Axelrod: Manchin is ‘dead man walking’ in West Virginia

[ThatRobGuy]

Axelrod: Manchin is ‘dead man walking’ in West Virginia

Former Obama White House senior political adviser David Axelrod says Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is “dead man walking” in West Virginia, where the senior senator finds himself far behind in the poll…

thehill.com

I wonder how much of this is due to a little bit of "self-sabotage" on the part of Democrats.

There was a lot of talk over the past several years about how "Manchin's not a real democrat", "Not progressive enough", etc... I wonder how much of his decline in popularity (in a very red state) is due to the fact that republicans still prefer a republican over him (though they find him to occasionally be a useful tool), and the few progressive democrats that are in West Virginia see him as "the enemy" now and soured on him after the branding he's gotten from other Democrats in the House and Senate.


Why I say it was self-sabotage?

It's because all of the hypothetical match-ups they cover in this article involve him losing to people who are more conservative than he is (meaning, instead of Democrats having someone in the senate who agrees with them on 30% of the issues - which should be considered a bonus for a W. Va senate seat - they'll end up with that seat getting filled with someone who fights them tooth & nail on everything)

To put that in perspective, instead of having a W. Va Senate seat where they'll at least have a friendly vote on these matters:
Voted YES on COVID relief package.
Authored 2 pro-union bills
Limit student loan repayment to 15% of income.
Increase teacher pay
Accepts gay marriage as settled law
"Citizens United decision has destroyed this country." (Oct 2018)
Give DREAMers a path to citizenship. (Oct 2018)
Favors raising the minimum wage

On the healthcare front:

• Unacceptable to go back to pre-ObamaCare days. (Oct 2018)
• ObamaCare makes healthcare more affordable for everyone. (Oct 2012)
• Prohibit denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

They'll likely end up with someone who goes the other direction on all of these things...


I had made this critique a year ago in the form of a snarky question: "What, do you think that if Manchin weren't there, you'd be able to get a democrat with the positions of AOC elected in West Virginia in a Senate race???"