slate.com I Think I Found Kyrsten Sinema’s Side Hustle. It’s Perfect. Christina Cauterucci 16 - 20 minutes Politics Last week, she ditched the Democrats. Perhaps this is her real passion? A photo of a woman smiling, with text messages superimposed on her face. The texts say "They're beautiful shoes. Enjoy them!" Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images. It is 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I am exchanging Facebook messages with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about a lightly used pair of Badgley Mischka heels. At least, I think it’s Kyrsten Sinema. It’s her name on the Facebook Marketplace listing, and it’s her in the profile photo, grinning at the finish line of a running race. The seller bio says she lives in Phoenix, and our one mutual Facebook friend is a former Democratic National Committee staffer. The shoes—4.5-inch stilettos adorned with rhinestone-studded flower appliqués—look as if they would fit pretty well in Sinema’s wardrobe. But would a sitting senator respond within seconds on a weekday morning to a message about her used heels? Would it be worth her time to photograph a pair of old shoes, write a sales listing, field inquiries from potential buyers, and arrange pickup logistics—all for just $65? “They’re beautiful shoes,” the user DMs me as I Venmo the money. “Enjoy them!” This is far from the only listing of secondhand clothes this user, “Kyrsten Sinema,” has posted. The user is currently hawking—among other things—a $215 cycling ensemble, a $25 trucker hat, and a $150 stainless steel watch with a silicone strap. Within the past six weeks, she has offloaded a $150 fitness tracker ring, an $80 cycling jersey, and a $500 bicycle travel case. Over the past two years, and across at least five Facebook groups for athletes, she has listed several dozen personal items, including a $100 pair of sunglasses (“Just too big for my tiny head!!”), two $50 puffer jackets, three $75 pairs of high-heeled boots, a $75 cycling bib, a $60 Lululemon raincoat, several mesh tanks at $55 a pop ($20 off the current retail price), and multiple bikinis, priced between $60 and $70, that ranged from “never worn” to “in great condition.” For the uninitiated: Facebook Marketplace is a virtual yard sale, like Craigslist or the classifieds. Along with other digital clothing reseller platforms like Depop and Poshmark, the platform has made it easy to sell one’s stuff online, allowing a growing number of Americans (including one Arizona senator, perhaps) to earn decent money while freeing up closet space. But while Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has alienated the vast majority of Arizona Democrats and was polling underwater this fall with quite literally every demographic group in the state, Facebook Sinema remains, on Facebook Marketplace, a “highly rated” seller, with strong customer ratings related to Pricing, Punctuality, and Communication. A pair of boots, laid across a shoe box, with listing details next to them. Facebook Marketplace In the political realm, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is an enigma, often infuriatingly so. To advocates and colleagues, her decisions and loyalties can seem random. She came up in Arizona politics as a member of the Green Party and as an antiwar activist, only to become one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and a proponent of ballooning defense budgets. Since she rarely speaks to the press or even the members of her own Senate caucus, we know precious little about what makes her tick. Even before last week, when she announced that she would be leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, she never attended Democratic Caucus meetings, unlike the other two independents who usually vote with the Democrats. Her bizarre fashion sense, which has gotten more outlandish and less coherent over time—candy-colored wigs, a ring that says “Fuck Off”—has further convoluted her public image. What narrative does she want voters to glean from her political and personal lives? What, if anything, does she value? Why did she do that random winery internship two summers ago? Is there an ideology driving her politics? Does anyone know? Does Sinema? Just about everyone in U.S. politics has tried and failed to decode her. Could Facebook Marketplace be one key? At the very least, it provides a wealth of new information about how Sinema—or someone using her name and photo, who shares her exact athletic interests and taste in clothes—spends her time.

slate.com

I Think I Found Kyrsten Sinema’s Side Hustle. It’s Perfect.

Christina Cauterucci

16 - 20 minutes

---

Politics

Last week, she ditched the Democrats. Perhaps this is her real passion?

Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.

It is 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I am exchanging Facebook messages with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about a lightly used pair of Badgley Mischka heels.

At least, I think it’s Kyrsten Sinema. It’s her name on the Facebook Marketplace listing, and it’s her in the profile photo, grinning at the finish line of a running race. The seller bio says she lives in Phoenix, and our one mutual Facebook friend is a former Democratic National Committee staffer. The shoes—4.5-inch stilettos adorned with rhinestone-studded flower appliqués—look as if they would fit pretty well in Sinema’s wardrobe.

But would a sitting senator respond within seconds on a weekday morning to a message about her used heels? Would it be worth her time to photograph a pair of old shoes, write a sales listing, field inquiries from potential buyers, and arrange pickup logistics—all for just $65?

“They’re beautiful shoes,” the user DMs me as I Venmo the money. “Enjoy them!”

This is far from the only listing of secondhand clothes this user, “Kyrsten Sinema,” has posted.

The user is currently hawking—among other things—a $215 cycling ensemble, a $25 trucker hat, and a $150 stainless steel watch with a silicone strap. Within the past six weeks, she has offloaded a $150 fitness tracker ring, an $80 cycling jersey, and a $500 bicycle travel case. Over the past two years, and across at least five Facebook groups for athletes, she has listed several dozen personal items, including a $100 pair of sunglasses (“Just too big for my tiny head!!”), two $50 puffer jackets, three $75 pairs of high-heeled boots, a $75 cycling bib, a $60 Lululemon raincoat, several mesh tanks at $55 a pop ($20 off the current retail price), and multiple bikinis, priced between $60 and $70, that ranged from “never worn” to “in great condition.”

For the uninitiated: Facebook Marketplace is a virtual yard sale, like Craigslist or the classifieds. Along with other digital clothing reseller platforms like Depop and Poshmark, the platform has made it easy to sell one’s stuff online, allowing a growing number of Americans (including one Arizona senator, perhaps) to earn decent money while freeing up closet space.

But while Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has alienated the vast majority of Arizona Democrats and was polling underwater this fall with quite literally every demographic group in the state, Facebook Sinema remains, on Facebook Marketplace, a “highly rated” seller, with strong customer ratings related to Pricing, Punctuality, and Communication.

Facebook Marketplace

In the political realm, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is an enigma, often infuriatingly so. To advocates and colleagues, her decisions and loyalties can seem random. She came up in Arizona politics as a member of the Green Party and as an antiwar activist, only to become one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and a proponent of ballooning defense budgets. Since she rarely speaks to the press or even the members of her own Senate caucus, we know precious little about what makes her tick. Even before last week, when she announced that she would be leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, she never attended Democratic Caucus meetings, unlike the other two independents who usually vote with the Democrats. Her bizarre fashion sense, which has gotten more outlandish and less coherent over time—candy-colored wigs, a ring that says “Fuck Off”—has further convoluted her public image.

What narrative does she want voters to glean from her political and personal lives? What, if anything, does she value? Why did she do that random winery internship two summers ago? Is there an ideology driving her politics? Does anyone know? Does Sinema?

Just about everyone in U.S. politics has tried and failed to decode her. Could Facebook Marketplace be one key?

At the very least, it provides a wealth of new information about how Sinema—or someone using her name and photo, who shares her exact athletic interests and taste in clothes—spends her time. . ." READ MORE