It’s a little funny watching Democrats, committed hard leftists, and every manner of progressive under the Sun talk about West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin like he’s some sort of secret member of the vast right-wing conspiracy. “The new Mitch McConnell,” they call the lifelong Democrat. But when you look at Manchin’s voting record, not just listen to the man talk, you see a committed Democrat. So what has the left so upset?
Joe Manchin sure talks a good game. To listen to the man speak, you’d think he were a Reagan Democrat, or even rarer, an old style Blue Dog Democrat, back when there were Democrats who cared about government spending too much.
In reality, he’s nothing of the sort. Senator Manchin is every bit as leftist as the rest of the Democrats in the Senate. He’s just better at hiding it. Actually, he has a reason to hide it, where many of the others do not.
West Virginia is a deep Red state. In 2020, former President Donald Trump carried the state by more than 5 touchdowns and a field goal, and Republicans dominate the state legislature. Manchin is an anomaly, a throwback to when the state was purple when, thanks to goodwill he built up over a long career working his way up elected office to the Governor’s mansion in 2005. They half-jokingly say everyone in the state has his cell number.
Manchin does what Democrats in Red states always do – talk a good game and vote liberal down the line. There areas couple of issues where he stands with Republicans, at least most of the time – he voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, for example. But Joe Manchin has never been the difference-maker.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation was already a foregone conclusion when Manchin announced he’d vote for him. That’s how Joe works – when it doesn’t matter, he’ll act like a conservative. When is party needs him, he’s with them. At least so far.
Now he finds himself in an awkward position – he’s the focus of the left-wing mob because he’s refusing, at least so far, to cave on ending the filibuster. Democrats recognize their time in control of both chambers of Congress is probably limited. Not only are Democrats driving the economy into the ditch, overseeing major inflation fears, doing everything possible to spike gas prices, etc., they’re spending like it’s an Olympic event and not only are they going for the gold, they’re taking every performance-enhancing drug in existence in that pursuit.
But that’s not enough for the left. With the possibility of their time in control limited, they want to act now on major, country-changing legislation that can’t easily, if ever, be undone. The redefining of what constitutes “infrastructure” to encompass just about everything in the Green New Deal, and federalizing elections are the two big ones. And Manchin isn’t on board.
He’s catching most of the flack for opposing ending the filibuster, but he’s got company in Arizona Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema is a quirky liberal who confounds the left by representing her state’s interests over her party’s sometimes. She’s also bisexual, which makes the identity politics party shy about direct, sustained criticism.
But Machin has no such insulation. He’s not the difference-maker on these issues with Sinema at his side, but he is the target.
Today, a group of “black leaders,” the NAACP and, naturally, Al Sharpton will be meeting with Manchin to pressure him to end the filibuster on the federal takeover of elections. This is the whole ball of wax for Democrats. If they can rig election laws in every state, even if they lose the House and/or the Senate next year, they’ll be set up for the future. Manchin (and Sinema) stand in their way.
It’s a frightening thought that the fate of our republic rests in 2 Democrat Senators sticking to their word. Sinema’s word has, thus far, been good. Manchin’s…not so much. He’s publicly said he wouldn’t support a partisan COVID spending bill, then did. His vote was the difference-maker. When he could have stood up to his party and forced changes, he sat down. Sinema was always a “yes” vote, so it really was all up to Joe.
Every time Joe Manchin has had an opportunity to buck his party when it mattered, he hasn’t. As he is showered with media attention and attacks to try to get him to break, the real show is in Arizona. Manchin may get the headlines, but Kyrsten Sinema holds the real power. So far, she’s proven that her word is good. If history holds, Joe Manchin’s will only be as good as hers.
Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show on WCBM in Maryland, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.