Thinker...

 

As progressives hammer Sen. Joe Manchin for opposing Democrats’ signature ethics and election reform bill, the West Virginian is busy working behind the scenes.

After writing an op-ed against the bill earlier this month, Manchin circulated a memo among his colleagues that outlines his preferred changes to a proposal his party has billed as essential to prepare for the 2022 midterms. Manchin also organized a Zoom meeting this week with civil rights groups and a handful of Republican senators to find areas of agreement.

The West Virginia senator organized his meeting after a similar conversation with leaders of national civil rights organizations one week earlier. With no change to the filibuster on the horizon, Manchin and the groups know that 10 Republican senators will be needed to support legislation that would achieve two major Democratic goals: reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and approving changes to American elections that lie at the heart of the party's massive but stalled elections bill.

In an interview, Manchin said he’d done the best he could to put together a proposal he could support.

Unexpectedly, one Senator controls the whole US Senate. Just a thought.