I'm going to venture that the only reason he hasn't is that he would prefer to get it done with legislation, but if he can't by midterms is actually 100% think he'll resort to execute actions to do so
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For The People Voting Rights Act Dies In Senate As Joe Manchin Declares His Support For Republican Voter Suppression Efforts
- Thread starter DrForester
- Start date
This makes no sense. Joe Manchin isn't threatened by voting access or reform at all. He's the senator from West Virginia for goodness sakes. How would making voting easier threaten *him*?
Easy. Right now he enjoys his power because the Senate is so close. Think about it, if more people voted and say, there were two of three more Dem senators, no one would give a fuck what he or Sinema said. They'd just be loud whiners but it'd not matter. People like Manchin like it when things are this close, because it gives him far more power than before. ATM Joe Manchin basically controls what legislation passes or doesn't. You had even one more Dem senator, he wouldn't. and if voting is easier, odds are there'd be more than one or two new dems, and thus his power is diluted vastly.
Edit: I also believe America is more liberal than our Senate and house show. Lots of ignorance and apathy, but if people had a much easier way to vote, we'd see that reflected in the government. Why do you think Republicans do everything in their power to restrict voting rights?
No it's isn't. It clueless nonsense.
Biden and Schumer going to the bright red stage of West Virginia to attack Manchin is going to do nothing at all.
Whenever people tell me that it's one senator can stop everything in the senate I remember how they snuck in the anti streaming bullshit into a must pass covid relief bill because there was a lot of internal opposition for that.
But I think that level of dedication is reserved to Platinum Club Level donors and above.
"We tried nothing, and that didn't work. I guess that's it for democracy."
How do we know they're not trying anything? Because it seems more people here assume they're doing nothing because they're not doing the very specific things you think will make a difference. I'm not going to pretend to know what goes on behind the scenes, but I can't imagine they'd want the legislation to fail when the outcome negatively affects their political careers
I hate to fall into fatalism and hopelessness, but I can't deny how tempting it currently is. I'm not going to completely disengage politically, but there's no more "vote blue no matter who" cheer-leading from me. Nor will there be me mindlessly throwing money at whatever slightly blue tinged group that pops up. I'm gonna be hell of a lot more selective on who I vote for and what I give money to. I'm also going to focus more on local elections that impact your daily life far more than national elections. The rest of my efforts will be focused on doing right by me and my family.
Their political careers won't mean much when Republicans have permanent control of the government.
But that's my exact point. Why would you think they're not fighting this when their political careers and that of the party are on the line?? There are no upsides to not trying
Most of our politicians are on super safe seats and it's a cushy job where you can get super rich even when you are the opposition party.
This is why they don't give a shit, holding a senator accountable is a way bigger risk for their job security than permeant republican congressional majority.
And politicians always care about keeping their seat more than anything.
This is also why so many of them hate the left more than republicans. When you are in a safe blue seat you are way more likely to lose their seat to a primary challenger from the left than to a Republican.
Because they haven't really shown that they take this threat seriously.
i mean if they dont pass voting rights legislation and biden doesn't do it via executive action then yeah, it's a failed presidency
not doing so means you leave the country just as fucked as it was in the first place
i firmly believe that this is the thing that matters most and to not have action on it means that you have already given up
not doing so means you leave the country just as fucked as it was in the first place
i firmly believe that this is the thing that matters most and to not have action on it means that you have already given up
I feel the same. As a person with anxiety, just being aware of America's political landscape is enough to absolutely terrify me and I'm tired of it. I'm going to go the stoic route and stop obsessing about things I have no control over and just try to live my life the best I can.
they should get Swearengin to try again
I bet that'll really scare him!
Late stage capitalism baby. Biggest symptom of it is absurdity everywhere. We are at that stage now. Fascism tiktok live.
The country is being taken over by fascists and they're the political opposition. They should be worried about a lot more than their seats.
This is incredibly dumb in my opinion. The response to this situation which is just "well if I was in charge I would simply get everyone to do exactly what I would like them to do", feels like a incredibly reductive way of looking at these issues. It's especially silly given that it simply refuses to engage in the fact that 1. you can't really bully someone that you hold no real power over due to the type of elections Manchin is winning, 2. Literally in the last 50-50 senate republicans tried exactly this and the senator in question switched parties giving power in the senate to the democrats, things can get worse. At the end of the day, due to the way the American political system is set up, for democrats to be in a position to pass major legislation they pretty much have to have historically good election victories 2-3 Election cycles in a row. This insane requirement makes all the conversations about Democrats weird as hell.
West Virginia is one of the reddest states in the country. It's either him or the GOP over there.
I agree and I'm terribly worried.
Republicans already made it so that it's pretty much impossible for Democrats to win close elections, this happened in my lifetime, Democrats used to be able to win elections when they get 50.1% of the vote but that's no longer the case.
I saw it happening and I saw Democrats promising that they gonna take it super seriously (isn't Eric Holder was gonna dedicate his life for that?) and yet this just keep getting worse and I'm not even sure what's their plan moving forward.
Again, this was always assuming that Republicans decide a Manchin that pisses off his own party and votes with them some of the time, is better than just whoever their GOP rep is that will literally vote against Democrats all of the time. I just feel like this has always been a nonsense take and something Manchin claims to try and keep him from ever receiving any amount of pressure. Manchin can't win WV if he pisses off the few remaining Democrats there as well, so if he has any intentions of trying to hold on to the seat, he can still be hurt in that regard.
If he flips, he could also just as easily go the way of Arlen Specter and flip to a Republican only to also just end up losing in the primary to a more a Trump favorable Republican. The reality is that as long as Manchin actually cares about his seat, he can still be pressured in some ways. Now if he knows he's finished and he's retiring after 2024, then he's just a rich old asshole who doesn't give a shit and nothing actually matters to him.
It sucks because black voters busted their asses to vote and give the Dems an actual majority in Congress
Even Fox News is calling Manchin out on his stupidity and naiveté:
www.newsweek.com
Chris Wallace Confronts Joe Manchin Over 'Being Naive' About Bipartisanship
"Haven't you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?" the Fox News host asked Manchin.
www.newsweek.com
I suppose I already knew that Dems didn't about black voters, but now more than ever my political posts on Era are extremely pissed off goddammit the Dems need to do something to protect black people's right to vote. It's the bare fucking minimum that I'm asking for here.
Even Fox News is calling Manchin out on his stupidity and naiveté:
Chris Wallace Confronts Joe Manchin Over 'Being Naive' About Bipartisanship
"Haven't you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?" the Fox News host asked Manchin.
Yep, Manchin and Sinema are both dumb.
They would be smarter to use the maverick/wildcard angle on the filibuster to actually create leverage to work with republicans.
Right now they just sound like republicans.
Attacking Machin is not a solution cause they still need him for all the judicial nominations, especially the Supreme Court, if Breyer decides to finally retire.
Maybe bribe him with pork for his state that will make him look good and get him re-elected. Or offer him a nice job for after the Senate.
Either that or find something to blackmail him with.
Maybe bribe him with pork for his state that will make him look good and get him re-elected. Or offer him a nice job for after the Senate.
Either that or find something to blackmail him with.
Anyone still defending Manchin, fuck him
He's no better than the Republicans who obstruct everything Obama has done and now with Biden and then worry about partisanship.
He's no better than the Republicans who obstruct everything Obama has done and now with Biden and then worry about partisanship.
It is fascinating that you could spend your life writing about politics and still come to this as your solution.
Somebody just needs to talk to him...
Good lord, people never learn do they?
I think you start locally.
Like I don't have a magic answer, if I knew how to unfuck America I would share it with the class I promise, but I honestly think that if the extent of political action Americans are willing to do is donate money to politicians and vote for them we will not see the change this country need.
Join an org.
For the upmteenth time, a Dem majority of 53-54 seats would mean Joe Manchin doesn't matter and this wouldn't be an issue.
So if we want legislation to pass the play is to not elect a bare majority where literally every Dem senator, even Joe Manchin, has to agree for something to get done.
Now, will our systems hold as we try to do that? Or will people gladly vote for authoritarians? Who's to say. That's what fucking gets me. Manchin can eat shit.
Dems are never getting 53-54 senators again. It's impossible with rural states turning redder and having oversized influence. There's a guy is chance Dems lose control of the Senate next year and don't get control for another 20-30 years if ever.
It's possible next year if Dems hold AZ (likely), GA (pretty likely), NH (depends) and flip PA (somewhat likely), NC (toss-up), and maybe WI (lean R).
Holding the house will be the bigger uphill climb.
Let me reiterate that none of this excuses Joe Manchin being a piece of fucking trash.
When the alternative is a Republican Party that has turned into a trump party and hell bent on hurting people…there is unfortunately no other option…have to keep voting til the manchins of the world sunset away…
I sincerely do not understand the rationale of blaming "us" for not voting in more Democrats when its Democrats fault for not appealing more broadly?
Stop blaming common people for the fuckery that is our "democracy." I vote blue in every election I can but I'm not gonna blame apathy towards Dems on normal people.
No.
Biden will never embarrass or name-shame his republican "friends/colleagues"... let alone fuckin' right wing Dems like Manchin
I'm not seeing where in the quoted post I blamed anyone, but I apologize that it came across that way. I was trying to plainly say that if we want more progress, we need more Dems in Congress. If we want to place blame or scorn (I go back and forth) it should rest on the shoulders of people performing, enabling, voting for, or passively allowing authoritarianism, in roughly that order, IMO.
I agree that it is largely the obligation of the party to motivate voters to get out and vote. But I also believe that if you're plugged in enough to be discussing this issue then voting against authoritarians is (or should be) extremely motivating. That's just my view and my views don't have to be yours.
This does not mean that "better things aren't possible" or that we can't criticize Dems or any of the other glib tired responses that people throw out there. I strive, every day, to do the best I reasonably can with the circumstances I'm given to incrementally ease suffering and/or improve my world. On election days that includes adding one vote to the tally of non-authoritarians. I hope enough people do the same so that I can never think about Joe fucking Manchin ever again.