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In reply to the discussion: A few good reasons to vote for Manchin in November: [View all]scipan
(2,341 posts)46. Red State Democrats Can Do Better Than Joe Manchin
But Manchins vote should call old party strategies into question. If the Democratic Party cant count on its own senators for votes as morally pivotal as the Kavanaugh confirmation, its big tent might just be too big. Its tolerance for conservative members might not be as pragmatic as it appears, either. Since Trump took office in 2016, a number of Democrats to Manchins left have performed surprisingly well so-called red states, winning some unexpected primary elections and polling well against Republican candidates. The Democratic candidate for Florida governor, Andrew Gillum, has been campaigning on Medicare for All and still leads Republican Ron DeSantis by four points in a recent Florida Southern College poll. In Georgias gubernatorial race, progressive Stacey Abrams has locked Republican Brian Kemp in a dead heat. In other races, recent polling suggested that progressive congressional candidates Jess King and Randy Bryce, running in Pennsylvanias 11th congressional district and Wisconsins first congressional district respectively, have closed gaps with their Republican opponents to single digits. And in one of the years most surprising contests, Democrat Beto ORourke has trapped Ted Cruz in a race for his political life.
Even in West Virginia, support for Trump doesnt necessarily guarantee support for down-ballot Republican candidates, or for conservative politics as a category. Trump won 68 percent of the vote in 2016. But less than half of the states registered voters actually voted for Trump. The president won 489,671 of the states registered voters, out of a 2016 total of 1,274,887. In the states conservative third congressional district, Democrat Richard Ojeda has managed to turn his race against Republican Carol Miller into a true toss-up. Thats partly due to Ojedas particular idiosyncrasies: Like many of his would-be constituents, he voted for Trump, though its a decision he says he now regrets. As a state legislator, his unyielding support for the teachers strike that gripped the state in February and March earned him an energized following that very well could put him in office. Politically, Ojeda now has more in common with Bernie Sanders than he does with Joe Manchin and that tilt to the left has hardly harmed his prospects.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/10/red-state-democrats-can-do-better-than-joe-manchin.html
I don't disagree with OP but the idea that we are stuck with Repub lite senators like him is short-sighted and wrong, I think. Hope he draws some really good primary opponents next time (IF he is still a dem).
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We have to realize there are three types of Democrats and only one type of Republican
only my opinion
Oct 2018
#29
You realize that he didn't switch Parties when he could have in 2015...or 2017?
brooklynite
Oct 2018
#12
Yeah, vote for someone who completely betrayed the Democratic Party and all women.
PoindexterOglethorpe
Oct 2018
#14
How exactly to you propose getting a "real Democrat" in his place when the election is in one month
OhioBlue
Oct 2018
#15
If you primary him with someone more liberal, they will lose. WV isn't going to elect anyone to the
OhioBlue
Oct 2018
#31
yeah, if it means Chuck Schumer would be majority leader it makes ALL THE FUCKING DIFFERENCE because
JI7
Oct 2018
#30
Yes, then be ready to primary him in six years. That could give an opponent plenty....
JoeOtterbein
Oct 2018
#22
the problem with Dems pretending to be repugs is that they don't bring in progressive votes
elmac
Oct 2018
#26