Well, you had to know we’d eventually get around to a regular feature — Manchin Watch! There has always been plenty of speculation that Joe Manchin would eventually cross the aisle to align with the Republicans, although Manchin has consistently maintained that he’s proud to be a Democrat. He managed to win re-election in 2018 despite the state’s governor, Jim Justice, very ostentatiously switching to the GOP in 2017. However, Manchin only barely held off Patrick Morrisey (no relation), 49.6/46.3 in that race.
Just ten months ago, Manchin voted to remove Donald Trump from office in his impeachment trial, so flipping with Trump in office was never going to be in the cards. Now that voters have apparently denied Trump a second term, however, perhaps all bets are off. And for the next two months, Manchin will never be in a better position to cut a deal with Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans for a chair in the next session of Congress.
Consider these harbingers of doom for Manchin:
He will have to run for re-election in 2024 — a presidential cycle that will have heavy Republican turnout in West Virginia. He only beat Morrisey by three points (and only with a plurality) in a Democratic wave election in 2018.Shelly Moore Capito just won her Senate re-election contest 70/27 in West Virginia … and she won every single county. This article was sourced from Hot Air
