Democrats are beholden to the same powers that republicans are, so they play the rotating villain. There’s always a “moderate democrat” that plays with republicans to water down any significant law. These representatives need to be so scared of being recalled or primaried out that they listen to the electorate rather than the corporate donors.
This is pretty obviously a power play on her part... she's going to be courted by both parties on every close vote.
But, in general, the more independents the better, so maybe this'll help make independents less anathema.