[ad_1]
THere is a meme circulating regarding Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. It shows a futuristic city of glittering skyscrapers and flying cars and an accompanying caption that reads: “West Virginia after Manchin used all of his influence at the next Congress.”
In other words, people expect Manchin, one of the most conservative Democrats in the federal government, to wield power like never before thanks to the 50-50 split in the Senate left by the Democrats’ double victory. in the second round in Georgia.
Manchin, a three-term senator and former governor of West Virginia, is best known of a set of moderate Republicans and Democrats who may decide to slow down legislation by crawling or pave the way for it to become law.
“There is going to be an important role for him to play as a moderate to conservative Democrat regardless of who took control of the Senate,” said Nick Rahall, a former Democratic congressman from West Virginia.
Democrats have the thinnest majorities in the Senate. The divide is that Democrats control 50 seats and Republicans control 50 seats, which means that when Kamala Harris becomes vice-president and her replacement, Alex Padilla of California, is sworn in as a senator, Harris will be the deciding vote.
However, this slim majority can only go so far. Lawmakers need 60 votes for all laws except reconciliation bills, which are annual and intended only for tax and expense bills. But all Senate appointments are made strictly by majority.
Yet Manchin’s reputation for being as right-wing a Democrat as possible means his support or opposition can provide cover for other lawmakers who might also want to influence Biden’s agenda. Manchin also maintains public friendships across the political spectrum. At a time when bipartisanship is rare, Manchin endorsed Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, ahead of her re-election campaign. Collins then defeated his Democratic challenger, Sara Gideon, in an upheaval.
Manchin is one of a dying race of West Virginia Democrats. He is the only statewide Democrat elected in the increasingly conservative Red State. A Democratic presidential candidate has not won the state for more than two decades, and Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by nearly 40% of the vote there.
Manchin’s roots in West Virginia run deep. He was raised in a coal country, one of five children, and passed through state politics first through the West Virginia House of Delegates, then the State Senate, then the office of the Secretary of State, then the governor’s mansion, then the Senate.
Nick Casey, former chief of staff to West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, said Manchin’s political career has been characterized by making decisions based on “what he believed to be in the best interests of the people of West Virginia or residents of West Virginia. and the people of the United States ”.
“He’s always been responsible, moderate and I don’t think ideologically motivated at all,” Casey said.
Manchin is the perfect example of a Red state politician posing as a different kind of Democrat in a party where the progressive wing can often make headlines.
In 2010, Manchin ran a campaign ad in which he literally pulled the text of a cap and trade bill while vowing to oppose parts of the Obamacare bill, signed by the president of then, Barack Obama. A sign of how important the landmark healthcare bill has become to all corners of the Democratic Party in 2018, during his second regular Senate re-election campaign, the West Virginia senator this time launched a anti-Obamacare lawsuit.
More recently, Manchin has bolstered his trademark conservative Democratic identity by keeping some wiggle room on $ 2,000 stimulus checks to Americans earning $ 75,000 or less. Manchin’s obscurity prompted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Liberal MP for New York, to set up a political action committee to pass checks for $ 2,000.
“The Pac – No Excuses Pac – aims to defend Joe Biden’s Democratic agenda, the Build Back Better plan, from the sidelines of the Democratic Party like Joe Manchin,” said Corbin Trent, the co-founder of the Pac. “Make no mistake, he is on the fringes of the Democratic Party.”
Another potential flashpoint for Manchin in the coming months concerns the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where Manchin is the leading member and is set to become president when Democrats regain a majority in the Senate.
Even with a Democratic president prioritizing climate change, Manchin is on the verge of parting ways with other members of his party over the climate crisis and the gas industry. In a headline, Inside Climate News wrote of Manchin: “New Senate Climate Senator Was Most Fossil Fuel Friendly Democratic Senator.”
Manchin is one of the few centrist senators from the two parties expected to take center stage in major political debates over the next few years: Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Reverend Rafael Warnock of Georgia, Angus King and Susan Collins from Maine, Jon Tester from Montana and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.
“I think Joe Manchin will be part of the influence on critical decisions but I think it will be a group of moderates who talk to each other regularly,” former Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana said. “The fact that Susan Collins is a Republican and Joe Manchin is a Democrat, these are party titles. This in no way reflects the relationships that have developed in the Senate over the years. People like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins and Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – other people who are quite moderate in his opinions – have developed true friendships.
[ad_2]
Source link