Just had an interesting discussion with Jill: Does Joe Manchin really think he can be bi-partisan?
Jill's position is that he's not stupid and he wouldn't keep holding out for enough GOP senators to join him if he didn't think that was a possibility.
My position is that he's not stupid, and he knows damned well it's not a possibility, but that isn't why he's doing it. He's doing it because he needs to in order to be re-elected. He was elected from one of the most Trumpist GOP dominated states in the nation and he was elected as a Democrat--because he consistently campaigns on the premise that he can create a bi-partisan coalition in the Senate. (The fact that he's never managed to do that in 11 years notwithstanding.) The people who vote for him in West Virginia expect that he will continue to argue for bi-partisanship, even in the face of 50 Republican senators who have no intention of ever voting for anything supported by even one Democrat.
Boiled down, Joe Manchin needs to put a bi-partisan face on everything he does, or he will lose in his next election in 2024.
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