Manchin Is Keeping A Red Seat Blue And Chuck In Charge

[DanieRains]

Don't be too mean. He is way more us than them.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Right. Complain too much and we could see a true trumpanzee in there.

[Mike Niendorff]

2. Here's the problem:

The idea that this is a "red seat".

That's the problem here.

It's a SEAT.

Both GA Senators were "red seats", too.

Until they weren't.

Make your case to the People, and everything changes.


MDN

[Hortensis]

7. Except "the People." Sadly, your statement's disproven every day.

Don't be mislead by labels of Democrat and Republican in southern/border states, btw. A lot of WV's conservatives have been slow to change their label from (WV style southern) Democrat to Republican, but they vote conservative. Although outsiders may be confused by that, they aren't at all about which Democratic candidates are conservative (most often those in the lead) and which are not.

WV's People have chosen to have the Republican Party control the state government, a trifecta!, and Manchin seems to be the most moderate of the reps they've sent to congress. He's the only one who voted against the Republicans' giant tax heist bill in 2017. Even if calculated, it was a principled and courageous stand as he was up for reelection in 2018. No hiding in the safe center of a flea-covered pack for him.

[moonscape]

8. WVa is not GA. It just isn't.

They went nearly 70% for Trump. Totally different demographics. WVa is 93% white, not even 4% AA. GA is >30% AA. GA more educated. That’s just a start. And GA was a squeaker. You’d have to assign a Stacy Abrams to every voter in WVa and still lick your wounds when we lost.

That’s not defeatist, it’s reality.

[JI7]

9. West Virginia isn't Georgia. Georgia turned Blue after Demographic Changes . It's important to

understand these things so people would have understood we were not going to win South Carolina or Kentucky and would instead have focused more on Maine and North Carolina. And montana which is a red state but democrats have won including the candidate who was running.

[Turin_C3PO]

13. Mostly true except

demographically, South Carolina should be competitive. It’s 28% African American.

[JI7]

16. The white people are mostly right wing in SC . In Georgia there are enough liberal whites

and they have things like tech and other industries which usually lead to more liberal population.

SC doesn't have that. Neither does Flordia.

But Texas and North Carolina do so that's where we need to focus on next.

[Turin_C3PO]

20. Agree.

I think NC in 2024 will be blue and 2028 for Texas. We do need to focus on states that have a realistic chance of flipping.

[NurseJackie]

17. Lulz.

[Silent3]

3. That Manchin having the seat is better than a Republican having the seat is clear...

...but it's also about the only thing I like about Manchin.

I have to wonder if Manchin would resist DC statehood, because two more almost-certainly Democratic Senators from DC would make him so much less influential and important.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. I don't you really have to wonder ...

I'm 99% sure that your suspicion ... would be borne out in practice.

[JI7]

10. Why do you need to like him at all ?

[Silent3]

12. I never said I *needed* to like him

But, if I could have my preference, I'd obviously prefer someone in Manchin's seat whom I could like much more. Nothing surprising about that. You know, someone who wasn't threatening the success of a $15/hour minimum wage, or Neera Tanden's confirmation.

I can't tell if your question comes from an attitude that suggests that I shouldn't like him in the slightest ("better than a Republican" is not exactly effusive affection anyway), or if you wish to express the idea the my personal likes and dislikes are irrelevant.

[tonedevil]

4. OK if that makes you feel better.

Last edited Thu Feb 25, 2021, 05:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

[OnDoutside]

15. Thanks.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. Right now Manchin is in the catbird seat and he knows it.

If he votes against the bill or recuses himself, then Moscow Mitch wins and becomes the de facto majority leader. He'll be able to take over his self-anointed role as "grim reaper" without doing any paperwork. If Manchin holds out for some kind of "favor," he will have set a precedent for the other 49 Democratic senators to use whenever they want the administration to give them for their vote.

We're fortunate, I guess, that Manchin identified himself as an asshole this early in the administration.

[OnDoutside]

14. I think the question is what is he looking for here ? No one really buys the BS over Tanden's "Mean

Tweets", so what is it ?

The current frontrunner is that it may be something to do with his daughter, but maybe he's laying down a marker for the infrastructure bill that will be coming their way soon and his demands that WV get a large bit of it to help him as a "fighter for WV".

[Fullduplexxx]

18. It's not really blue it's more of a purple seat

[Vinca]

19. Manchin is, primarily, a number. And not a reliable one.

I wish a real Democrat could win that seat.

[Turin_C3PO]

21. Our best bet

is to focus on the open seats in NC, OH, and PA as well as Johnson’s seat in WI in 2022. That way we can make Manchin irrelevant.