Leftist members of Congress want you to believe only two Democrats are responsible for blocking President Joe Biden’s agenda: Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
In reality, the number of congressional Democrats skeptical of Biden’s proposals is probably much higher than that. After all, not everyone has the benefit of representing a deep blue district and amassing an enormous online presence, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat representative from New York. Some lawmakers actually need to care about what their constituents think.
However, most Democrats have been happy to let Manchin and Sinema take the fall. Not one congressional Democrat came out in Manchin’s defense when leftists smeared him as a racist for opposing H.R. 1 this week — not even Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, who also broke with his party and voted against the bill when it was in the House.
Interestingly, Thompson’s reasoning for voting against H.R. 1 was similar to Manchin’s: His constituents didn’t like it. Thompson, like Manchin, represents a very purple area. He can’t afford to dismiss the concerns of Republicans and swing voters. And according to Manchin, he shouldn’t want to.
“Congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward,” Manchin wrote in a recent op-ed explaining his decision, “or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.”
Manchin is doing the Democratic Party a favor. Democrats hold the Senate by just one vote: Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaker. Forcing the vulnerable Democratic senators who are up for reelection in 2022, such as Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, to take a side on a controversial policy isn’t going to help them expand that majority. Manchin isn’t just trying to hold on to his own seat; he’s trying to keep the entire party afloat.
And what does he get for it? Nasty comments like this:
Manchin’s op-ed might as well be titled, “Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow.” https://t.co/pS1xEvkwEz
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) June 6, 2021
What leftists don’t seem to understand is that their attacks help both Manchin and Sinema. Their constituents, by and large, support their perceived willingness to work with Republicans. The Left’s opposition to this bipartisanship makes people more reluctant to hand over their votes, making them more influential.
Maybe Manchin and Sinema are just playing politics, as leftists have alleged. Or, maybe they understand a party that wants to remain in power should have realistic goals that people on both sides of the aisle can get behind.
