Joe Manchin is rejecting the Chuck Schumer agenda and rumor has it that Joe Manchin (D) might become Joe Manchin (I) even as he maintains himself to be a "proud moderate Democrat."
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| Will not vote to end filibuster, to pack courts, to add states, defund police, but did vote for Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. |
Now some might suggest that this is a means to temper the arguments that will be made by Republicans in Georgia that the future of Democracy is on the line, but Manchin has been consistent (even before the 2020 election which was not a part of) that he has no interest in altering how the Senate works. In fact, there is said to be many other Democrats who think as he does, but are afraid to make that public statement given the current radical state of the Democratic Party.
The truth is that most Americans prefer a divided government for the very reason that it is deliberate and requires the two Parties to work together. I believe to some degree the public sent that very message in 2020, by pushing Susan Collins, and Thom Tillis to victory in close battleground states as they both ran ahead of the President. I suspect that there actually might be plenty of Georgia voters who split their two Senate votes for this very reason.
Moreover, the idea of ending the filibuster, packing the court and other radical ideas put forward by Chuck Schumer are horribly unpopular and are the sort of fodder that will make it more difficult for the Democrats to avoid the normal first term mid-term election disaster that most incoming Presidents face. With only a few seats in the House to spare, and the Senate on razer thin margins, this might have been the time for Democrats to act like the Party of moderation, rather than the Party of the extreme.
14 comments:
i've never understood why Manchin never left the donks for the GOP.
Americans want a government that is able to get something done. Period.
Republicans Privately Relay Best Wishes to Biden
9:08 am
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told CNN that some of his Republican colleagues have said to him in private to “please convey my well wishes to the President-Elect, but I can’t say that publicly yet.”
Trump Could Be National Security Threat as Ex-President
9:06 am
“As president, Donald Trump selectively revealed highly classified information to attack his adversaries, gain political advantage and to impress or intimidate foreign governments, in some cases jeopardizing U.S. intelligence capabilities. As an ex-president, there’s every reason to worry he will do the same, thus posing a unique national security dilemma for the Biden administration,” the Washington Post reports.
“All presidents exit the office with valuable national secrets in their heads, including the procedures for launching nuclear weapons, intelligence-gathering capabilities — including assets deep inside foreign governments — and the development of new and advanced weapon systems.”
“But no new president has ever had to fear that his predecessor might expose the nation’s secrets as President-elect Joe Biden must with Trump, current and former officials said. Not only does Trump have a history of disclosures, he checks the boxes of a classic counterintelligence risk: He is deeply in debt and angry at the U.S. government, particularly what he describes as the ‘deep state’ conspiracy that he believes tried to stop him from winning the White House in 2016 and what he falsely claims is an illegal effort to rob him of reelection.”
Get Ready for More Books About Trump
8:14 am
“One of publishing’s most thriving genres of the past four years, books about President Donald Trump, is not going to end when he leaves office,” the AP reports.
“Expect detailed condemnations of the 45th president’s actions and rhetoric, from journalists and former associates, and also flattering accounts from White House allies and pro-Trump pundits. And there might well be a book from Trump himself, who received more than 70 million votes even as he became the first president in nearly 30 years to be defeated after one term.”
_________
Here's one: a must-read:
Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response
by Andy Slavitt.
“With unparalleled access to the key players throughout the government on both sides of the aisle, the principal public figures, as well as the people working on the frontline involved in fighting the virus, Slavitt brings you into the room as fateful decisions are made and focuses on the people at the center of the political system, health care system, patients, and caregivers.”
03/16/2021 (Publication Date)
Biden Transition Starts Congressional Outreach
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The Biden transition team is officially reaching out to Democratic lawmakers, telling them that President-elect Biden is eager “to seize this transition period to get started,” Axios reports.
“The transition is signaling that it wants to work with congressional offices and draw on their expertise — and personnel — to implement Biden’s agenda.”
Quote of the Day
7:59 am EST
“He is the most experienced person to ever enter the White House in American history, because of his 36 years in the Senate and then his eight with President Obama. So he’s very clear eyed.”
— Valerie Biden Owens, quoted by Axios, on her brother, Joe Biden, becoming president.
GOP Tries Again to Ax Health Care Law
7:28 am
“A week after the 2020 election, Republican elected officials and the Trump administration are advancing their latest arguments to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, a long-held GOP goal that has repeatedly failed in Congress and the courts,” the AP reports.
“In arguments scheduled for Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear its third major fight over the 10-year-old law, popularly known as ‘Obamacare.’ Republican attorneys general in 18 states and the administration want the whole law to be struck down, which would threaten coverage for more than 23 million people.”
White House Sidelines Key Climate Scientist
7:12 am
“The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science and policy,” the New York Times reports.
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7:10 am EST
Republican officials behind a lawsuit alleging poll workers incorrectly rejected votes cast in person in Arizona on Election Day are only challenging 180 votes while Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by more than 14,000 ballots in the state, the Arizona Republic reports.
Hospitalizations for Virus Surge to Record
7:04 am s
“There were just over 59,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the United States on Monday, the country’s highest number ever of in-patients being treated for the disease, as new infections at record levels for the sixth consecutive day,” Reuters reports.
White House Orders Agencies to Rebuff Biden Transition
7:01 am
Leaders at agencies across the federal government have been instructed not to cooperate with Joe Biden’s transition team until President Trump finally accepts that he’s lost the election, the Washington Post reports.
“Officials at agencies across the government who had prepared briefing books and carved out office space for the incoming Biden team to use as soon as this week were told instead that the transition would not be recognized until the Democrat’s election was confirmed by the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency that officially starts the transition.”
CBS News:
Biden transition barrels forward while Trump administration stalls.
Trump Plans PAC in Hopes of Keeping Hold on GOP
6:16 am
“President Trump is planning to form a so-called leadership political action committee, a federal fund-raising vehicle that will potentially let him retain his hold on the Republican Party even when he is out of office,” the New York Times reports.
“Such committees can accept donations of up to $5,000 per donor per year — far less than the donation limits for the committees formed by Mr. Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee — but a leadership PAC could accept donations from an unlimited number of people. It could also accept donations from other political action committees.”
GOP-Led States Back Trump’s Legal Challenge of Election
6:11 am
“Republican-controlled state governments on Monday began throwing their weight behind President Donald Trump’s legal drive to challenge the results of last week’s presidential election,” Politico reports.
“A coalition of Republican attorneys general filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to formally take up and resolve a dispute from Pennsylvania over a ruling that the state’s Supreme Court issued in September granting three extra days for the receipt of mail-in ballots cast in last Tuesday’s election.”
AND NOW HERE'S SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED VIS A VIS CH'S THREAD ARTICLE
Senate Democrats Fume Over Faulty Messaging
6:25 am
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Politico that no one in the party could work harder than Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer but he’s still not been effective.
Said Manchin: “I’ve watched the last three elections: 2016, ‘18 and ‘20. We truly should have been in the majority and it didn’t happen. Whatever our message is, it hasn’t worked. And I would hope that our leadership from the top to bottom understands that. It has not worked. And if we’re going down that path again, we’re in trouble.”
Rumor has it that Kelly Loeffler Wrote Off Her Campaign Jet
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Donald Trump Jr. Moves to Take Over RNC
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“Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle are making moves to expand their influence at the Republican National Committee,” CNN reports.
“Some sources say they may seek to take over the party structure themselves.”
Pence Takes a Vacation
10:16 am
“Vice President Mike Pence is planning to travel to Sanibel, Florida, on Tuesday — a regular vacation spot for his family — as President Trump fights to try to reverse his re-election defeat,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump has mounted legal and public relations efforts in four states to try to sow doubt on the election outcome and throw out ballots in order to potentially swing the result in his favor. He has claimed without evidence that Joe Biden benefited from illegal votes. Some of Trump’s allies have noted that Pence has been largely absent from the effort, beyond supportive tweets.”
Republicans Say They’re Just ‘Humoring’ Trump
10:00 am
Washington Post: “Only a smattering of Republican senators have acknowledged Biden’s victory, and there has been little coaxing on the part of senior GOP lawmakers to help Trump come to terms with his loss.
"Some said there is value in ensuring the integrity of this year’s results, while others described a chaotic and scattershot operation that they hoped would eventually push Trump to cooperate in a peaceful transfer of power.”
Said one senior Republican official:
“What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change. He went golfing this weekend. It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on 20 January. He’s tweeting about filing some lawsuits, those lawsuits will fail, then he’ll tweet some more about how the election was stolen, and then he’ll leave.”
Biden Plans to Ignore Trump
Valeria Biden Owens told Axios that her brother, Joe Biden, is “never going to see Donald Trump again.”
Said Owens: “Donald Trump is going off the stage and on January 20 that’s history, that’s past. Joe’s not gonna talk about Donald Trump. Who cares?”
________
And meanwhile Republicans are privately, secretly relaying best wishes to Biden.
Noem ‘Helps’ Trump By Funneling Donors to Her Campaign
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has enthusiastically taken up President Trump’s efforts to contest the results of the presidential election, asking for online donations to “help us bring it home for the president,” but it appears the donations are set to flow into her own reelection account, NBC News reports.
Well Reverend...
It sounds like Joe Manchin doesn't believe that Schumer is the right guy for the job. I think it is a shot across the bow in terms of the scorched earth strategy that Schumer has pursued.
Messaging (in this case) is about Schumer's calls for a radical change, and the public hasn't bought it. When you call for a change in messaging, you are calling for a change in strategy, which ultimately means you are calling for a change in policy.
Unless, of courses, you believe that Manchin (who votes with the GOP all the time) believes that Schumer should provide a false message of moderation, and then follow up with an actual policy of radicalism... because Manchin believes Democrats should lie to win elections?
Well, Ch, I would like to see the Dems get a whole lot better in their messaging and I would like to see fresher faces emerging among them.
Keep your eyes on Pete Buttigieg.
Even Turkish president Recep Erdogan has now congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election.
Those who have not congratulated him are Putin of Russia, Jong-un of N. Korea, Xi of China, and numerous fraidy cat Republicans.
It sounds like Joe Manchin doesn't believe that Schumer is the right guy for the job. I think it is a shot across the bow in terms of the scorched earth strategy that Schumer has pursued.
indeed.
and i was particularly impressed by how Schumer and 0linsky tool Tommy Vietor immediately insulted the entire State of Georgia as Georgia voters enter the run-off process.
Tommy Vietor
@TVietor08
Replying to
@jmartNYT
I'm not sure that the seven Georgians who know who Chuck Schumer is are going to find this all that compelling
10:55 AM · Nov 8, 2020·Twitter Web App
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https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1325466883882053633
smooth.
Keep your eyes on Pete Buttigieg.
i try not to. every time i see that sneering pillow biter i throw up a little in my mouth.
Well, Ch, I would like to see the Dems get a whole lot better in their messaging
Unless you want them to lie, they need to change their strategy before changing their messaging... and that means changing what policies they want to pursue.
When you spend all of your time talking about ending the filibuster, packing the courts, adding states, and other positions that are horribly unpopular outside of the narrow radical Democratic base...
Then that is an issue with what is driving you policy...
Not a messaging problem.
I am not sure if Manchin is "right" to assume that Democrats should have won the Senate majority in 2016, or 2018, or 2020... because much of that has been little more than faulty polling showing Democrats winning over and over in races that they lost.
How many Democratic Senators were ahead in the polls only to lose in these past three elections?
Because I can tell you that there has been zero times a Republican has led in a Senate poll and still lost.
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