Is there anyone on this thread who doesn’t believe that the ‘non-running’ Joe Manchin will suddenly show up running for ‘president’ on the ‘No Labels’ ticket? He is perfect, with his ‘liberal’ bona fides (Oh, qwitcher giggling!) as a ‘Democrat.’ If you listened to him ‘bowing out of the senate race’ he stuck in a non-sequitur about how h…
Is there anyone on this thread who doesn’t believe that the ‘non-running’ Joe Manchin will suddenly show up running for ‘president’ on the ‘No Labels’ ticket? He is perfect, with his ‘liberal’ bona fides (Oh, qwitcher giggling!) as a ‘Democrat.’ If you listened to him ‘bowing out of the senate race’ he stuck in a non-sequitur about how he doesn’t like Trump. He’ll pull votes from Biden. I’d love to keep an eye on his bank account!!
No Labels is funded by some democrats, but mostly Republicans. It's dark money. They want to bring the country together but play by the old rules. There is no transparency. Manchin knows West Virginia won't elect a Democrat. At a time when we need to be a united front he bales for the $$ greener pastures.
What Democrats are funding No Labels? No Labels is a dark money PAC funded by the likes of Harlan Crow to defeat not only Democrats but Democracy as well. This group is a fascist trojan horse. They are dangerous.
I use it often instead of something like BS. I have used it for years and can't remember where I first saw it. But feel free to borrow....it has a nice dismissive sound.
Former Democrat Joe Lieberman, whose ego matches Manchin's is part of No Labels. Former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Iowa) is leading a group, Citizens to Save Our Republic, to push back against No Labels.
He's a great guy, but he is running in a virtually 100% solid GOP state where the ONLY exception in 20 years has been Manchin and once he is gone, there is almost no chance that the state will elect a Democrat for Senate.
No Labels did not suddenly appear this year. They have been around for several years by backing Congressional members with a history of crossing the aisle to work with members of the other party (Democrat or Republican) to fashion compromise. They have worked to prevent such people from being taken out in a primary by the far right or far left extremes.
No Labels has not even committed to entering a candidates (although they are making all the noises that they will) let alone who they would be. What if they put up Charlie Baker (former Gov of Massachusetts), Larry Hogan, or even Lynn Cheney as the presidential candidate and Manchin as VP. Would you still feel the same?
Third party and their candidates are cop outs. 3rd parties would rather keep the delusional blinders on, rather than acknowledge the hard truths and real challenges this democracy faces. Don’t fall for that nonsense. Choose an issue, or better several, learn the facts and work like hell to make this the country you want, and know in heart what it could be.
A third party is a mortal danger at this time -- a divisive device much used by Putin who learned its usefulness in Communist East Germany.
A time may come when the present GOP will have completed its work of self-destruction. Then, a third party could become useful, a dynamic force of opposition, an alternative, keeping the Democratic Party clean, alive and on its toes, kicking it out when necessary.
Any one-party State would be a corrupt rust-pile disaster. Consider the Communist parties of the Soviet empire, Putin's pseudo-party One Russia, Orban's criminal enterprise Fidesz, Iran, Mexico and the long history of its comically named Institutional Revolutionary Party...
I would. They are Republicans. Republicans have shown that they do not believe in one person, one vote, majority rule. I first noticed this in the Bush v. Gore election of 2000. It’s still perfectly clear to me, even more so.
There will never be any way to prove how and what difference it would have made if Gore had been made president, but many clues suggest to me it would have been significantly different in some good ways. I never thought I'd see a president worse than Nixon in my lifetime, but Reagan, Bush II and Trump took the cake. They all, however, shared the same party designation.
Absolutely this would be a potential disaster. If they can pull away even a few states' electoral votes from Democrats (more likely than from GOP), then no one will get 270 electoral votes and the Pres/VP votes will end up in the House/Senate (respectively). In the House, each state gets ONE vote for President and there are 26 states now with GOP majorities in the House, and only 22 states with Democratic majorities, plus two states (Minnesota and North Carolina) evenly divided. There is virtually no chance for a Democrat to win the presidency in a vote in the House by state. In the Senate, the vote is by each Senator, and if the Senate is controlled by the GOP after the 2024 election as I predict it will, then the VP will be a GOP VP as well.
We need to make sure that the Democrats WIN the Presidential election in the states, NOT in the Congress.
Don’t forget the fake degree from WVU. She did not complete the required courses and the university printed her a pass. That was a little bit of a scandal in these parts. The university has since corrected its grift, but that was dug up around the same time of the epi pen incident. Manchin is blamed for a lot of unpleasant shenanigans in WV. Especially in the southern part of the state. I travel through WV often on my way to NC. I’ve talk with so many West Virginians who want democratic reform. Those people have practically no state programs or protections. He’s a grifter who’s grown wealthy on the backs of his constituents.
Karen, thank you for these additional details. I had forgotten about his daughter and didn't know she got a fake degree from WVU. And I am glad to know that some there want democratic reform.
Perhaps I am, and you’re probably right. However, the Dobbs decision has many Republicans voting for abortion rights and for that, you vote blue. That’s what the 2024 election is shaping up up to be about no matter how much denial the GOP is in.
Isn't it time when the citizenry ought to wake up to recognize that the continuance of the duopoly is the continuance of never getting what it expresses it wants from the government.? (Gun control, Universal Health Care, tuition free college/university, etc) Time to recompose the structure of the federal democratic republic to make it fairer. As noted elsewhere here, Tuberville's destructive clownish mentality reveals just how anachronistic the institution of the Senate is. How unfair and unrepresentative it is. Where one Tuberville equals 8 Californian's in political weight. And given the self-serving and also unrepresentative and undemocratic Democratic Establishment that "gives" the citizenry the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, having a truly 3rd party candidate to consider would be a boon. The other problem of the adolescent Republicans is their constituents loving the power they flaunt. The duopoly - called the Business Party with two flanks - are proving their destructive sterility to us, their employers.
So purity test, pipe dreams, and Pied Pipers. So splitting the opposition vote to put Republicans in power.
The time is so over for false equivalencies between the GOP and the Democratic Party. By now - in all three branches of government - it is clear that the differences between the two parties are more significant than the similarities.
The right united to re-form the GOP in its own image. There is a lesson here.
Thanks Lin. The yammering about mistakes of the past, ignoring the steps forward in the present, recalls the votes for Harambe, the tragic gorilla. Getting dark money out of politics certainly won’t be the goal for Crow’s No Labels, or Joe Manchin.
"the yammering about mistakes of the past..." Eh, yea, forget about history...history is dead anyway..why bother with it..." it's the future stupid!!! Really?! Interesting. I wonder if that creates or at least increases the chances of major "blunders"that wind up killing millions of people?
So you’re a duopoly purist then? You have pipe dreams in Pied Pipers like the Clintons, and Obama?
Nothing is more significant about the two parties than their lockstep donor fealty to monied interests, corporate or otherwise. It dwarfs everything else.
Speaking of 2016, we could have had a clear choice between democratic socialism and fascism, and seen what vision most Americans preferred, but the Democratic Party establishment said nope, don’t mess with our neoliberalism. And so, onward toward authoritarianism.
That’s the real lesson. The Democrats can’t even unite to protect one of their own from an absurd censure vote, they bend over to the MIC for an absurd defense budget and endless war/genocide, and support absurd, outdated repressive economic ‘fixes’ (interest rate hikes) to deal with a working class being hammered by the price of food and medicine.
I’m not saying the GOP is not what Heather describes. What I am saying is dissing third parties, or third party voters, just shows how tribally ignorant are those who cast blame everywhere but where it belongs when answering the question:
‘Why do Democrats have such a bad habit of losing easily winnable elections against GOP Christian fascists, corporate whores, and vacuous media celebrities?’
To paraphrase Andy’s note to the warden in Shawshank, the answer lies in the mirror.
Apparently, you see the historical trend as the Democratic Party remaining faithful to the concerns of the people instead of steadily moving rightward over the past 40 years. Really? Where have you been? Sleeping? Not yet born? Clinton eviscerated support for the poor and freed Wall Street and banks from any shred of decency (regulation) they once had. Then, of course, there is Citizen's United. Not to mention what happened subsequent to the distribution of the Powell Memorandum.And Obama's patting Wall street on its head after the 2008 debacle saying there there nothing's going to change for you. And, lo and behold, Private Equity shoots out of the canon to chew up and spit out everything it touches.
Selina Sweet, you are quite right to dream of a better world --- that's to conceive such a world in your mind. But it cannot be born unless dreamers first wake up and take stock of the world as it is here and now... in desperate need of betterment.
I dearly want to get money out of politics and go to entirely ranked choice voting for all elections (or something else as sensible), but wanting it and being able to get it now are vastly different. Right here, right now, we are fighting just to keep from being turned into a dystopian nightmare that we would have an even worse time of coming back from, if we even had a chance at all.
The fact that ONE senator can hold up military promotions as Tuberville is doing or stop appointments of ambassadors as Rand Paul is doing is STUPID. That one single person, according to Senate rules, can hold up necessary appointments is another reason the rules of the need to be reformed. A minority of ONE is endangering our military and our country. We are living in an unbelievable, unbalanced world.
He won’t cave. He’s proud of being a destroyer of the military. It sets up an authoritarian government. He’s a stooge for Putin, like most Republicans are now.
Joe Manchin is 76 yrs old. Too old? Does he have national appeal? Name recognition? A platform? I don't think he can win and I don't think he wants to lose and he can't vote with the Democratics without making it complicated because his state isn't Democratic, which is just ironic in itself. If he isn't just done, what does he want? A seat in the cabinet? He certainly can't think he could do better than Biden with the world on fire.
The voters the Manchin campaign are targeting are voters who voted for Biden in 2020 because they refused to vote for Trump. They are what’s left of the centrist Republicans and the Never-Trumpers. They voted for Jill Stein or the other guy in 2016. (Edit) He’s not running to win; he’s running to spoil. He already knows that going into it. He’s running because he is getting paid to run.
Democrats must coalesce around Joe and nobody else. We also must win the House to keep any sense of democracy intact.
I think it is crazy not to WANT to vote for Joe Biden. He may not be doing a perfect job but he is doing a great job. I don't think a third party spoiler candidate is what Joe Manchin wants to be. I'm basing that on my belief that he and Joe Biden work together better than the press leads us to believe. If you read "The Last Politician" people just might be a little less worried. Manchin aside, that book is really worth reading.
The disinformation campaign against Joe Biden is targeting the youngest voters with stories like ‘If we get involved w Ukraine, it will turn out another terrorist group, like Afghanistan or Iran.’
There are other stories that point out Biden’s flaws. They point to successful governors, like Whitmer or Newsom and ask, “Why not them?”
I think when he starts to consider the scrutiny his record, business dealings, finances, and West Virginia will receive he will decide not to run, walk away with his delusions intact and settle for a talking head job.
One thing to note is that Manchin is 76. If the goal is to find a candidate more acceptable to Independents, along with centrists from both parties, pretty certain Manchin’s age and willingness to burn the climate to shreds will not be MORE acceptable to most Gen Z and Millennial voters. Are they really that blind? (Rhetorical question, folks, since we all know the results of blind ambition...)
Because rather than being "dreamers" we are "realists". Seriously, WV went for TRUMP in 2020 (the year he LOST the Presidential election, remember?) by THIRTY NINE percent! Joe Manchin won his Senate seat in WV by about 5 percent. That is a FOURTY-FOUR percent swing. Manchin is a unicorn, a candidate who goes against the tide and wins because he has some kind of universal appeal that defies the general trends. He is the only WV candidate to have made that happen in the past 20 years.
There is virtually no chance that Biden can win WV nor is there virtually any chance that another Democrat (other than Manchin, or maybe Jesus Christ) can win the Senate seat in WV. I would willingly put up $1000 to win $100 that no Democrat except Manchin could win the Senate seat in WV in 2024. That is 10:1 against and I am confident enough about that... far more confident than I am about who will win the Presidential election overall.
Jim looks like an alcoholic waiting to have a heart attack. West Virginia ranks in the bottom of everything. Manchin says he did a great job for WV? If the air and water don't kill you first. They have the worst opioid crisis in the country.
Kind of given as said wants to travel the uS. To see how people feel about a party in the middle. But this is not middle funded by gop donors to make sure the orange one gets back in power.
Hydro cabin oligarchs can always buy exactly what they want. If you can convince 1/2 the population global warming isn’t real, it’s not to hard to convince them that Joe Manchin is good for the country.
There is no way Manchin will EVER get the vote of anyone who saw him and Sinema give the go-ahead for voting rights to continue to be eroded, unimpeded, from red state to state. And that was just one example of the irresponsibility of the man.
Joan, on the news last night, he was described a moderate or centrist and we both said something to the TV. He is neither, but just another dope who stands in the way of getting things done for ordinary people. I see him and I want to throw up.
Is there anyone on this thread who doesn’t believe that the ‘non-running’ Joe Manchin will suddenly show up running for ‘president’ on the ‘No Labels’ ticket? He is perfect, with his ‘liberal’ bona fides (Oh, qwitcher giggling!) as a ‘Democrat.’ If you listened to him ‘bowing out of the senate race’ he stuck in a non-sequitur about how he doesn’t like Trump. He’ll pull votes from Biden. I’d love to keep an eye on his bank account!!
Main additional danger at this time: a third party.
Who finances Manchin and to what end?
No Labels is funded by some democrats, but mostly Republicans. It's dark money. They want to bring the country together but play by the old rules. There is no transparency. Manchin knows West Virginia won't elect a Democrat. At a time when we need to be a united front he bales for the $$ greener pastures.
What Democrats are funding No Labels? No Labels is a dark money PAC funded by the likes of Harlan Crow to defeat not only Democrats but Democracy as well. This group is a fascist trojan horse. They are dangerous.
Do not be fooled by this group's bs.
www.motherjones.com/no labels exposed
Here’s the full link https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/06/no-labels-exposed-heres-a-list-of-donors-funding-its-effort-to-disrupt-the-2024-race/
Thank you. I'm a techtard. I was trying to paste it and wouldn't work. I'm sure it's me.
The link won't open the article. Bring the Country together?! These are fascists! Their rhetoric is empty platitudes. Where is their policy?
There plan is to have a kumbaya moment. Then dismantle everything Biden did for Americans.
Yes it does open the article. You just have to click thru a couple ads!!
From the above:
So far, No Labels has gotten onto the ballot in four states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon.
Aaackkk!
There goals are to be in every state.
Hmm…
Some of their dreck started appearing on my feed on Facebook and that was some time ago. I recognized immediately that it was BS.
I love your word "dreck"! Think I will borrow it!
I use it often instead of something like BS. I have used it for years and can't remember where I first saw it. But feel free to borrow....it has a nice dismissive sound.
Former Democrat Joe Lieberman, whose ego matches Manchin's is part of No Labels. Former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Iowa) is leading a group, Citizens to Save Our Republic, to push back against No Labels.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4103217-gephardt-no-labels-effort-would-probably-elect-donald-trump-in-race-against-biden/
Link to Gephardt's group:
https://www.forourrepublic.us/#:~:text=JOIN%20THE%20CAMPAIGN%20TO%20SAVE%20THE%20REPUBLIC&text=We%20are%20concerned%20American%20citizens,Greed%20and%20ego%20be%20damned.
Any dark money is typically from? The oil industry and oil oligarchs.
Zack Shrewsbury is an ex Marine, running for WV Senate. He’s a newcomer, I sense a ‘good guy’ , and will need a lot of advertisement. I’m onboard.
He's a great guy, but he is running in a virtually 100% solid GOP state where the ONLY exception in 20 years has been Manchin and once he is gone, there is almost no chance that the state will elect a Democrat for Senate.
No Labels did not suddenly appear this year. They have been around for several years by backing Congressional members with a history of crossing the aisle to work with members of the other party (Democrat or Republican) to fashion compromise. They have worked to prevent such people from being taken out in a primary by the far right or far left extremes.
No Labels has not even committed to entering a candidates (although they are making all the noises that they will) let alone who they would be. What if they put up Charlie Baker (former Gov of Massachusetts), Larry Hogan, or even Lynn Cheney as the presidential candidate and Manchin as VP. Would you still feel the same?
Third party and their candidates are cop outs. 3rd parties would rather keep the delusional blinders on, rather than acknowledge the hard truths and real challenges this democracy faces. Don’t fall for that nonsense. Choose an issue, or better several, learn the facts and work like hell to make this the country you want, and know in heart what it could be.
I said "main danger AT THIS TIME".
A third party is a mortal danger at this time -- a divisive device much used by Putin who learned its usefulness in Communist East Germany.
A time may come when the present GOP will have completed its work of self-destruction. Then, a third party could become useful, a dynamic force of opposition, an alternative, keeping the Democratic Party clean, alive and on its toes, kicking it out when necessary.
Any one-party State would be a corrupt rust-pile disaster. Consider the Communist parties of the Soviet empire, Putin's pseudo-party One Russia, Orban's criminal enterprise Fidesz, Iran, Mexico and the long history of its comically named Institutional Revolutionary Party...
That’s quite a sufficient and succinct synopsis, Peter.
I would. They are Republicans. Republicans have shown that they do not believe in one person, one vote, majority rule. I first noticed this in the Bush v. Gore election of 2000. It’s still perfectly clear to me, even more so.
There will never be any way to prove how and what difference it would have made if Gore had been made president, but many clues suggest to me it would have been significantly different in some good ways. I never thought I'd see a president worse than Nixon in my lifetime, but Reagan, Bush II and Trump took the cake. They all, however, shared the same party designation.
But... would you trust anyone who's willing to get into harness with this man?
Are u asking as an oil oligarch or a regular citizen? Joe Manchin is for sale to the highest bidder, until the next highest bid comes along.
Ah yes, a five-star bought-and-soldier...
Absolutely this would be a potential disaster. If they can pull away even a few states' electoral votes from Democrats (more likely than from GOP), then no one will get 270 electoral votes and the Pres/VP votes will end up in the House/Senate (respectively). In the House, each state gets ONE vote for President and there are 26 states now with GOP majorities in the House, and only 22 states with Democratic majorities, plus two states (Minnesota and North Carolina) evenly divided. There is virtually no chance for a Democrat to win the presidency in a vote in the House by state. In the Senate, the vote is by each Senator, and if the Senate is controlled by the GOP after the 2024 election as I predict it will, then the VP will be a GOP VP as well.
We need to make sure that the Democrats WIN the Presidential election in the states, NOT in the Congress.
Manchin no more "knows" WV will not elect a Democrat than I do.
Don’t forget the fake degree from WVU. She did not complete the required courses and the university printed her a pass. That was a little bit of a scandal in these parts. The university has since corrected its grift, but that was dug up around the same time of the epi pen incident. Manchin is blamed for a lot of unpleasant shenanigans in WV. Especially in the southern part of the state. I travel through WV often on my way to NC. I’ve talk with so many West Virginians who want democratic reform. Those people have practically no state programs or protections. He’s a grifter who’s grown wealthy on the backs of his constituents.
That makes me sick! As soon as I learned about "No Labels" I figured he would run for President.
Karen, thank you for these additional details. I had forgotten about his daughter and didn't know she got a fake degree from WVU. And I am glad to know that some there want democratic reform.
I hear you, but if you believe West Virginia's in general want democratic leadership, why did they vote for Trump by almost 30% in 2020?
I Think you May be misreading the tea leaves here.
Perhaps I am, and you’re probably right. However, the Dobbs decision has many Republicans voting for abortion rights and for that, you vote blue. That’s what the 2024 election is shaping up up to be about no matter how much denial the GOP is in.
I remember reading that. That was disgusting.
Who finances Manchin?
Not just the coal industry.
From opensecrets.org
Federal Congressional Candidacy
67.61% comes from Large Individual Contributions
Campaign Committee Fundraising, 2019 - 2024
Industry
Total Individuals PACs
Securities & Investment
$1,282,553 $1,270,053 $12,500
Real Estate
$819,345 $816,345 $3,000
Retired
$779,228 $779,228 $0
Oil & Gas
$676,985 $628,985 $48,000
Lawyers/Law Firms
$361,116 $348,116 $13,000
That's telling.
It suggests he wants a boost now.
What follows should clarify the paymasters' purpose and confirm Manchin's personal motivation.
It does look like a game, profiting both ego and pocket, of opportunistic political parasitism.
And there is no better example of a government parasite than Joe Manchin.
With the wealthy, it's never enough; they always need 'just a little bit more'.
They are essentially hoarders.
Why?
It's guaranteed dissatisfaction.
Go back to that marvelous folk tale, The Fisherman and His Wife.
Wife is never satisfied for long when she's gotten what she wants, keeps wishing for -- and getting -- more, more, MORE... M O R E !!!!!
Until she wants (like America's 45th President) to be God.
And ends up with her wretched husband back in the ditch they crawled out of at the outset...
Isn't it time when the citizenry ought to wake up to recognize that the continuance of the duopoly is the continuance of never getting what it expresses it wants from the government.? (Gun control, Universal Health Care, tuition free college/university, etc) Time to recompose the structure of the federal democratic republic to make it fairer. As noted elsewhere here, Tuberville's destructive clownish mentality reveals just how anachronistic the institution of the Senate is. How unfair and unrepresentative it is. Where one Tuberville equals 8 Californian's in political weight. And given the self-serving and also unrepresentative and undemocratic Democratic Establishment that "gives" the citizenry the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, having a truly 3rd party candidate to consider would be a boon. The other problem of the adolescent Republicans is their constituents loving the power they flaunt. The duopoly - called the Business Party with two flanks - are proving their destructive sterility to us, their employers.
Duopoly? So pre2016.
So purity test, pipe dreams, and Pied Pipers. So splitting the opposition vote to put Republicans in power.
The time is so over for false equivalencies between the GOP and the Democratic Party. By now - in all three branches of government - it is clear that the differences between the two parties are more significant than the similarities.
The right united to re-form the GOP in its own image. There is a lesson here.
Thanks Lin. The yammering about mistakes of the past, ignoring the steps forward in the present, recalls the votes for Harambe, the tragic gorilla. Getting dark money out of politics certainly won’t be the goal for Crow’s No Labels, or Joe Manchin.
"the yammering about mistakes of the past..." Eh, yea, forget about history...history is dead anyway..why bother with it..." it's the future stupid!!! Really?! Interesting. I wonder if that creates or at least increases the chances of major "blunders"that wind up killing millions of people?
So you’re a duopoly purist then? You have pipe dreams in Pied Pipers like the Clintons, and Obama?
Nothing is more significant about the two parties than their lockstep donor fealty to monied interests, corporate or otherwise. It dwarfs everything else.
Speaking of 2016, we could have had a clear choice between democratic socialism and fascism, and seen what vision most Americans preferred, but the Democratic Party establishment said nope, don’t mess with our neoliberalism. And so, onward toward authoritarianism.
That’s the real lesson. The Democrats can’t even unite to protect one of their own from an absurd censure vote, they bend over to the MIC for an absurd defense budget and endless war/genocide, and support absurd, outdated repressive economic ‘fixes’ (interest rate hikes) to deal with a working class being hammered by the price of food and medicine.
I’m not saying the GOP is not what Heather describes. What I am saying is dissing third parties, or third party voters, just shows how tribally ignorant are those who cast blame everywhere but where it belongs when answering the question:
‘Why do Democrats have such a bad habit of losing easily winnable elections against GOP Christian fascists, corporate whores, and vacuous media celebrities?’
To paraphrase Andy’s note to the warden in Shawshank, the answer lies in the mirror.
Apparently, you see the historical trend as the Democratic Party remaining faithful to the concerns of the people instead of steadily moving rightward over the past 40 years. Really? Where have you been? Sleeping? Not yet born? Clinton eviscerated support for the poor and freed Wall Street and banks from any shred of decency (regulation) they once had. Then, of course, there is Citizen's United. Not to mention what happened subsequent to the distribution of the Powell Memorandum.And Obama's patting Wall street on its head after the 2008 debacle saying there there nothing's going to change for you. And, lo and behold, Private Equity shoots out of the canon to chew up and spit out everything it touches.
Selina Sweet, you are quite right to dream of a better world --- that's to conceive such a world in your mind. But it cannot be born unless dreamers first wake up and take stock of the world as it is here and now... in desperate need of betterment.
For now, the best is the enemy of the good.
The enemy!
Exactly!
I dearly want to get money out of politics and go to entirely ranked choice voting for all elections (or something else as sensible), but wanting it and being able to get it now are vastly different. Right here, right now, we are fighting just to keep from being turned into a dystopian nightmare that we would have an even worse time of coming back from, if we even had a chance at all.
The fact that ONE senator can hold up military promotions as Tuberville is doing or stop appointments of ambassadors as Rand Paul is doing is STUPID. That one single person, according to Senate rules, can hold up necessary appointments is another reason the rules of the need to be reformed. A minority of ONE is endangering our military and our country. We are living in an unbelievable, unbalanced world.
What if eight Californians walked into his office and just glared at him in silence until he caved in...
He won’t cave. He’s proud of being a destroyer of the military. It sets up an authoritarian government. He’s a stooge for Putin, like most Republicans are now.
The oil,gas,coal lobby of course.
Harlan Crow, et al.
Joan, I think the only true question is, did the GOP pay him in large or small bills ?
Joe Manchin is 76 yrs old. Too old? Does he have national appeal? Name recognition? A platform? I don't think he can win and I don't think he wants to lose and he can't vote with the Democratics without making it complicated because his state isn't Democratic, which is just ironic in itself. If he isn't just done, what does he want? A seat in the cabinet? He certainly can't think he could do better than Biden with the world on fire.
The voters the Manchin campaign are targeting are voters who voted for Biden in 2020 because they refused to vote for Trump. They are what’s left of the centrist Republicans and the Never-Trumpers. They voted for Jill Stein or the other guy in 2016. (Edit) He’s not running to win; he’s running to spoil. He already knows that going into it. He’s running because he is getting paid to run.
Democrats must coalesce around Joe and nobody else. We also must win the House to keep any sense of democracy intact.
I think it is crazy not to WANT to vote for Joe Biden. He may not be doing a perfect job but he is doing a great job. I don't think a third party spoiler candidate is what Joe Manchin wants to be. I'm basing that on my belief that he and Joe Biden work together better than the press leads us to believe. If you read "The Last Politician" people just might be a little less worried. Manchin aside, that book is really worth reading.
The disinformation campaign against Joe Biden is targeting the youngest voters with stories like ‘If we get involved w Ukraine, it will turn out another terrorist group, like Afghanistan or Iran.’
There are other stories that point out Biden’s flaws. They point to successful governors, like Whitmer or Newsom and ask, “Why not them?”
I like Whitmer. (Newsom less, CA resident me.). But NOT NOW. Definitely NOT NOW.
Whitmer/ Shapiro (PA Gov) in that order for 2028.
You talk as though Manchin has announced he's running. As far as I know he hasn't.
You wanna bet he won’t?
Manchin has shown how little he values the common man (as Henry Wallace would say.). So, no bet.
I think when he starts to consider the scrutiny his record, business dealings, finances, and West Virginia will receive he will decide not to run, walk away with his delusions intact and settle for a talking head job.
Manchin is and continues to be a danger to our country.
One thing to note is that Manchin is 76. If the goal is to find a candidate more acceptable to Independents, along with centrists from both parties, pretty certain Manchin’s age and willingness to burn the climate to shreds will not be MORE acceptable to most Gen Z and Millennial voters. Are they really that blind? (Rhetorical question, folks, since we all know the results of blind ambition...)
He likes living on his yacht in DC. Anything to keep him out of WV where he has been part of the destruction caused by coal mining.
Now THERE's a yacht that the orcas need to find, tout de suite!!
His bank account is already far more than adequate.
Mike Johnson doesn’t even have one. Makes it hard to see where HIS money comes from.
In my mind's eye I see clearly where MAGA Mike's moolah comes from.
Which begs the question, "How does he pay his bills?" I don't see him taking a paycheck to the post office for money orders.
Sadly, whatever he does, or doesn't do, Dems are highly likely to lose that West Virginia Senate seat. We have to pick up at least 1 new one.
Why is everyone so quick to give up on WV?
Because rather than being "dreamers" we are "realists". Seriously, WV went for TRUMP in 2020 (the year he LOST the Presidential election, remember?) by THIRTY NINE percent! Joe Manchin won his Senate seat in WV by about 5 percent. That is a FOURTY-FOUR percent swing. Manchin is a unicorn, a candidate who goes against the tide and wins because he has some kind of universal appeal that defies the general trends. He is the only WV candidate to have made that happen in the past 20 years.
There is virtually no chance that Biden can win WV nor is there virtually any chance that another Democrat (other than Manchin, or maybe Jesus Christ) can win the Senate seat in WV. I would willingly put up $1000 to win $100 that no Democrat except Manchin could win the Senate seat in WV in 2024. That is 10:1 against and I am confident enough about that... far more confident than I am about who will win the Presidential election overall.
He had basically said as much in his resignation speech. Man, that Harland Crowe money must be good! I hear he gave Jill Stein $1000 bucks 😂
He would never win reelection. Gov. Jim Justice will be the GOP nominee for that seat.
Jim looks like an alcoholic waiting to have a heart attack. West Virginia ranks in the bottom of everything. Manchin says he did a great job for WV? If the air and water don't kill you first. They have the worst opioid crisis in the country.
Kind of given as said wants to travel the uS. To see how people feel about a party in the middle. But this is not middle funded by gop donors to make sure the orange one gets back in power.
Of course this ever-devious snake will run.
And it's not accident that Jill Stein announced another run for president yesterday.
Hydro cabin oligarchs can always buy exactly what they want. If you can convince 1/2 the population global warming isn’t real, it’s not to hard to convince them that Joe Manchin is good for the country.
There is no way Manchin will EVER get the vote of anyone who saw him and Sinema give the go-ahead for voting rights to continue to be eroded, unimpeded, from red state to state. And that was just one example of the irresponsibility of the man.
Joan, on the news last night, he was described a moderate or centrist and we both said something to the TV. He is neither, but just another dope who stands in the way of getting things done for ordinary people. I see him and I want to throw up.