Manchin Will Vote Yes On S.1 Debate, Giving Dems Unanimity In Face Of GOP Blockade

There’s a whole lot of Kabuki going on.

There’s only one ending to this show that’s acceptable, and I’m not predicting it will happen.

But if it does, then all of this long, drawn out attention will have been worth it.

We get the legislation, and we’ll have had the bright spotlight shining on the GQP’s unified opposition to democracy and voting rights.

Both could provide strong Democratic wins and majorities in the mid-terms.

And given the broad support by Americans for voters’ rights, Manchin and Sinema could campaign on being the (we tried to reason with the GOP) saviors of Democracy.

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The headline I’d rather see:
35 Republicans Break With GOP To Pass Voting Rights Bill!

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Moscow Mitch and his lackeys like the filibuster since their own legislative agenda — tax cuts for the rich and appointing judges — isn’t subject to it.

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Yup. Been plenty of write-ups on that, that it’s quite convenient for the financial pieces, since you can just ram those through reconciliation, while blocking any socially-important stuff.

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Ahem. Whatever you are smoking or drinking, I hope you brought enough for everyone.

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I hope both of you are correct, but I’ll ask a serious question: Do you believe the strategy Manchin chose – if you are, in fact, correct – was the best one?

An alternative strategy would’ve been to announce rock-solid support for voting rights (instead of for the filibuster), putting the GOP (instead of Dems) in a position of perceived weakness and compromise.

I’m having trouble believing this whole kabuki dance is required to convince anyone the GOP won’t compromise on anything – especially given their senate leader’s near-daily public pronouncements of “We won’t compromise on anything!” – but maybe it’s just me…

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At least my supposition above was just a dream, not a wet one…

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That headline would be preceded by a caucus vote tossing Moscow Mitch as minority leader.

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I’m hoping it’s a way of making sure the public sees it. Americans tend to not pay attention to what Dems do unless there’s a lot of drawn out drama.

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Not to be pedantic, but the correct word is “jibes” (to be in accord; agreement) not “jives” (either a type of music or loose, meaningless chatter).

On second thought, given that without a change to the filibuster neither the For the People Act nor a Manchin-approved variant of it is likely to pass, maybe “meaningless chatter” is an appropriate definition after all.

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This process isn’t about convincing Sentor Pinky or Manchin, it’s about convincing their voters, and frankly the media, that there is no compromise to be had. That will require evidence. Maybe a months worth of filibuster votes.

How long did the filibuster for the 65 Voting Rights Act last? We can wait that long, cant we?

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Quit with your jive talk, man.

srry, i couldn’t help myself.

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We just need to get it done before any Dem Senator’s health fails.

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That’s what I’ve been saying. Kennedy is always on my mind.

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I’m on your page, but the choice of strategy was in large part up to Manchin and Sinema.

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I’ll take this. For Now.

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Baby steps I guess.:unamused:

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Agree times a billion

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Exactly. They are playing the game they feel they have to play. Getting the bill passed is all that matters.

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Sometimes we need to cherish our progress. This is progress.

Because we needed to do this before the next step.

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