As you’ve no doubt heard, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) went onto to Fox News yesterday and during his interview, said he would not vote for the Build Back Better plan.
Naturally, all of us who have been fighting tooth and nail to get BOTH of the infrastructure plans passed were furious, and this anger was matched by the White House in a scathing statement. Press Secretary Jen Psaki signed the statement, but White House reporters in the know all say that there’s no way this statement goes out without Biden’s blessing.
“If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate. … Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.”
Also this:
“In the meantime, Senator Manchin will have to explain to those families paying $1,000 a month for insulin why they need to keep paying that, instead of $35 for that vital medicine. … Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone—we cannot.”
The full statement, which isn’t very long, is well worth the read. Not just because you’ll likely find it to be cathartic, but also because it’s full of terrific talking points that we should all be using.
However, I’ve noticed a couple of recurring comments that are essentially on every social media post about Manchin, which I’d like to address.
First, people need to stop saying that we should “vote him out” or “primary him.” For starters, it makes them look like they have no idea that he’s not up for re-election until 2024. Secondly, Trump won West Virginia by over 40 points. If they want to bet that there’s another Democrat not named Manchin who could win that seat in 2024, I’ll plunk down a mountain of cash to counter that bet.
Second, they need to stop saying that Manchin should “just go be a Republican already.” Surely I don’t have to remind you, my wonderful readers, that if Manchin were to switch parties, Mitch McConnell would immediately, and I mean immediately, become Majority Leader. You know how the Senate voted in Biden’s 40th federal judge and a bunch of ambassadors this past Friday? Yeah, that would end immediately. We don’t want Manchin switching parties.
So yes, we’re stuck with him in the meantime. What that does mean, however, is that our efforts to build the majority in the Senate in 2022 is critical. If we can increase our majority from 50-50 to, say 53-47, there’s SO much we could do. But perhaps most important, Joe Manchin would no longer hold the power he currently does. He would be, for the most part, irrelevant.
Doesn’t that sound nice?
There will be more to come here at Political Charge in the new year on those Senate races. You can expect to get primers for each of the most competitive Senate races and info on how you can help the Democrats win those races. In the meantime, I’ve got an overall look at those Senate races HERE.
Thank you for reading Political Charge! In the coming year, I’ll be focused on winning the 2022 midterms, pushing positive Democratic messaging, and bringing some relief in the form of good news and cartoons. If you’d like to support my work, you can do that at my Patreon page!
