It depends on what you mean by progressive. I’d prefer a Democratic Socialist (that would be the meet half way position for me) but I would settle for someone who doesn’t have a proven record of being hostile towards the rights of marginalised people. I consider that a low bar, but apparently it is still too high for Manchin.
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You’re forgetting citizens united.
But sure, let’s give up and stop trying to build a better society… fascists exists, so we should let them win. /s
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If he’s voting GOP, what’s the difference?
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Gee, Manchin sure is making sure my vote for Biden didn’t count.
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From Joe Manchin III, Senator for West Virginia - GovTrack.us
There are gradations of bad. Saying he vote’s with the gop so it can’t be any worse, makes no sense. There are plenty worse than this awful, cowardly elephant “democrat”
the one blue dot to his right is Sinema
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IDK having a team player playing for the other side is pretty bad, but I hear you.
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a better comparison is the original voting rights act from the 60s - that did a pretty darn great job ( though by no means perfect ) and what we have seen since is because it was overturned by the supreme court
totes. the bigger picture is of course things like the filibuster, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and disinformation
and so while he might lose his seat, at least the will of the people would be protected. sometimes that might well be conservative views, sometimes that might be more liberal views
that was my point: he’s making it clear he doesn’t care about voting and the long term stability of democracy, just voters ( and monied backers ) who he believes will support him.
that’s not a principled stance
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Right, because it had actual teeth that have been taken out by SCOTUS now. The For the People Act is there to standardize voting and to put the teeth back in…
Much of which this act addresses.
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You could read it…
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text
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There have been some circumstances in sports games where that made sense, but I really don’t see how they apply to politics.
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So if it got turfed by the 5-4 court that almost turfed the ACA then how do you think this will fare against the 6-3 court? The court is already signalling that it’s happy to let State Legislatures allocate EC votes however they wish, you think they’ll let this bill stand?
So you get huge voter backlash for killing the filibuster, you replace a moderate Democrat with a super Trumpy Republican, you get an additional wave of GOP voter suppression bills, you get a GOP base that’s even more distrustful of elections (and more determined to keep Democrats out of power), and you get a bill that will probably get thrown out by the SCOTUS.
I’m not seeing much of an upside here.
What about making some statements here, instead of Just Asking Questions?
What recent piece of Democrat-led legislation are you saying didn’t work out?
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Manchin is the problem here, as he has no interest in protecting voting rights that are being undermined in state legislatures. @markfrauenfelder is spot on.
If they’d only give the GOP everything they wanted, including overturning the election and re-installing Mayor McTreason, because BIPARTISANSHIP, instead of seeking to protect democracy, maybe the GOP would vote for some of their bills… Clearly, it’s the Democrats who are trying to end democratic practices as we know it… /s
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“Least of all, protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner.”
That is absurd on its face. Why should protecting a right that is “fundamental to our American democracy” only be done in a bipartisan manner?
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protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner.
He is a fuckwit, if he cannot see that the other partisan party is doing exactly that - amending the right to vote in a highly partisan way.
This is an almost perfect parallel to the classic ‘the only thing we must be intolerant of is intolerance’ poster. Someone needs to forcibly tell this guy the facts of political life these days are different.
ETA which is what basically what @Scientist said.
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well… the law specifically addresses the issues the supreme court laid out, so it’s most certainly worth seeing.
what’s the alternative to the gop’s efforts to suppress the vote? do nothing and hope they stop?
the democrats have a plan which help all voters, not just their supporters. manchin has decided not to support it – solely to save his own skin. he’s failing at his job, and is acting no different right now than the gop.
too true.
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Democracy is the only direction for freedom, justice, and equality. Standing against democracy is literally standing against the people.
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The goal isn’t to pass legislation that gets Republicans to respect democracy. How they feel about free and democratic elections is beyond anyone else’s control.
The goal is to pass legislation that enables a democratic system of government to exist at all.
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We absolutely must pass legislation to hold the line, and do all we can to root out authoritarians. But the main work of that needs to come from the GOP, who do not seem eager to do that in their party, because they believe it’s helping keep them in power.
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Christ, what an asshole.
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