JUST NOW: whoa.
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) June 7, 2021
“Joe Manchin has become the new Mitch McConnell…Joe Manchin is doing everything in his power to stop democracy.”
Dem Rep @JamaalBowmanNY on @Sen_JoeManchin on voting rights and the fillibuster.@NewDaypic.twitter.com/PYBiMo8l0o
As David Shor pointed out, the best shot that Democrats had of clinging to power in Congress in the 2022 midterms was to radically change the game by passing HR 1 or adding new states to change the balance of power in the Senate which tilts toward sparsely populated rural states.
“The right to vote is fundamental to our American democracy and protecting that right should not be about party or politics. Least of all, protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner.
During my time as West Virginia’s secretary of state, I was determined to protect this right and ensure our elections are fair, accessible and secure. Not to benefit my party but all the people of West Virginia. For example, as secretary of state I took specific actions to establish early voting for the first time in West Virginia in order to provide expanded options for those whose work or family schedule made it difficult for them to vote on Election Day. Throughout my tenure in politics, I have been guided by this simple philosophy — our party labels can’t prevent us from doing what is right.
Unfortunately, we now are witnessing that the fundamental right to vote has itself become overtly politicized. Today’s debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage. …”
Sen. Joe Manchin has finally crushed the hopes of progressive activists. It was always going to happen, but now the infighting between the progressives and the moderates has finally begun.
“Representative Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) on Monday accused Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) of “doing everything in his power to stop democracy” and claimed that the moderate Democrat has become the “new Mitch McConnell.”
Bowman’s comments come after Manchin came out against Democrats’ sweeping voter rights legislation in an essay for the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Sunday. …
“Manchin is not pushing us closer to bipartisanship, he is doing the work of the Republican Party by being an obstructionist, just like they’ve been since the beginning of Biden’s presidency,” he added. …”
HR 1 isn’t happening. The filibuster isn’t going anywhere. The Senate parliamentarian has also ruled that Joe Biden really only has one shot of getting anything through the Senate via budget reconciliation. In light of these three political realities, we can conclude that the Republicans will likely succeed in their effort to overhaul state election laws while Joe Biden’s agenda stalls in the Senate.
The only real question is whether a slimmed down bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass the Senate before the 2022 midterms, OR, whether the Democrats will pass some enormous bill through reconciliation that combines the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. The Democrats will also put Stephen Breyer under enormous pressure to retire while they retain control of the Senate.
Note: At the time of Joe Biden’s Joint Address, we expected Joe would peak in the spring and decline in the summer like Obama and Trump before him. Joe’s high approval rating is due to the normal honeymoon period, COVID and the relief package which cleared Congress in March.
Don’t get all excited. Manchin is pushing something called the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act”, whatever the frick that is?
Dago Joe has been getting over on the people of West Virginia for years. He says one thing in WV, and does another in Washington.
Mancini? Does that mean slippy oily noodle in Italian?
WV’s other US Senator Capito, is the daughter of former Governor Arch Moore. Arch, if you recall ended up in big trouble for years of kickbacks and other personal enrichment schemes while in office. Shelly Moore Capito is negotiating the Biden Budget and so-called infrastructure spending bill for the Republicans. So expect a lot of nonsense on those trillions of spending!
Two of my closest friends, both from Charleston and Southern WV, died young, so they never got a shot at the Governership of WV or the US Senate. Both would have been in the running if they had lived.
What is interesting to me about Senator Manchin is that he is a Dixiecrat in a time that, one would think, had precluded the possibility of that.
The only thing he lacks that Dixiecrats most often had when I was a child is racist rhetorick, but, he’s still a Dixiecrat, all the same.
I thank the senator from West Virginia, and his state, for holding the line on some important issues.
West Virginia voted ~70% for Trump twice, up from 62% for Romney and 55% for McCain/Kerry, 52% for Dubya 2000. Bill Clinton won WV by 15pts, and WV was one of only 10 states to vote blue for Michael Dukakis in 1988 and one of only 6 states to vote for Jimmy Carter in 1980.
Joe Manchin was the popular sitting governor who who won the governorship 64% in 2004, 70% in 2008 then got grandfathered in amid WV’s very sharp rapid re-alignment from red to blue, elected to the US Senate by 10pts in 2010 special election, won re-election by 24pts in 2012. But Manchin hung on by a mere 3pts in 2018.
Joe Manchin is the ONLY Democrat who could still win a statewide election in West Virginia to hold onto that seat for the Ds, and the Democrat leadership know it, which is why they can’t exert the same power over him that the “progressive” activist base demands. A “progressive” challenger to Manchin would lose the D primary, and in a general election any Democrat nominee not named Manchin would be guaranteed to lose that Senate seat in a landslide come 2024.
@Jacobite…
Thank you, Sir, for that explanation.
I was unaware of those things, and it was interesting to hear about them!
Joe had some tough competition for Governor like Monte Somebody, and Russ Whoever. LOL. Remember when Joe got beat by Charlotte Pritt?
“Our American democracy” is a dung heap. It sucked from day one and only sucks more now. Democracy is a slop fest. I pray for its end.
We’re not supposed to have a democracy, as I’m sure you know. Giving blacks and cat ladies the right to vote is a sure recipe for destruction.
He’s a democrat so I’m sure the Republican water carriers like Hannity will attack him. Not because he’s wrong but because he’s a ” democrat”.