disguy_ovaheaManchin leaves Democratic Party, files as independent
Fifty bucks says he caucuses with the Republicans.
He's not running though? This is him changing his personal party choice for voting.
GhostalmediaHe’s not running, but his party will change in the senate, and he can elect to caucus with the GOP if he wanted. Which would put the Senate at 50 / 50.
He’s not running as a Democrat. The deadline for filing as an independent in WV is August 1, and your application can be challenged if you changed parties in the last two months. So this move was purely to preserve his ability to step into the race for Governor or Senate at the last minute, if he thought he could win.
Or if they’ll pay him to split the D vote to ensure an R win.
Manchin isn’t running for his seat again because he is going to lose to the same kind of asshole he is, but with the magic ( R ) after his name.
Democrats hate him, because every Biden policy that was blocked for the first two years of his term was Manchin’s fault.
Manchin running as an independent isn’t gonna split the Dem vote. In fact, I’ll say the opposite: he’d split the GOP vote. Republicans who won’t vote for the convict, but also won’t hold their nose to vote for Biden, would probably find Manchin acceptable.
Democrats hate him, because every Biden policy that was blocked for the first two years of his term was Manchin’s fault.
Some Democrats hate him.
He is continuing to caucus with the Dems. The senate will remain 51 / 49 in favor of the Dems.
It’s the way he gets to be a one man Senate.
I guess he could threaten to caucus with the RNC if he wanted to throw a fit. But, it’s also 5 months until the election and the senate is basically only campaigning right now. They’re not dealing with much legislation. Their schedule for the remainder of the year is kind of comical.
If this was supposed to be some sort of power play, the time for that was several months or years ago, not on his way out the door.