Manchin Would Back GOP Sen. Murkowski’s Reelection ‘In A Heartbeat’ | Talking Points Memo

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) is throwing support behind the reelection bid of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) whose seat former President Donald Trump has threatened with a challenger he endorsed.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1371094
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Birds of a feather, yada yada yada.

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Gee, I wonder how Murkowski’s Democratic challenger feels about this.

Way to pull for the team, Joe.

And we need this cretin . . . why?

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Ask not what Joe Manchin can do for his country.

Ask what he can do for Republicans.

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We need this DINO because the extra 20M votes for democratic senators are nullified by the state lines. The Wyoming votes for senate are worth 68 times the value of a vote in California. We should stop pretending we are a democracy when land and location gets such an enormous weight in our system. And it’s catch-22 - you need the small-state votes to make a major change, and they’ll refuse based only on their own self-interest.

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“I don’t think we should be campaigning against any colleagues, Democrat or Republican,”

Probably shouldn’t campaign for the other side though, Joe. Regardless, we’re making progress, just a few short years ago there were far more Joes and Krystens, not to mention the majority of commenters here who would defend them. Its progress, hopefully its not too late.

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He’s tasted his power and notoriety and is now drunk.

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If there is one.

Anyway, Alaska now has a single “non-partisan” primary.

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Ya see, its more about keeping the band together. Joe would rather keep his like minded pals around then move a Democratic agenda forward or, god forbid, increase the power of the Democratic party or President. More power to the party, less power for Joe, can’t have that, can we?

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“I don’t think we should be campaigning against any colleagues, Democrat or Republican,” he said.

What an incredibly dumbass comment. Do you support Josh Hawley, Joe? Ted Cruz? Do you think it best not to speak ill of racist, nazi-loving, anti-democratic, authoritarian, violence endorsing ‘colleagues’ because they are ‘colleagues’?

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Well, that will certainly guarantee that the GOP will come to their senses and become more moderate.

OT: Just noticed the new commenting policy. So, after nearly 2 decades of commenting, I have less than a month left. Oh well. Enjoy my pearls of wisdom while you can.

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Just to play Devil’s Advocate here–this might not be a terrible thing for Manchin to do. Murkowski is the kind of Republican that is exponentially better than a Trumpian Joe Miller type that will unseat her in a primary. Winning two write-ins might be too big a lift even for her, so Manchin helps Murkowski keep a likely R senate seat rather than backing a Democrat whose chances of winning the seat are less than optimal, then maybe this is a good strategy. It projects that bipartisan image that looks good to the voters, even if it is calculated.

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Not news … don’t care.

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Damn, its one of the few reasons I come here, the commenting policy, no offense to your pearls of wisdom.

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Too often they vote not in their own self-interest but instead because of tribalism and their bottomless desire to ‘own the libtards’. The senate is a hinderance to democracy and to progress in promoting policy to make life better for all americans.

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I’m just not prepared to pay to comment.

I understand he has an outsized importance under the circumstances. It matters what he thinks. But it doesn’t interest me.

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Does Manchin think the Senate should be a hereditary aristocracy or just a life long peerage?
Just wondering: can’t make sense out of this any other way.

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What changes do you mean?

Ooh, the coveted Manchin endorsement.

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