In a statement revealing his decision, #Manchin accused both the #Democratic & #Republican parties of prioritizing "partisan extremism" & "jeopardizing our democracy."
"Today, our national politics are broken & neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground," #JoeManchin said
"To stay true to myself & remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation & continue to fight for America's sensible majority."
"In the last Congress, two Democratic senators stood in the way of filibuster reform: Joe #Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten #Sinema of Arizona...[none of the excuses] holds water when you look at the history of the filibuster. Thanks to Sinema and Manchin, Democrats had to leave many wins on the table, including subsidized child care for struggling parents, codifying Roe v. Wade and much-needed protections for voting rights."
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
#Manchin, supposedly a Democrat from West Virginia, told reporters today that #Trump's #criminal trial "doesn't make sense."
When asked whether he believes Trump should be convicted in any case, Manchin responded that "there are 2 really solid cases: January 6 & Georgia."
"Everything else doesn't really make sense," he added as a reporter directly asked about the case in NY.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods says the quiet part out loud: The problem with renewable energy sources is that they “don't generate above-average returns for Exxon's shareholders.” — @pluralistichttps://pluralistic.net/2024/03/06/exxonknew/
The sun generates virtually limitless and free energy, with much of it available in the form of wind and tides. And we’re already well underway to harnessing that energy.
Former Exxon top DC lobbyist Keith McCoy “confessed to everything: funding fake grassroots groups and falsifying the science – he even names the senators who took his bribes. McCoy singled out Manchin for special praise, calling him "a kingmaker" and boasting about the "standing weekly calls" Exxon had with Manchin's office.”
I keep saying: Manchin was terrible and we’re going to miss him.
I keep saying it because it’s true. But what would we have to do to have another Democrat (for some value of “Democrat”, anyhow) win in WV.
There are two approaches, but only one of them is realistic.
The approach I’m QTing is to try to out-populist the Trumpers by running a socialist populist who (supposedly) appeals to the (white!) working class.
This is what Bernie Sanders has been hyping all along, and it’s fallen as flat as his presidential ambitions. It just won’t work.
Why? Because the (very white!) working class is not motivated by economic considerations, but rather by racism. And as racist as the socialist populists are (we’re looking at you, Tlaib), it’s not the right sort of racism and it’s not overt enough to appeal to white supremacists.
The only viable path is to run another Manchin; someone who’s moderate or even conservative and has a strong local base. But we don’t seem to have any such candidate on our back bench, so WV is going Republican.
More fundamentally, we need to focus on states that are blue underneath Republican voter suppression and enable the Democrats to vote. This means not throwing good money after bad on the truly red states. And it means throwing the socialist populists under the bus and backing it up a few times until they’re properly flattened.
"The man [Joe Manchin] knows how to time his sabotage. Two days after the Democrats have a big night across the country, he walks away, virtually handing the Republicans a Senate seat. The man could harsh Pollyanna's mellow."
The Dems called their massive green energy bill The Inflation Reduction Act to get a dopey West Virginia coal baron to sign on and now most voters have no clue that they passed a potentially transformative climate change law.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement a buzzkill for Senate Democrats’ 2024 hopes.
The Hill reports: "Manchin’s announcement means Democrats will have to win seven competitive races in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin — all Republican-leaning or swing states — to keep control of the Senate."
⚡️#BREAKING—Sen. Joe #Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced on Thursday that he will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2024, 👉🏼almost certainly handing Republicans a seat in next year’s elections in a deep red state
@TCatInReality@GottaLaff This is terrible news. Aside from losing a crucial Senate seat, looking very likely that #Manchin may indeed run for POTUS in 2024 under CON$ervative #NoLabels 😱
@flexghost The mechanism for removing public officials from office is commonly known as "impeachment" & "expulsion", both requiring a two-thirds majority.