CHARLESTON, West Virginia — Sen. Joe Manchin had just finished taking his umpteenth question about whether he would vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster and has answered for the umpteenth time that he would not do either.

I ask if he thought it would help if he had “I will not nuke the filibuster” tattooed across his forehead. He smiles, barely, then says, “If I thought they would not ask again …” and then his voice trails off. He has been saying the same thing for more than six months.