Democrats Clinch Nevada, the Senate, and a Chance to Be Free From Joe Manchin

[In It to Win It]

Rolling Stone via Yahoo News

It’s official: Democrats have clinched control of the U.S. Senate. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbents, has fended off a challenge from conservative nepobaby Adam Laxalt and guaranteed her party at least 50 seats in the Senate. With the tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris, the chamber is now certain to remain in Democratic hands. But a runoff election in Georgia could still expand the Democrats’ majority if Sen. Raphael Warnock triumphs over Herschel Walker.

A Warnock win would take Democrats’ seat count to 51, giving them something they didn’t have during President Biden’s first two years in office: a margin for error. The 50-50 split of the past two years meant the party’s progressive agenda was entirely beholden to its most conservative member, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and his aspiring “maverick” sidekick, Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema. In practice, that meant scaling back planned expansions of the social safety net to appease Manchin’s skepticism, as well as packaging action on climate change with perks for the fossil fuel industry to appease his home-state corporate benefactors.

Whether Democrats can turn their majority into meaningful legislation depends on what happens in the House. As of Saturday morning, Republicans had claimed 211 seats while Democrats had 201, but control of the chamber remains up in the air. Nearly two dozen districts, largely in western states where mail-in ballots are still being counted, have not yet been called.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Manchin knows that he must "behave" now when Warnock wins.

It is Sinema who is the loose cannon. She will get primaried in 2024 by Rueben Gallego. Sinema has shown herself to be a disappointment in opposing changing the Filibuster rules regarding Voting Rights and other important issues to move the country forward.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Even with 51 seats, Manchin will still be the most powerful man in America

Why? Because if Manchin balks at passing a bill, so will Sinema. And that makes only 49 votes for the bill.

So, Schumer and the Dems will have to continue pampering The Coal Baron to get his support to pass whatever legislation is pending, and then only through reconciliation, because the filibuster ain’t going anywhere.

The good news is that as long as Manchin supports a bill, Sinema gets kicked to the curb, and her demands will be ignored.