Joe Manchin Doesn’t Care About Democracy. He Cares About Joe Manchin.
It’s time to stop pretending that the West Virginia senator will stand up for voting rights
I’m not convinced that Joe Manchin is actually concerned about the fate of American democracy. But I genuinely admire the level of faith exhibited by folks like Raphael Warnock when broaching the subject.
Speaking with Politico, the Georgia senator and senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta said that after talking with Manchin on Sunday, he was “hopeful” he would eventually win him over in supporting voting rights legislation to help thwart the state-by-state assault currently being led by GOP elected officials. “We’ve got to find a way to pass voting rights,” Warnock said of the Democrat senator. “I think he understands that. Joe Manchin understands that this is a defining moment.”
I’m sure Manchin does understand this, yet he continues to soak up as much media attention as he can for playing the role of senatorial spoiler. That self-serving quality — coupled with his politics (best described as “for the oligarchs” but with a folksy-enough twang) — have made me fairly certain that Warnock’s efforts, which I believe are genuine, will be in vain.
