The left hates Joe Manchin. His fellow Senate Dems are staying quiet.
Yet angst is quietly rising inside the Democratic caucus over his approach. “Of course I’m frustrated. Who isn’t frustrated?” one Democratic senator said.
By BURGESS EVERETT and MARIANNE LEVINE
06/07/2021 07:24 PM EDT
Joe Manchin is sparking outright fury from liberals — with some Black Democrats invoking Jim Crow laws and Mitch McConnell as they blast the West Virginian's resistance to a sweeping elections bill. Manchin’s fellow Senate Democrats are being far more conciliatory.
After all, the 50-vote Senate majority needs Manchin's vote to do just about anything. So not even its most progressive members seem to want to poke the bear.
Yet angst is quietly rising inside the Democratic caucus over Manchin’s approach. He opposes changing the rules for filibustering legislation, challenges the urgency of pursuing a party-line infrastructure spending bill and plans to vote against his party's high-profile elections bill. And amid Manchin's reluctance, it’s not clear at the moment how Democrats will break through on the priorities they campaigned on for years.
“Of course I’m frustrated. Who isn’t frustrated?” said one Senate Democrat who requested anonymity to speak freely. “Do you want to see the patches where I pulled my hair out?”
more
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/07/joe-manchin-voting-rights-bill-492072
