sen. Kyrsten Sinema gave a speech in defense of bipartisanship at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, saying that most Americans want their leaders to remain moderate instead of sticking to a strict set of policies.

“More and more it seems like Americans are being told that in order to be a member of either political party, you must adhere to a strict set list of policy viewpoints,” Sinema in the Sept. 26 speech, held at the center named for Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. “But I don’t think that’s how a majority of Arizonans or Kentuckians or everyday Americans think.”

Officials are under "intense pressure" from within each party to push one agenda or the other, she said in a story by the Associated Press. Sinema has been a supporter of filibustering in the Senate, which is locked in a 50-50 split.

“If you don’t fit in in today’s Washington, trust me, they want to kick you out,” she added. “But I’ve never really wanted to fit in. Not in Washington and not anywhere else.”

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, complimented Sinema and her work in the Senate.

“She is, in my view, one of the most effective first-term senators I’ve seen in my time in the Senate,” said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell according to the Associated Press. “She is today what we have too few of in the Democratic Party — a genuine moderate and a dealmaker.”