The leftists are sure to be mad at this one but Manchin is not the type to be bullied. Manchin wrote an op-ed on the topic and put all of the doubts to rest. No one knew what his vote was going to be on this one but we had an idea of where we would lean.
The same way that they call GOP members “RINOs”, they should be calling Manchin a “DINO”. He’s a Democrat in name only! In this instance, the distinction is actually a good thing. Before the Democrats had even had a chance to start their usual preening and posturing, Manchin was already making a huge stink.
We knew that this would not end well for them but no one on their side wanted to believe it. The liberals had their chances to offer up alternative policies that Manchin might be more inclined to support but they were always pipe dreams.
That’s not to say that Manchin would not be in favor of a more balanced bill but we all know that is never going to happen. Liberals do not know anything about balance or coming together. They want to run roughshod over the Republican party and they want to be praised when they do it.
While Manchin has maintained support for a more targeted bill that does not ask Americans to fund insane spending from the current administration, he is not going to be carving up the filibuster to make sure that it passes by a simple majority vote. In order to truly reform voting, GOP buy-in is needed but this is not something that the far left is willing to wrap their minds around.
So let me get this straight: Sen. Manchin claims to want to protect voting rights, but wants to empower Senate Republicans who are hellbent on restricting voting rights?
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) June 6, 2021
In their minds, Biden can simply stomp in and make things happen whenever he wants. If that cannot happen, the finger needs to be pointed elsewhere. Today, it is Manchin’s turn to take the brunt of their whining that is disguised as legitimate criticism.
Never been this disappointed in a politician before. Joe Manchin is voting against the right to vote. His real reason can only be if we elect more Dems he will lose personal power and leverage he has now. Like so many before him, power has stolen his heart.
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) June 6, 2021
As of right now, meaningful voting reform is dead. 10 Senate Republicans are not going to step up to the plate to liberalize the world of voting in the wake of a stolen one. This particular excerpt from the Manchin op-ed is a telling one:
Democrats in Congress have proposed a sweeping election reform bill called the For the People Act. This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support. Why? Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy? Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?
The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen…
Manchin is the one who wrote the op-Ed, but he’s not the only Democrat skeptical of all of what’s in the For the People Act — as with eliminating the filibuster or the Tanden nomination, there are a bunch of Democrats more than happy to have him take the heat for them
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) June 6, 2021
The Voting Rights Act, for example, was monumental in the fight to guarantee freer and fairer elections in the United States. Since its original passage, it has been reauthorized with overwhelming bipartisan votes five separate times. In addition, there is bipartisan support to pass the latest iteration of this legislation, the rightfully named John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the formula states and localities must use to ensure proposed voting laws do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population. My Republican colleague, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has joined me in urging Senate leadership to update and pass this bill through regular order.
The liberals can be as angry as they want but they do not have any leverage to speak of. If he gets primary’ed, guess what? His seat gets handed to a Republican. Have fun with that, Democrats. Leftists may have thought that Manchin would do a major about-face and see the error of his ways but he’s only going to dig in his heels further and further.
