Sen. Joe Manchin may be a Democrat, but he said Sunday that he has little communication with President Obama, and that the same would be true for Democrats elected to the Senate from red states.
The West Virginian explained that moderate Democratic candidates are independent from Obama, who is unpopular with voters and has proven to be a liability for Democrats in key races.
“Saying that the president calls them up and tells them how to vote, that doesn’t happen,” Manchin said of Democratic senators in an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
“I know that for a fact. I’m living proof of that. I’ve had very little contact with the White House,” Manchin added. As a first-term senator from the increasingly conservative state of West Virginia, Manchin has cultivated independence from the Obama administration on certain issues, especially those related to coal or the environment.
He said that outside ads in battleground states trying to convince voters that Democratic senators voted according to the White House’s wishes were misleading.
“Having this much money spent trying to believe that you’re somebody you’re not or someone controls your vote or controls how you think or what you say … I know these people and that’s not the case,” Manchin said, in reference to his fellow Senate Democrats.
Manchin acknowledged that Obama cannot do much to help Democrats running for the Senate in red and purple states this year.
Referencing re-election races for Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Mark Begich in Alaska, and Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Manchin said that he doesn’t “think the president can help in those states there. These people have voted against the president on issues. I’ve watched them and worked with them.”
Nevertheless, he explained that he hopes those senators are re-elected because he considers “moderates” necessary for progress.
“If we’re ever going to change Washington, you have to have moderates,” Manchin said, whether Democratic or Republican.
