It’s no secret that Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia has little in common with his party, these days. The man hails from a coal-loving, Trump-supporting state. He is holding onto his job by the skin of his teeth, trying to keep the Democrats happy while not embracing ideas the folks back home will hate.
He is truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Unlike most Democrats, he is refusing to jump off a socialist cliff that will doom America for decades. He has been a major roadblock in Biden’s radical agenda to not only expand welfare and spending, but to erode and destroy our Supreme Court and elections as we know them.
With each passing day, the Democrat establishment is getting more and more impatient with Manchin. Reports suggest he even threatened to leave the party and come an Independent. But one senator has an even better idea: join the GOP.
[Sen. Mike] Lee said there is “no reason” Manchin should remain with the party of inflation or “lawlessness.”…
“I encourage him to do so. There is no reason why he belongs with the party of inflation, why he belongs with the party of lawlessness, why he ought to remain with the party that is harassing him, intimidating him, belittling him at every turn just so they can fundamentally remake the American economy and American society. No, look, Joe Manchin absolutely should leave the Democratic Party, and I look forward to embracing him when he joins our caucus.”
“…What they see is if they belittle him and intimidate him enough that somehow he will relent. That is, of course, not going to happen. Joe Manchin has got backbone, and he’s got principles, and he’s also got constituents.” [Source: Breitbart]
Mike Lee called on Manchin to ditch the Democrats and join a party that will actually respect him. The Republican hammered Democrats for their agenda to “remake” the economy and our society. And he claimed Democrats were trying to bully and “intimidate” Manchin into going along with their plans.
What would it mean for Manchin to leave the Democrats and join Republicans? That’s hard to predict. Manchin does hail from a Republican state, so it wouldn’t hurt him politically. It would also automatically give Republicans a majority in the Senate, triggering a host of changes in the upper chamber of Congress.
With a majority once again, Republicans would have voting power to block Biden’s agenda indefinitely. They might also reshape powerful committees, launch needed investigations, and support force the House to cooperate on compromises.
But would Manchin be willing to switch sides and be forced to accept a political platform he might not like? It’s one thing to oppose the far-left agenda of Biden and Democrats. It’s another to embrace everything conservatives stand for.
Is Manchin willing to do that? We can’t say for sure. But there might come a time when he doesn’t have much of a choice. Because it’s clear the Democrats don’t like him. And the folks back home? They might prefer a Republican senator soon.
Author: James Anderson
