Sen Manchin won't endorse VP Harris over the filibuster (who cares... he's gone anyway)

[Dennis Donovan]

Greg Dworkin
Manchin is of course FOS and just wants attention

I would much rather have him and a D Senate but if he’s gone, bye.

Manu Raju
New — Joe Manchin, a staunch defender of the filibuster, tells us he WON’T endorse Kamala Harris now over her vow to gut the filibuster to codify Roe.

“Shame on her," Manchin, who is retiring at year's end, said in the Capitol. "She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It's the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids."

Now that Harris has vowed to gut the filibuster on this issue, Manchin said he wouldn't back her for president.

"That ain't going to happen," he said. "I think that basically can destroy our country and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one person's ideology...I think it's the most horrible thing."

1:28 PM · Sep 24, 2024

Whatever, Joe.

Link to tweet

[TwilightZone]

1. He's not entirely wrong.

When the filibuster goes, all bets are off. I'm not arguing that it shouldn't go, but the consequences are much more complicated than many would like to acknowledge.

That being said, it's simply not enough to justify withholding his endorsement.

[atreides1]

2. It's a rule...rules can be changed!

The procedure is not enumerated in the U.S. Constitution; it only became theoretically possible with a change of Senate rules in 1806, and was not used until 1837.

[dsc]

3. It is the opposite of a holy grail of democracy

it literally separates policy from voting. No matter how many people vote for a set of policies it is almost impossible to get them due to the filibuster. It didn't used to be that way. Clinton got his assault weapons ban with 50 some votes, Thomas got on the court with 52 votes. We now have a system where a party gets all the responsibility but not all the power. Plenty of voters blame Biden for not doing things (voting rights, codifying Roe) that were impossible due to the filibuster.

[unblock]

4. Anti-democratic procedure is the "holy grail of democracy"? That's idiotic

Whatever the virtues of the filibuster, and it can and has been used to positive effect at times, you can't say it's the holy grail of democracy or really anything on the side of democracy.

It's a specifically anti-democratic provision that under the best circumstances can protect a minority from the abuses of a callous or wrong-headed majority. Which can certainly be a good thing, even if it has been used much more abusively of late thanks to a callous and wrong-headed Republican *minority*.

Manchin likes the filibuster for one reason only -- it has given him outsized influence by ensuring that his vote is likely needed for any remotely controversial measure.

[3auld6phart]

5. Good ye

Dipstick and the coal cart you rode in on.Vote BLUE all the way.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Over 1 item he makes a decision to support or not support a candidate, who'll be around for thousands of issues

down the road?

A little dramatic, isn't it?

What's the matter, is he already feeling the loss of attention being that he's over the hill, announced that he's no longer staying in Congress?

[Alice Kramden]

7. As if his endorsement was worth anything

What a wanker

[Freethinker65]

8. Manchin not endorsing Harris is a positive for Democrats.

Harris has endorsements from conservative Republicans that might make a difference.

[republianmushroom]

9. Sen Manchin , DINO.

[Clouds Passing]

10. The SHAME is self inflicted upon Manchin,

[Bettie]

11. So, he was feeling ignored

and needed to wave his arms and shout to get some media attention?

Why bother? Did anyone really ever think he'd endorse a woman? Or a Democrat?

Frankly, he still has time to endorse Trump and it would not surprise me if he did.

[themaguffin]

12. That's not why he's not endorsing her. He was never going to endorse. This is just his dumb ass excuse

[Trueblue1968]

13. I have always disliked him.