How Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, spurned by Democrats, is vital to Kamala Harris' campaign

Arizona’s disdained and discarded U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was in Paris watching the Olympics and gearing up to run a marathon when Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, spoke before a raucous crowd of about 20,000 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday.

But make no mistake, Sinema’s presence was felt at the event.

And if Harris is going to take Arizona in November — as well as the rest of the country — Sinema will be there with her every step of the way.

Not in person, of course.

But in a way that’s much more politically important.

Sinema's border bill is a Democratic talking point

Before the big rally on Friday, the Harris campaign released a video depicting Harris as a strong proponent of border security and immigration reform.

It spoke of her work as a former prosecutor and concluded:

“As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris.”

The “toughest border control bill in decades” was, of course, the bipartisan legislation put together by Sinema, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

Trump immediately condemned it, not wanting to give President Joe Biden a win in an election year. And his Republican sycophants killed it.

Harris promises to sign it if she becomes president

Lankford (whom Trump attacked for producing a workable bill) spoke of how he and his colleagues had been speaking for years of the need for such legislation and then, “When we’re finally going to the end, they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding. I actually don’t want a change in law because it’s a presidential election year.’ ”

Now, Democrats, who essentially kicked Sinema to the curb, will be using her bill and what happened to it to sell their legitimacy, their credibility and their determination to solve the border crisis.

Racist border bill proves:GOP would take Arizona back to 1864

Harris shouted out her support for the bill in her Phoenix speech and added, “We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”

Then, getting more direct, she said, “But Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem. Let’s be clear about that. He has no interest or desire to actually fix the problem. He talks a big game about border security, but he doesn’t walk the walk.

“Earlier this year, we had a chance to pass the toughest bipartisan border security bill in decades. But Donald Trump tanked the deal because he thought by doing that it would help win an election. But when I am president, I will sign the bill.”

Meantime, the person most responsible for that bill will no longer be in office.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

For more opinions content, please subscribe.