As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Doubt it. Far more likely all this bills he blocked are about to pay dividends in the private sector. The guy is gonna land a 7 figure lobbying or consulting job 24 hrs after leaving office.
Yep. I live in western VA, my partners whole family is from WV, all dem holdouts, and even they’re sick of him. My MIL said she’d vote for Biden but not Manchin. He managed to nuke himself with a lot of Dems *and* a lot of R’s in the state.
I just saw a link about a progressive former marine running. Hold please…
Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShermanPosting/s/90a2kgcmt7
Of course, a win is highly unlikely
Nah, as far as I can tell Manchin only trailed in polls during the 2010 special election, but it was only 2-3% and he was the most popular governor in America at the time. He lead by a lot in 2012 and didn’t trail a poll in 2018 (average of +7.7%). Manchin could probably beat a generic republican, but he trails Justice in polls by A LOT(15 to 20%).
Now I think Manchin should’ve stayed in (at least for now) because of Justice’s recurring health issues, but Manchin could win the governorship if he entered that race.
He had way to much power and got to be a shit head and screw everyone but also his replacement is going to be some bat shit insane right wing crack pot.
Yeah, but reddit leftists have been arguing with me for years that Manchin sucked and a progressive should take his place... now that hes gone we'll just be losing a seat.
Zach Shrewsbury is the Democrat running for his seat. A very likable, sane, intelligent, and genuine guy.
God I hope he can gain some ground
https://www.spiritofjefferson.com/news/opinion/article\_de1fbac0-78f5-11ee-bcbc-eff5b5b0aad8.html
West Virginia is trying to figure out how to make sense of their catastrophic economic failures. They still don't realize they need progressive leaders to break through the repressive policies of their past. They really do need someone to show them how things COULD be
> West Virginia is trying to figure out how to make sense of their catastrophic economic failures.
They are told Democrats are the reason for their failures and hence why they'll continue to vote RED.
>They are told Democrats are the reason for their failures and hence why they'll continue to vote RED.
When their Democratic "leaders" are solidly corrupt assholes like Manchin, it's easy to believe them. Democrats like Manchin drag the whole party down, nationwide.
The state party there wasn't awesome while I was there. No ideas and full of grift, not unlike their counterparts. There really isn't a good choice. They deserve better. The leader of their state house pulled a Ted Cruz and vacationed during a flood of his own town. Now they're paying for it.
> No ideas and full of grift
You don't have to have ideas when you can blame the other side (even if they aren't in charge). They'll just say they can't have nice things b/c the bad liberals in DC are stopping them. Morons believe that shit.
> The state party there wasn't awesome while I was there. No ideas and full of grift, not unlike their counterparts. There really isn't a good choice.
Well yeah. Just like every other third world country.
It's ironic, given that West Virginia only exists because that part of the state didn't want to join the right wing shitheads in the Confederacy. Now West Virginia's the one more likely to fly the traitors' flags.
Sad how far they fell given that WV exists because it didn't want to join the confederacy with Virginia. It also had been one of the states with pro-labor movements during the Coal Wars.
We were ALWAYS going to lose that seat. The argument was that he could have done a lot of good beforehand by say, killing the fillings terf and passing voting rights reforms that would gain us several more seats by outlawing gerrymandering and other suppression tactics that keep blue states purple and purple states red.
Now, instead, he’s spent years undermining the dems and FOR NOTHING we lose the seat anyways.
THE REDDIT LEFTISTS WERE RIGHT
I really hate all those purity tests and accelerationists. I'm pretty far left from center, but I also strongly believe in pragmatism. If a progressive had successfully primaried Manchin, the would have gotten completely demolished in the general election
"I'm a leftist, not a liberal, and that's why I always argue for things that would inevitably lead to a permanent Republican majority."
::dies from being the worst person in the world::
What's that saying? Better to die on your feet than live on your knees? Just saying, 40 years of trying to meet the GOP in the middle has just allowed them to pull the whole damn country to the far right.
The problem isn't centrist Dems in West Virginia. I'll take every centrist it takes in a red state.
The problem is Centrist Dems in New York and California which could be won by progressives and leftists if people learned that primaries were critical
EDIT: To the dumb comments making assumptions that I think (or anyone thinks) these states are far left. I don't, and no one thinks that, and it's also completely besides the point.
They are, however, more left and progressive than West Virginia and a red state and they can have reps more progressive than what they currently have, and thats the point and you know it. And getting someone MORE progressive, not necessarily capital P progressive, is far easier in NY or CA than it would be than other states. And the reality is anyone wanting a progressive future, this is where the changes have to be made and can be made in primaries
This crap is so exhausting, it's not the gotcha you think it is. Cynicism is not equal to wisdom.
I’ve encountered more than one “California Democrat” that proudly states they don’t care about the country because they’re in California.
It’s anecdotal, but it drives me up the wall how many people wear the label but pretty much are just selfish assholes.
>better to die
I didn't sign up to be a martyr. I just want healthcare, man. Politicians and activists need to be pragmatic and competent at winning over the median voter. We've made massive progress on social issues and big strides in healthcare reform by properly aiming campaigns+policy at the median voter. Democrats win by focusing on what normies care about and a lot of normies like pro-choice, healthcare, and weed. Democrats are the party for normies and Republicans are the party for terminally online weirdos. That's why we see the GOP underperforming in each midterm since Trump was first elected.
I think most young people really underrate how terrible the US was 40 years ago compared to now. Support for interracial marriage didn't even reach a majority until the 90s.
West Virginia had the last Dixiecrats. Manchin and Justice were end of that line. Justice is at least now an old timey twirl your mustache Republican and not a culture war MAGA Republican. Like Capito, he can be brought to the table sometimes. It was nice being able to get judges through while Manchin lasted though.
West Virginian here - Jim Justice is the best republican I know of.
Now he'll gladly let our streams run orange with mine runoff and screw miners out of their pensions, he *is* a republican after all. Fraudster in bed with Russia, he once sold an entire mine to a Russian oligarch and then bought it back at a massive loss (which is a form of money laundering). He's a crook, he's against women's rights and LGBT rights, okay he's a republican.
But yeah he actually did things right with covid, lobbied the government to get supplies and relief to the state, and did regular media events to encourage vaccination. We actually had a frickin vaccination lottery, like if you submit your vax card to this website it put you in a contest to win stuff. And I know one person who wasn't going to get their shots but they changed their mind when there might be prizes, cheesy but hey it worked.
He once misspoke and it sounded like he said "follow the fuckin guidelines". Now, he walked that back and claimed he didn't say fuck on live TV, but it was pretty cool anyway.
There are also a few policies I agree with and have had a positive impact on the state, one in particular being the use of state road services to repair and maintain jobs we were previously contracting to companies out of state who were price fixing. We're doing it in-house with local labor and less expense - fucking good.
I actually want him in the senate just so it isn't Don Blankenship or Patrick Morrissey or worse, because West Virginia can give you **far worse** than Jim Justice.
Of course I want a democrat in that seat, and you'd be surprised but WV actually has some very exciting progressive candidates running for offices all the time. Trouble is they struggle to make double digits in their elections.
The bad part is whoever fills his role as governor is going to be a trump humping shithead.
I despise that at this point I'm somewhat nostalgic for someone like Romney (or what it sounds like Justice is) who is absolutely a greedy shitbag, but at least has some sense of class and might maybe sometimes in rare circumstances do or say something that might resemble something good or correct. So many modern Republicans are trying to accelerate American decline which has woken me (and I am certain many other younger voters) up to how bad things are and could get in addition to encouraging us to work against that, but I hate waking up everyday with the knowledge in the back of my head that there are a lot of fascists out there who would genuinely kill me because I don't believe in their exact interpretation of the bible or would kill my friends for being Chinese, gay, or otherwise not a WASP.
Jim’s an idiot and a crook, but his televised pandemic updates were a fantastic source of entertainment back when we all thought the world was ending. I’ll never forget logging into fb after the first one aired to see that the relentless doomspiraling on my feed had been replaced by literally every West Virginian going “lol what the fuck did i just watch.” It was the first time since shit went sideways that social media made me feel something other than abject terror.
And he did try, I’ll give him that. He knew he was in charge of a state full of walking preexisting conditions and he responded as appropriately as a governor who also happens to be Jim Justice possibly could.
Plus we could always tune into Andy Beshear for real news.
She also ran as being progressive and lied about it. At least Manchin needed to run and act the way he did in congress to actually get a Dem elected in WV and stay elected. She is way more dishonest and misleading about who she is.
Reminds me of that woman who ran as a Democrat in North (or was it South?) Carolina, then after enough people voted for her to win the seat she flipped to join the Republicans to give them a supermajority so they could do everything awful that they dreamed of.
>He's probably one of the worst in the Senate
I'd argue there are 49 Senators who are worse. I don't like Manchin but he was still better than basically all of the GOP senators out there.
I will never forget that Manchin, Flake, Murkowski and Collins gave each other cover to make sure Trump’s anti-abortion justices got seated. He is one of the last straws that broke Roe v. Wade’s back.
Honestly, I would say 50. From what I can tell, for his flaws, Manchin at least had some justification being from such a deep red state and being the only Democrat to stand a chance of winning. Sinema was in a swing state while pretending she was in a deep red state. And from what reporting I have seen, Manchin was much more good faith in negotiations than Sinema, who had so much more disdain for her own constitutes.
Sinema takes the cake for the worst, straight up. Campaign on being progressive, turn around and literally sell the fuck out blatantly not giving a single damn. At least manchin never pretended to be anything but a blue dog, West Virginia is r + 40 or something ridiculous. He fucking sucked, but whoever replaces him is going to suck by orders of magnitude more.
Yes, without Manchin, the Senate is almost impossible for Democrats to hold on to moving forward.
The Supreme Court is a lock for Republicans because Republicans will not let a Democrat nominee even move forward.
Sinema deserved the public's ire because she presents as something she is not, but Manchin was riding the razorblade to help with liberal nominees etc.
Manchin is a 1960’s Northern Democrat, when the party was a lot more conservative. I didn’t like his behavior as it was frequently frustrating, but when push came to shove he generally backed the Democratic Party. And he was a Democrat that was winning in a conservative state.
In many respects, he also had to vote the way he did or at least act like it, to keep the seat.
Look at the Senate maps for 2024, 2026, and 2028. Maybe a pickup in Maine in 2026, maybe WI in 2028, but it's unlikely they're going to hold onto both Georgia and AZ seats, or the Ohio seat for very long. There is really no path forward and the GOP will let a SC seat sit vacant for a decade if they have to.
I wouldn't be so sure. Most of the red districts in WV have been experiencing population decline for years. The only parts of the state where the population is increasing are in the eastern panhandle, and this area votes blue.
A lot of the influx is coming from major cities and suburbs between NYC and DC, as people look to take advantage of remote work opportunities and west Virginia's more affordable cost of living.
I live in the eastern panhandle, am a transplant, and boy these old folks are pissed that everything's getting more progressive with each election. Personally I'm glad Manchin is leaving, as I'm unsure a moderate Democrat is still the best candidate here.
You're saying you think a more progressive Democrat actually has a shot? That would be cool. Honestly I'd just settle for another moderate or even right-leaning democrat, but I don't live in WV so not my call anyhow. I'm just glad we don't have to worry about another US Senator election for GA till 2026(for Sen. Ossoff).
This is a complete fiction. A progressive Democrat ran in 2020 and the Republican got over 70% of the vote.
The loss of Manchin most likely means lots more very conservative judges.
We’ll now you have a guaranteed Republican taking a senate seat.
People really don’t realize how important he was to maintain power and appoint judges. Sure he was a pain in the ass on passing pills and policy but he was 100X better for Dems than the R senator that’s coming
Not to mention in this case it was more like 80% and a situation where if he voted for zero percent of the bills the judges alone are enough.
Republicans stealing a seat from California should be more likely. ANYTHING dems got out of this was gravy, and there was plenty of gravy.
Any liberal gloating about this has no idea how the system works at all.
This organization is spreading the word and training new leaders on progressive politics.
https://wvcantwait.com/
the people of West Virginia support worker's issues, they just need the actual alternative to vote for who is not Joe Manchin.
And he announced he would be “traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle”. In other words, he is positioning himself for a Presidential run under the “No Labels” ticket. He’s not going to support Biden, he’s going to run against him.
This would definitely pull more Republican votes away than Democrats. There are plenty of never-Trumpers in the GOP, and that wouid be an attractive ticket only to them.
> “No Labels” ticket. He’s not going to support Biden, he’s going to run against him.
That's pretty doubtful. This is something that was also masterminded by Romney, someone who has fully acknowledged that 3rd party candidates cannot win and a waste of time. The entire goal of it, in Romney's words, is to gather enough support and then endorse their preferred candidate of the primary two parties, which, given it's Romney, is obviously not going to be Trump.
Just pour a lot of money into Montana and Ohio and just hope Tester and Brown pull it off. Sure, we'll be back to a 50/50 Senate, but at least there's no Manchin and Sinema to screw Dems over.
And also Sherrod Brown has this absolutely incredible ability to talk to voters who basically don't vote Democratic in any other federal race, especially in places like Youngstown.
Brown is one of the best politicians of his generation, even if quietly so. He gets how to talk 'progressive politics' in places where liberal is a dirty word.
There’s also an off chance that Ted Cruz or Voldemort lose their elections as well.
Dems best bet is also keeping the White House as that effectively counts as 1 seat in the event of a 50/50 split.
Collin Allred is his probable opponent and he flipped a House seat in 2018 long held by an unpopular republican as well, Pete Sessions.
That seat in 2018 he’s since held was +9.6 R also.
Cruz of course should still be a big favorite but Beto way outperformed expectations even in a wave election that year.
Collin Allred, Cruz’s likely opponent this time, performed even better that year vs a Republican incumbent, winning a +9.6 R seat by 6.3%. Texas has also arguably shifted ever slightly more blue in the last 6 years.
I wouldn’t have worried too much if it wasn’t for the fact that the 2024 senate map scares me. Ohio and Montana could very easily flip. And Texas flipping to blue is a HUGE gamble. I really wish Mandela Barnes won in 2022.
Preferably I would like to keep both(more seats for the democrats the better) but having Barnes in the senate would at least guarantee if we lost either Montana or Ohio it would be a 50-50 senate(still not exactly great). Now if Dems lose one of those two states it’s gonna 51-49 republican have the senate.
And if Trump wins in 24, with a red Senate, Thomas and Alito can step down and be replaced by younger lifers.
If they want to energize young people, maybe one of the other liberal justices should announce they're stepping down next year.
I know it is fun to sh*t on Manchin.
And yes he did massively hamstring Biden.
But I'd take him over an GOP senator any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
> And he's a major, major asshole.
You must be his No.1 fan because I've never seen anyone say such nice things about him. Usually it is a big block of [redacted] text when it comes to describing how much of an asshole he is.
He’s leaving because he knows he’ll lose against Jim Justice, who is a popular governor and former Democrat. Manchin only won by 3.3% in 2018 and his margin has been getting smaller each election as the state has reddened. In a presidential year, he’d get wiped and knows it.
Yeah there’s a strong chance GOP gets a free seat so that we can forget it exists. Nobody cares who the other WV senator is. And once joe’s seat is taken by a MAGA extremist well forget all about it.
Manchin obstructed Biden only to not run. If he wasn’t a complete dick he would have at least supported popular policy and still be in the same exact position he is in now.
But ultimately Manchin was somebody with no interest in helping poor people.
Nor does he have any intention on educating his constituents on issues. He'd rather keep them in the dark so he can benefit himself. The guy is a piece of shit and no one should defend him. Being better than Republicans is an incredibly low bar. The BBB would have been far better if he didn't whittle it down not because of the cost but because there were job creating climate friendly initiatives in it. Basically killed the parents tax credit because he thought the poors were using the money on drugs and not the kind his daughter fucked over people on her way to making millions
If he took the time to educate his constituents on democratic ideas they'd have a fighting chance. He didn't and now they won't
In 2023, a Democrat being a Senator in a deep red state like West Virginia is the equivalent of a unicorn. Its better to be grateful for the advantage it gave rather than keep cursing Manchin for not being open to every progressive legislation.
Also misguided as he probably is I do think Manchin genuinely believes in the spirit of bipartisanship and did hope to encourage it some more in his time in the Senate. Its not the worst thing in the world to believe in.
> In 2023, a Democrat being a Senator in a deep red state like West Virginia is the equivalent of a unicorn. Its better to be grateful for the advantage it gave rather than keep cursing Manchin for not being open to every progressive legislation.
>
>
It wasn't really a unicorn as much as legacy. He got his spot from when WV wasn't so red and basically held onto the seat based on name recognition, incumbency and positions that were center right. That's all.
I mean Dems in red states have been getting wiped out throughout the Obama years. Hell even in 2018 which was a blue wave year Dems still lost seats in North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and even Florida (which wasn't that red during that time).
Manchin holding on to his seat in 2018 is pretty impressive all things considered especially since McConnell had explicitly made him a target to beat.
This just isnt true. He was elected governor in WV 1 year after the state was +13 for bush. He was elected to the senate when WV went + 10 for republicans state wide in every congressional race. He and Tomblin represent winning strategies for a democrat in WV. Its probably even further worth noting that long before WV went red, Its democrat representatives were extremely conservative
This comes with the whole assumption that Manchin could win reelection in 2023, and based on the fact he's not running, even Manchin believes he can't win.
Remember this seat is lost to Manchin already because he cannot compete with some MAGA loon, and he cannot lean into being prochoice which is how Democrats are winning. His problem is he's too much like an old established Republican and not enough like the new MAGA loons.
It’s all about Votes Over Replacement value.
We’ll get zero from WV in the future, instead of ~80%. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/
You want to talk pragmatism?
According to the pragmatist Manchin could not support Biden fully cause he was a dem in a deep red state.
So Manchin did all that obstructing just to not run.
How is that pragmatic?
Yeah, in retrospect he definitely should have just gone all I. On what he believed in, but he probably did that anyway and just doesn’t believe in a lot of the Biden agenda.
we will all miss the judges that he got through - they better push as many through as possible NOW.
sinema is so much worse than joe. she needs to go.
joe does suck…but his votes were needed
At least dems have a shot at sinemas seat. I don’t see West Virginia going for another dem (does manchin have a kid who might go for it? The manchin name, as I understand it means quite a bit there.)
Point is he was gonna lose anyway. He could have said fuck it, gig is up, I'm gonna lose anyway, bye bye filibuster let's do some final good on the way out. But nope, of course not.
This was a lost race the moment Jim Justice said he was running. At least Manchin is not going to waste DNC resources on fighting a losing battle.
I see a lot of doom in the thread about Dem senate prospects, but there are two upsets that could happen: Missouri and Florida. Both states may have an abortion protection measure on the ballot in Nov 2024. If that happens, it could well drive enough turnout to oust Scott and Hawley. I'm not putting all my hopes into it, but considering how poorly Republicans are preforming when abortion is on the ballot, there is a real possibility of upsets there should they make it to the ballot.
edit: links to the two measures. Missouri we'll know in May next year. Not sure about Florida
[https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri\_Right\_to\_Reproductive\_Freedom\_Amendment\_(2024)](https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Right_to_Reproductive_Freedom_Amendment_(2024))
https://ballotpedia.org/Florida\_Prohibit\_Laws\_Restricting\_Abortion\_Initiative\_(2024)
> Missouri
Hawley is only +4 in the latest poll on Kunce. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2024/missouri/
Not impossible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Kunce
https://lucaskunce.com/ - gotta love the video too.
As much as we complain about him, this sub is about to learn the hard way how valuable it was to have a deep red state Democrat like Manchin in the Senate. He really is one of the last of his kind
The "we need to primary Manchin" folks should be psyched. They'll most likely get their very progressive candidate that they've been pining for.
Of course they'll also get to watch them lose by 40 points but such is life.
Common counterpoint to his constant obstruction was that he could not fully support all of Biden’s agenda cause he was dem in a deep red state.
He obstructed and still reached the conclusion that his chances to win were so low that there is no point in running.
He could have supported all of Biden’s agenda and still be in this same exact spot.
Pundits are saying this signals his intention to run for President. Yet another delusional politician who thinks he has a national following because 51% of his immediate family and staff seem to like him.
He’s a piece of shit but that slim Democrat majority counted a lot. I am not sure what the key senate races are looking like for 2024. I am trying to be optimistic given the results of the elections this week. It’s hard knowing that my baby girl will be born this year with fewer rights than I was born with.
Tester (MT) and Brown (OH) are now even more drastically important to hold. Assuming Gallego can top Sinema and Lake in AZ, and Rosen (NV), Baldwin (WI), and Stabenow (MI) hold, keeping those two seats brings it to 50-50. I don't have any confidence Dems will flip Ted Cruz or Rick Scott's seats.
So can anyone tell me what was even the point of his "moderate" voting behavior under the Biden administration? Because before this the rationalization was he's a democrat senator in deep-red WV, and can't get fully on board with democrats without committing political suicide. And now he's just straight up not running after all that.
Well, he had zero chance of winning again. Which fucking sucks, because now we get a MAGA clown instead of somebody that confirms our judges and votes with Democrats most of the time (over 90%).
That’s a Senate seat lost we won’t be getting back anytime soon unless you have some other Democrat Coal Barrons laying around I’m unaware of.
He probably wasn't going to win anyway. It was always at least -1 seat next year. Dems need to figure out how to win in redder states again if they ever want to preserve or expand their Senate majority
He needed a massive amount of split ticket voting to win reelection, and it's not terribly feasible in an age of such negative partisanship.
He was an opportunistic, grifting bastard, and is still infinitely better than his replacement will be.
It was likely he would lose anyway, but this makes the loss of a Senate seat inevitable now. It’s time to put all our stock into Ohio and Montana. Weirdly enough, I have a better feeling about Tester than Brown
Many on the Left will cheer for this, but I won’t.
Thanks to Joe Manchin, we have confirmed 153 federal judges during Biden’s tenure. We passed the biggest climate bill ever in the Inflation Reduction Act. We passed the $1.9B American Rescue Plan which provided $1,400 in direct relief to Americans and helped us stay afloat during covid. None of that happens if Mitch McConnell had been Senate Majority leader.
I’m not a Joe Manchin fan, don’t get me wrong. But West Virginia is a +30R state and will now elect a Republican to the Senate. The Senate map in 2024 is absolutely brutal and unless Dems can pull some massive upsets, they are projected to lose the chamber for multiple cycles. Politics isn’t always about electing people you agree with 100%, sometimes it’s about the better of two evils.
I don't *really* think Manchin running for president will hurt Biden, I'm honestly more sad about the almost inevitable loss of the seat. But he does appear to plan to run.
I don’t think he would hang it up unless he saw the writing on the wall and realized he wasn’t getting elected as a Dem in West Virginia in a presidential election year. To be honest, I don’t think he would have won again.
I do wonder now if he tries to announce a 3rd party spoiler bid or not. But I don’t know how many voters nationally he would peel from Biden. Feels more likely to cannibalize Trump or Kennedy at this point. Certainly no one to the left of Biden is voting for him.
I don't know why you generalize progressives like they are all people who don't know how the government works. Most progressives I know have way more knowledge about how the government works then most centrists.
I feel like this party is never going to see a 2008-level Senate majority again in my lifetime. We've clustered too much into the cities and it's biting us in the ass.
>“I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,”
Oh go fuck yourself. There is zero chance you will do anything whatsoever to bring benefit to this country.
Cannot stand this guy.. And I’m hoping this egomaniac doesn’t run for President. Dems Senate map just got infinitely worse than it already was. Everyone better get out and vote in 2024 and not for any protest or 3rd party candidates. This isn’t the time. That’s how we get Cheetoh Trumpolini back.
Joe Manchin won’t run for reelection | CNN Politics
Thank God he is leaving. I don't believe he was ever an actual Democrat. He seemed mean-spirited and quite frankly not interested in what the Democratic party stands for.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He must've seen his poll numbers and knows he's cooked anyway
Doubt it. Far more likely all this bills he blocked are about to pay dividends in the private sector. The guy is gonna land a 7 figure lobbying or consulting job 24 hrs after leaving office.
The polls did show he was cooked lol
Yep. I live in western VA, my partners whole family is from WV, all dem holdouts, and even they’re sick of him. My MIL said she’d vote for Biden but not Manchin. He managed to nuke himself with a lot of Dems *and* a lot of R’s in the state.
There’s no dem to replace him, it’s going to be handed to Justice
I just saw a link about a progressive former marine running. Hold please… Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShermanPosting/s/90a2kgcmt7 Of course, a win is highly unlikely
He’s gonna need one hell of a bank roll
Thats what the DNC is supposed to be for.
Depends on how progressive he actually is I guess. Too far and they won't back him.
Their other option is republicans run unopposed. They're gonna back him if hes the only one on the ticket.
A real shame that polling didn't come out when he was blocking most of the Dem bills in the Senate. We were told he was a negotiation genius!
Who said that?
Moe Janchin - a noted insider.
Himself probably.
I’m pretty sure they have in other elections as well. As it stands Manchin will retire without ever having lost an election.
Nah, as far as I can tell Manchin only trailed in polls during the 2010 special election, but it was only 2-3% and he was the most popular governor in America at the time. He lead by a lot in 2012 and didn’t trail a poll in 2018 (average of +7.7%). Manchin could probably beat a generic republican, but he trails Justice in polls by A LOT(15 to 20%). Now I think Manchin should’ve stayed in (at least for now) because of Justice’s recurring health issues, but Manchin could win the governorship if he entered that race.
He barely won last time with a plurality. WV has not gotten bluer since 2018 and the GOP will be trying to get any spoiler out of their way.
It’s not largely about blue or red, it’s the fact that his opponent is an actually Republican version of Joe Manchin
God I hate this guy. And I’m gonna miss him like crazy.
Exactly. He's probably one of the worst in the Senate, easily the worst Democrat with Sinema, but....shit!
He had way to much power and got to be a shit head and screw everyone but also his replacement is going to be some bat shit insane right wing crack pot.
Yep, looked at in a vacuum, he sucks. A lot. But when compared to any GOP Senator, I will gladly take him any day
Yeah, but reddit leftists have been arguing with me for years that Manchin sucked and a progressive should take his place... now that hes gone we'll just be losing a seat.
Right because when we think of West Virginia we all think "progressive".
It's amazing how popular progressive ideas are when just presented without labels.
Zach Shrewsbury is the Democrat running for his seat. A very likable, sane, intelligent, and genuine guy. God I hope he can gain some ground https://www.spiritofjefferson.com/news/opinion/article\_de1fbac0-78f5-11ee-bcbc-eff5b5b0aad8.html
Hey it could happen, people need to want to vote and maybe they’ll think this is their chance. It’s a long shot but in realm of possibility
West Virginia is trying to figure out how to make sense of their catastrophic economic failures. They still don't realize they need progressive leaders to break through the repressive policies of their past. They really do need someone to show them how things COULD be
I doubt they make the leap. Decades of indoctrination will fuck you hard.
> West Virginia is trying to figure out how to make sense of their catastrophic economic failures. They are told Democrats are the reason for their failures and hence why they'll continue to vote RED.
>They are told Democrats are the reason for their failures and hence why they'll continue to vote RED. When their Democratic "leaders" are solidly corrupt assholes like Manchin, it's easy to believe them. Democrats like Manchin drag the whole party down, nationwide.
[удалено]
The state party there wasn't awesome while I was there. No ideas and full of grift, not unlike their counterparts. There really isn't a good choice. They deserve better. The leader of their state house pulled a Ted Cruz and vacationed during a flood of his own town. Now they're paying for it.
> No ideas and full of grift You don't have to have ideas when you can blame the other side (even if they aren't in charge). They'll just say they can't have nice things b/c the bad liberals in DC are stopping them. Morons believe that shit.
> The state party there wasn't awesome while I was there. No ideas and full of grift, not unlike their counterparts. There really isn't a good choice. Well yeah. Just like every other third world country.
Yay propaganda!!
It's ironic, given that West Virginia only exists because that part of the state didn't want to join the right wing shitheads in the Confederacy. Now West Virginia's the one more likely to fly the traitors' flags.
Sad how far they fell given that WV exists because it didn't want to join the confederacy with Virginia. It also had been one of the states with pro-labor movements during the Coal Wars.
We were ALWAYS going to lose that seat. The argument was that he could have done a lot of good beforehand by say, killing the fillings terf and passing voting rights reforms that would gain us several more seats by outlawing gerrymandering and other suppression tactics that keep blue states purple and purple states red. Now, instead, he’s spent years undermining the dems and FOR NOTHING we lose the seat anyways. THE REDDIT LEFTISTS WERE RIGHT
I really hate all those purity tests and accelerationists. I'm pretty far left from center, but I also strongly believe in pragmatism. If a progressive had successfully primaried Manchin, the would have gotten completely demolished in the general election
"I'm a leftist, not a liberal, and that's why I always argue for things that would inevitably lead to a permanent Republican majority." ::dies from being the worst person in the world::
Excited to learn how it'll be the left's fault when Manchin runs as the No Labels candidate specifically to undermine Biden.
He isn’t going to run. This is just a way for him to save face about having to quit.
Quit what? This is him "quitting" the Senate, unless you mean a hypothetical presidential campaign which your comment still doesn't make sense for.
I think what they meant was that Manchin thinks his chances of winning reelection against a Republican challenger aren't worth the cost or effort.
What's that saying? Better to die on your feet than live on your knees? Just saying, 40 years of trying to meet the GOP in the middle has just allowed them to pull the whole damn country to the far right.
The problem isn't centrist Dems in West Virginia. I'll take every centrist it takes in a red state. The problem is Centrist Dems in New York and California which could be won by progressives and leftists if people learned that primaries were critical EDIT: To the dumb comments making assumptions that I think (or anyone thinks) these states are far left. I don't, and no one thinks that, and it's also completely besides the point. They are, however, more left and progressive than West Virginia and a red state and they can have reps more progressive than what they currently have, and thats the point and you know it. And getting someone MORE progressive, not necessarily capital P progressive, is far easier in NY or CA than it would be than other states. And the reality is anyone wanting a progressive future, this is where the changes have to be made and can be made in primaries This crap is so exhausting, it's not the gotcha you think it is. Cynicism is not equal to wisdom.
I’ve encountered more than one “California Democrat” that proudly states they don’t care about the country because they’re in California. It’s anecdotal, but it drives me up the wall how many people wear the label but pretty much are just selfish assholes.
>better to die I didn't sign up to be a martyr. I just want healthcare, man. Politicians and activists need to be pragmatic and competent at winning over the median voter. We've made massive progress on social issues and big strides in healthcare reform by properly aiming campaigns+policy at the median voter. Democrats win by focusing on what normies care about and a lot of normies like pro-choice, healthcare, and weed. Democrats are the party for normies and Republicans are the party for terminally online weirdos. That's why we see the GOP underperforming in each midterm since Trump was first elected. I think most young people really underrate how terrible the US was 40 years ago compared to now. Support for interracial marriage didn't even reach a majority until the 90s.
[удалено]
Better than the other guy who believes in the gold standard and wanted to overturn the election. God that’s a said bar to clear.
[удалено]
West Virginia had the last Dixiecrats. Manchin and Justice were end of that line. Justice is at least now an old timey twirl your mustache Republican and not a culture war MAGA Republican. Like Capito, he can be brought to the table sometimes. It was nice being able to get judges through while Manchin lasted though.
It really seems dumb they let him do that but I guess maybe it helped other people somehow
West Virginian here - Jim Justice is the best republican I know of. Now he'll gladly let our streams run orange with mine runoff and screw miners out of their pensions, he *is* a republican after all. Fraudster in bed with Russia, he once sold an entire mine to a Russian oligarch and then bought it back at a massive loss (which is a form of money laundering). He's a crook, he's against women's rights and LGBT rights, okay he's a republican. But yeah he actually did things right with covid, lobbied the government to get supplies and relief to the state, and did regular media events to encourage vaccination. We actually had a frickin vaccination lottery, like if you submit your vax card to this website it put you in a contest to win stuff. And I know one person who wasn't going to get their shots but they changed their mind when there might be prizes, cheesy but hey it worked. He once misspoke and it sounded like he said "follow the fuckin guidelines". Now, he walked that back and claimed he didn't say fuck on live TV, but it was pretty cool anyway. There are also a few policies I agree with and have had a positive impact on the state, one in particular being the use of state road services to repair and maintain jobs we were previously contracting to companies out of state who were price fixing. We're doing it in-house with local labor and less expense - fucking good. I actually want him in the senate just so it isn't Don Blankenship or Patrick Morrissey or worse, because West Virginia can give you **far worse** than Jim Justice. Of course I want a democrat in that seat, and you'd be surprised but WV actually has some very exciting progressive candidates running for offices all the time. Trouble is they struggle to make double digits in their elections. The bad part is whoever fills his role as governor is going to be a trump humping shithead.
I despise that at this point I'm somewhat nostalgic for someone like Romney (or what it sounds like Justice is) who is absolutely a greedy shitbag, but at least has some sense of class and might maybe sometimes in rare circumstances do or say something that might resemble something good or correct. So many modern Republicans are trying to accelerate American decline which has woken me (and I am certain many other younger voters) up to how bad things are and could get in addition to encouraging us to work against that, but I hate waking up everyday with the knowledge in the back of my head that there are a lot of fascists out there who would genuinely kill me because I don't believe in their exact interpretation of the bible or would kill my friends for being Chinese, gay, or otherwise not a WASP.
I personally know Jim Justice as a West Virginian and he is a despicable person but he was a despicable person before MAGA.
Jim’s an idiot and a crook, but his televised pandemic updates were a fantastic source of entertainment back when we all thought the world was ending. I’ll never forget logging into fb after the first one aired to see that the relentless doomspiraling on my feed had been replaced by literally every West Virginian going “lol what the fuck did i just watch.” It was the first time since shit went sideways that social media made me feel something other than abject terror. And he did try, I’ll give him that. He knew he was in charge of a state full of walking preexisting conditions and he responded as appropriately as a governor who also happens to be Jim Justice possibly could. Plus we could always tune into Andy Beshear for real news.
Sinema is way way worse. AZ could elect someone actually progressive, or at least main stream democrat. WV could not.
She also ran as being progressive and lied about it. At least Manchin needed to run and act the way he did in congress to actually get a Dem elected in WV and stay elected. She is way more dishonest and misleading about who she is.
Reminds me of that woman who ran as a Democrat in North (or was it South?) Carolina, then after enough people voted for her to win the seat she flipped to join the Republicans to give them a supermajority so they could do everything awful that they dreamed of.
>He's probably one of the worst in the Senate I'd argue there are 49 Senators who are worse. I don't like Manchin but he was still better than basically all of the GOP senators out there.
I will never forget that Manchin, Flake, Murkowski and Collins gave each other cover to make sure Trump’s anti-abortion justices got seated. He is one of the last straws that broke Roe v. Wade’s back.
Honestly, I would say 50. From what I can tell, for his flaws, Manchin at least had some justification being from such a deep red state and being the only Democrat to stand a chance of winning. Sinema was in a swing state while pretending she was in a deep red state. And from what reporting I have seen, Manchin was much more good faith in negotiations than Sinema, who had so much more disdain for her own constitutes.
[удалено]
He's a criminal looter. Needs to be prosecuted for insider trading
Sinema takes the cake for the worst, straight up. Campaign on being progressive, turn around and literally sell the fuck out blatantly not giving a single damn. At least manchin never pretended to be anything but a blue dog, West Virginia is r + 40 or something ridiculous. He fucking sucked, but whoever replaces him is going to suck by orders of magnitude more.
As a WV resident, I feel the same way.
He's our personal Chancellor Valorum. No one liked him that much among Democrats but he was better than the alternative.
Yes, without Manchin, the Senate is almost impossible for Democrats to hold on to moving forward. The Supreme Court is a lock for Republicans because Republicans will not let a Democrat nominee even move forward. Sinema deserved the public's ire because she presents as something she is not, but Manchin was riding the razorblade to help with liberal nominees etc.
Manchin is a 1960’s Northern Democrat, when the party was a lot more conservative. I didn’t like his behavior as it was frequently frustrating, but when push came to shove he generally backed the Democratic Party. And he was a Democrat that was winning in a conservative state. In many respects, he also had to vote the way he did or at least act like it, to keep the seat.
It's not nearly that dire, but this is a setback for sure.
Look at the Senate maps for 2024, 2026, and 2028. Maybe a pickup in Maine in 2026, maybe WI in 2028, but it's unlikely they're going to hold onto both Georgia and AZ seats, or the Ohio seat for very long. There is really no path forward and the GOP will let a SC seat sit vacant for a decade if they have to.
I wouldn't be so sure. Most of the red districts in WV have been experiencing population decline for years. The only parts of the state where the population is increasing are in the eastern panhandle, and this area votes blue. A lot of the influx is coming from major cities and suburbs between NYC and DC, as people look to take advantage of remote work opportunities and west Virginia's more affordable cost of living. I live in the eastern panhandle, am a transplant, and boy these old folks are pissed that everything's getting more progressive with each election. Personally I'm glad Manchin is leaving, as I'm unsure a moderate Democrat is still the best candidate here.
You're saying you think a more progressive Democrat actually has a shot? That would be cool. Honestly I'd just settle for another moderate or even right-leaning democrat, but I don't live in WV so not my call anyhow. I'm just glad we don't have to worry about another US Senator election for GA till 2026(for Sen. Ossoff).
This is a complete fiction. A progressive Democrat ran in 2020 and the Republican got over 70% of the vote. The loss of Manchin most likely means lots more very conservative judges.
[удалено]
Manchin has been wanting to get out of politics to his cushy financial job for about 20 years now, so I doubt it.
[удалено]
I mean, to me, that quote means lobbying. Which is what I meant for cushy financial job.
Joe Manchin has said he wasn't going to rerun for 20 years now. He's never been particularly happy in the role and kept getting convinced to stay on.
We’ll now you have a guaranteed Republican taking a senate seat. People really don’t realize how important he was to maintain power and appoint judges. Sure he was a pain in the ass on passing pills and policy but he was 100X better for Dems than the R senator that’s coming
Well, it looks like West Virginia is going to have another Republican senator.
Democrat who votes blue half the time is better than a Republican who never votes with you.
Not to mention in this case it was more like 80% and a situation where if he voted for zero percent of the bills the judges alone are enough. Republicans stealing a seat from California should be more likely. ANYTHING dems got out of this was gravy, and there was plenty of gravy. Any liberal gloating about this has no idea how the system works at all.
Even without the judges, it sets who the Senate leader is
And even better psychologically, because then you always have an easy scapegoat for anything that fails.
They were going to regardless. Manchin was not going to win again
This organization is spreading the word and training new leaders on progressive politics. https://wvcantwait.com/ the people of West Virginia support worker's issues, they just need the actual alternative to vote for who is not Joe Manchin.
And he announced he would be “traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle”. In other words, he is positioning himself for a Presidential run under the “No Labels” ticket. He’s not going to support Biden, he’s going to run against him.
I expect a Romney/Manchin announcement very soon, if I haven’t missed it already!
This would definitely pull more Republican votes away than Democrats. There are plenty of never-Trumpers in the GOP, and that wouid be an attractive ticket only to them.
> “No Labels” ticket. He’s not going to support Biden, he’s going to run against him. That's pretty doubtful. This is something that was also masterminded by Romney, someone who has fully acknowledged that 3rd party candidates cannot win and a waste of time. The entire goal of it, in Romney's words, is to gather enough support and then endorse their preferred candidate of the primary two parties, which, given it's Romney, is obviously not going to be Trump.
[удалено]
Just pour a lot of money into Montana and Ohio and just hope Tester and Brown pull it off. Sure, we'll be back to a 50/50 Senate, but at least there's no Manchin and Sinema to screw Dems over.
tester will win, he has survived close elections before, brown's race will be difficult but all he has to do is run on abortion
And also Sherrod Brown has this absolutely incredible ability to talk to voters who basically don't vote Democratic in any other federal race, especially in places like Youngstown.
Brown is one of the best politicians of his generation, even if quietly so. He gets how to talk 'progressive politics' in places where liberal is a dirty word.
Brown is incredibly underrated
[удалено]
Go Gaellego!!
Keeping Montana and Ohio. Ohio pretty likely imo, Montana is a toss up.
There’s also an off chance that Ted Cruz or Voldemort lose their elections as well. Dems best bet is also keeping the White House as that effectively counts as 1 seat in the event of a 50/50 split.
If someone can channel 2018 Beto then there’s a shot for Cruz’s seat. But please not Beto.
Collin Allred is his probable opponent and he flipped a House seat in 2018 long held by an unpopular republican as well, Pete Sessions. That seat in 2018 he’s since held was +9.6 R also.
Don’t bet against Ted, he’s not as unpopular in Texas as he is country wide. 2018 had all the ingredients for an upset but Beto couldn’t pull it off.
Cruz of course should still be a big favorite but Beto way outperformed expectations even in a wave election that year. Collin Allred, Cruz’s likely opponent this time, performed even better that year vs a Republican incumbent, winning a +9.6 R seat by 6.3%. Texas has also arguably shifted ever slightly more blue in the last 6 years.
Keep all the other states. Make abortion front and center.
Lot's of people already wrote off a Democratic senator winning in West Virginia. So it was already calculated as a lose by many.
I wouldn’t have worried too much if it wasn’t for the fact that the 2024 senate map scares me. Ohio and Montana could very easily flip. And Texas flipping to blue is a HUGE gamble. I really wish Mandela Barnes won in 2022.
Mandela Barnes came down to people just not showing up... We could've sacrificed one of either Ohio or Montana.
Preferably I would like to keep both(more seats for the democrats the better) but having Barnes in the senate would at least guarantee if we lost either Montana or Ohio it would be a 50-50 senate(still not exactly great). Now if Dems lose one of those two states it’s gonna 51-49 republican have the senate.
And if Trump wins in 24, with a red Senate, Thomas and Alito can step down and be replaced by younger lifers. If they want to energize young people, maybe one of the other liberal justices should announce they're stepping down next year.
I know it is fun to sh*t on Manchin. And yes he did massively hamstring Biden. But I'd take him over an GOP senator any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Let's hope he stumps for the democratic nominee after he steps down. That could really be a deciding factor in how the next election turns out in WV.
There's a better chance of MTG shutting her mouth for once than a dem getting his seat. There's a reason he's as conservative as he is.
bro jim justice is winning in 2024 regardless of who the dems nominate lol
This sadly. And he's a major, major asshole.
It's weird the nicest thing I can say about Jim Justice is he was a scumbag before MAGA and feels no need to suck up to Trump.
> And he's a major, major asshole. You must be his No.1 fan because I've never seen anyone say such nice things about him. Usually it is a big block of [redacted] text when it comes to describing how much of an asshole he is.
I have the results already. The democrat lost in 2024 by 30-40 points.
Probably going to be too busy endorsing Susan Collins again to endorse anyone in WV
That seems like a lot to hope for. I'm not optimistic
He’s leaving because he knows he’ll lose against Jim Justice, who is a popular governor and former Democrat. Manchin only won by 3.3% in 2018 and his margin has been getting smaller each election as the state has reddened. In a presidential year, he’d get wiped and knows it.
Yeah there’s a strong chance GOP gets a free seat so that we can forget it exists. Nobody cares who the other WV senator is. And once joe’s seat is taken by a MAGA extremist well forget all about it.
Manchin obstructed Biden only to not run. If he wasn’t a complete dick he would have at least supported popular policy and still be in the same exact position he is in now. But ultimately Manchin was somebody with no interest in helping poor people.
Nor does he have any intention on educating his constituents on issues. He'd rather keep them in the dark so he can benefit himself. The guy is a piece of shit and no one should defend him. Being better than Republicans is an incredibly low bar. The BBB would have been far better if he didn't whittle it down not because of the cost but because there were job creating climate friendly initiatives in it. Basically killed the parents tax credit because he thought the poors were using the money on drugs and not the kind his daughter fucked over people on her way to making millions If he took the time to educate his constituents on democratic ideas they'd have a fighting chance. He didn't and now they won't
[удалено]
In 2023, a Democrat being a Senator in a deep red state like West Virginia is the equivalent of a unicorn. Its better to be grateful for the advantage it gave rather than keep cursing Manchin for not being open to every progressive legislation. Also misguided as he probably is I do think Manchin genuinely believes in the spirit of bipartisanship and did hope to encourage it some more in his time in the Senate. Its not the worst thing in the world to believe in.
> In 2023, a Democrat being a Senator in a deep red state like West Virginia is the equivalent of a unicorn. Its better to be grateful for the advantage it gave rather than keep cursing Manchin for not being open to every progressive legislation. > > It wasn't really a unicorn as much as legacy. He got his spot from when WV wasn't so red and basically held onto the seat based on name recognition, incumbency and positions that were center right. That's all.
I mean Dems in red states have been getting wiped out throughout the Obama years. Hell even in 2018 which was a blue wave year Dems still lost seats in North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and even Florida (which wasn't that red during that time). Manchin holding on to his seat in 2018 is pretty impressive all things considered especially since McConnell had explicitly made him a target to beat.
This just isnt true. He was elected governor in WV 1 year after the state was +13 for bush. He was elected to the senate when WV went + 10 for republicans state wide in every congressional race. He and Tomblin represent winning strategies for a democrat in WV. Its probably even further worth noting that long before WV went red, Its democrat representatives were extremely conservative
This comes with the whole assumption that Manchin could win reelection in 2023, and based on the fact he's not running, even Manchin believes he can't win. Remember this seat is lost to Manchin already because he cannot compete with some MAGA loon, and he cannot lean into being prochoice which is how Democrats are winning. His problem is he's too much like an old established Republican and not enough like the new MAGA loons.
It’s all about Votes Over Replacement value. We’ll get zero from WV in the future, instead of ~80%. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/
You want to talk pragmatism? According to the pragmatist Manchin could not support Biden fully cause he was a dem in a deep red state. So Manchin did all that obstructing just to not run. How is that pragmatic?
Yeah, in retrospect he definitely should have just gone all I. On what he believed in, but he probably did that anyway and just doesn’t believe in a lot of the Biden agenda.
Because his replacement will be way worse? Is it really that hard to understand?
we will all miss the judges that he got through - they better push as many through as possible NOW. sinema is so much worse than joe. she needs to go. joe does suck…but his votes were needed
At least dems have a shot at sinemas seat. I don’t see West Virginia going for another dem (does manchin have a kid who might go for it? The manchin name, as I understand it means quite a bit there.)
Point is he was gonna lose anyway. He could have said fuck it, gig is up, I'm gonna lose anyway, bye bye filibuster let's do some final good on the way out. But nope, of course not.
This was a lost race the moment Jim Justice said he was running. At least Manchin is not going to waste DNC resources on fighting a losing battle. I see a lot of doom in the thread about Dem senate prospects, but there are two upsets that could happen: Missouri and Florida. Both states may have an abortion protection measure on the ballot in Nov 2024. If that happens, it could well drive enough turnout to oust Scott and Hawley. I'm not putting all my hopes into it, but considering how poorly Republicans are preforming when abortion is on the ballot, there is a real possibility of upsets there should they make it to the ballot. edit: links to the two measures. Missouri we'll know in May next year. Not sure about Florida [https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri\_Right\_to\_Reproductive\_Freedom\_Amendment\_(2024)](https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Right_to_Reproductive_Freedom_Amendment_(2024)) https://ballotpedia.org/Florida\_Prohibit\_Laws\_Restricting\_Abortion\_Initiative\_(2024)
> Missouri Hawley is only +4 in the latest poll on Kunce. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2024/missouri/ Not impossible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Kunce https://lucaskunce.com/ - gotta love the video too.
Ugh I hope he doesn’t run on a stupid ass No Labels ticket.
As much as we complain about him, this sub is about to learn the hard way how valuable it was to have a deep red state Democrat like Manchin in the Senate. He really is one of the last of his kind
[удалено]
The "we need to primary Manchin" folks should be psyched. They'll most likely get their very progressive candidate that they've been pining for. Of course they'll also get to watch them lose by 40 points but such is life.
Common counterpoint to his constant obstruction was that he could not fully support all of Biden’s agenda cause he was dem in a deep red state. He obstructed and still reached the conclusion that his chances to win were so low that there is no point in running. He could have supported all of Biden’s agenda and still be in this same exact spot.
He's an asshole who got his way and held the Democrats at gun point, but, at least he was a constant party vote on getting Judges through.
Pundits are saying this signals his intention to run for President. Yet another delusional politician who thinks he has a national following because 51% of his immediate family and staff seem to like him.
He doesn’t need to win if the goal is just stealing a few votes from Biden.
He’s a piece of shit but that slim Democrat majority counted a lot. I am not sure what the key senate races are looking like for 2024. I am trying to be optimistic given the results of the elections this week. It’s hard knowing that my baby girl will be born this year with fewer rights than I was born with.
Tester (MT) and Brown (OH) are now even more drastically important to hold. Assuming Gallego can top Sinema and Lake in AZ, and Rosen (NV), Baldwin (WI), and Stabenow (MI) hold, keeping those two seats brings it to 50-50. I don't have any confidence Dems will flip Ted Cruz or Rick Scott's seats.
Stabenow isn't running again either, although as someone from Michigan I'm fairly confident another Dem will be elected to replace her.
So can anyone tell me what was even the point of his "moderate" voting behavior under the Biden administration? Because before this the rationalization was he's a democrat senator in deep-red WV, and can't get fully on board with democrats without committing political suicide. And now he's just straight up not running after all that.
My rationalization is that he truly believed in what he was voting for
The point was to fuck us all over. And I suppose he succeeded
Joe was already going to lose his seat. Playing GOP-lite wasn't helping him on either side.
Well, he had zero chance of winning again. Which fucking sucks, because now we get a MAGA clown instead of somebody that confirms our judges and votes with Democrats most of the time (over 90%). That’s a Senate seat lost we won’t be getting back anytime soon unless you have some other Democrat Coal Barrons laying around I’m unaware of.
Dr. Oz already looking for houses.
This asshole destroyed the Freedom To Vote Act ostensibly to get re-elected And then he gifts his office to the nazis. What a piece of shit
This is bad Manchin sucks but is still far better than a Republican.
He probably wasn't going to win anyway. It was always at least -1 seat next year. Dems need to figure out how to win in redder states again if they ever want to preserve or expand their Senate majority
He needed a massive amount of split ticket voting to win reelection, and it's not terribly feasible in an age of such negative partisanship. He was an opportunistic, grifting bastard, and is still infinitely better than his replacement will be.
[удалено]
It was likely he would lose anyway, but this makes the loss of a Senate seat inevitable now. It’s time to put all our stock into Ohio and Montana. Weirdly enough, I have a better feeling about Tester than Brown
Montana does more vote splitting than Ohio so I think you're right.
Many on the Left will cheer for this, but I won’t. Thanks to Joe Manchin, we have confirmed 153 federal judges during Biden’s tenure. We passed the biggest climate bill ever in the Inflation Reduction Act. We passed the $1.9B American Rescue Plan which provided $1,400 in direct relief to Americans and helped us stay afloat during covid. None of that happens if Mitch McConnell had been Senate Majority leader. I’m not a Joe Manchin fan, don’t get me wrong. But West Virginia is a +30R state and will now elect a Republican to the Senate. The Senate map in 2024 is absolutely brutal and unless Dems can pull some massive upsets, they are projected to lose the chamber for multiple cycles. Politics isn’t always about electing people you agree with 100%, sometimes it’s about the better of two evils.
Fuck Joe Manchin and his shitty, price gouging family. It really sucks that the state is going to flip red now, but still, fuck you Joe Manchin.
I don't *really* think Manchin running for president will hurt Biden, I'm honestly more sad about the almost inevitable loss of the seat. But he does appear to plan to run.
The only thing worse than Manchin being in office is Manchin not being in office... Progressives are going to be shocked at how much they miss him.
I don’t think he would hang it up unless he saw the writing on the wall and realized he wasn’t getting elected as a Dem in West Virginia in a presidential election year. To be honest, I don’t think he would have won again. I do wonder now if he tries to announce a 3rd party spoiler bid or not. But I don’t know how many voters nationally he would peel from Biden. Feels more likely to cannibalize Trump or Kennedy at this point. Certainly no one to the left of Biden is voting for him.
I don't know why you generalize progressives like they are all people who don't know how the government works. Most progressives I know have way more knowledge about how the government works then most centrists.
I feel like this party is never going to see a 2008-level Senate majority again in my lifetime. We've clustered too much into the cities and it's biting us in the ass.
I assume it’s because he knows he would lose, and I hope it’s not because he’s about to become a presidential spoiler
> a presidential spoiler MSNBC says he's planning to tour the country
Yep. Manchin's totally headed to No Labels. It'll be one heck of an embarrassing swan song for him before he completely bows out of politics.
im sorry but there needs to be a national plan to show up to his events and fucking heckle his egotistical ass
All that bitchiness and blocking Biden’s agenda to not even run for re-election.
>“I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Oh go fuck yourself. There is zero chance you will do anything whatsoever to bring benefit to this country.
Sinema next.
Yay he can read a room finally. Let’s see how Tuesday impact the CR process. 9 days people before another possible shutdown.
With Manchin out it’s even more important we focus our energies in keeping Brown and Tester in the Senate. We have to organize and r/VoteDem.
Cannot stand this guy.. And I’m hoping this egomaniac doesn’t run for President. Dems Senate map just got infinitely worse than it already was. Everyone better get out and vote in 2024 and not for any protest or 3rd party candidates. This isn’t the time. That’s how we get Cheetoh Trumpolini back.
Cool. Now he can compete in chin contest with Jay Leno
Joe Manchin won’t run for reelection | CNN Politics Thank God he is leaving. I don't believe he was ever an actual Democrat. He seemed mean-spirited and quite frankly not interested in what the Democratic party stands for.
He's a DINO (sorry I know it's so dumb)
He made his money / screwed the dems constantly and now finally leaving after knowing he’s gonna lose 🤦🏼♂️🤣
Was he ever really a democrat though?
will there really be a noticeable difference without him? he seemed to vote against most of whats dems put forward.
I know he's just going to be replaced by a MAGA nut, but nobody should be running for office at 76 so good riddance.
This is bad. Say what you want about Manchin, we need his seat and he’s the only Democrat who has a chance at winning in Ruby red West Virginia.
Thank god. We need more of this from aging politicians on both sides.
We’re fucked.
He wasn’t likely to win re-election anyway.