Sen. Joe Manchin can be a difficult man to please. It’s tempting to think the conservative West Virginia Democrat, who’s been preoccupied for years on the inherent value of bipartisan dealmaking, would be delighted to see President Joe Biden and his team strike a bipartisan budget agreement with House Republican leaders, which passed both chambers with relative ease, thanks to the agreement’s bipartisan backing.
But on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Manchin complained anyway, telling host Margaret Brennan that it was “harmful” for Democratic leaders to balk at negotiations in March.
“It shows you that the extreme left was pushing so hard not to even negotiate, not to even talk about it, you know, ‘Just hold your ground, hold your ground, hold your ground.’ That’s not who we are in America. The process of democracy, you sit down and work.”
The West Virginian soon after suggested that Republicans hadn’t actually engaged in a hostage standoff — even after a prominent GOP lawmaker publicly conceded that his party really had sparked a hostage standoff.
Or put another way, when it comes to characterizing radical Republican tactics, Manchin is more forgiving than far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
As part of yesterday’s interview, the senator endorsed the final agreement — while praising the “wonderful job” House Republicans did — but once again added that he would’ve preferred to see the negotiations begin “three months ago.”
I’m mindful, of course, that Manchin is in a difficult position. The West Virginian — a member of the Senate Democratic leadership — is up for re-election next year in a red state, which helps explain why he’s spent quite a bit of time lately slamming his ostensible partisan allies.
But that doesn’t make his latest complaints any less bizarre.
First, President Joe Biden and his team balked at debt ceiling talks in large part because it’s dangerous for a White House to engage in talks with those threatening Americans with deliberate harm. Manchin would have people believe this is an “extreme left” position. It is not. It’s the same position the Obama White House took in its second term — and at the time, the West Virginia senator didn’t raise any objections.
Second, describing Biden’s line, Manchin said, “That’s not who we are in America. The process of democracy, you sit down and work.” This turns reality on its head: In the United States, should our elected leaders get what they want by threatening to impose a catastrophe on Americans? In our democracy, should one party abandon our Madisonian legislative system to pursue their goals through extortion? To hear Manchin tell it, Republican debt ceiling crises are in line with the American tradition and our system of government. He has this exactly backwards. Finally, there are key details that the senator is blithely ignoring. For months, Republicans demanded a ransom, but they didn’t bother to make any specific demands. To hear Manchin tell it, Biden should’ve agreed to start offering concessions anyway, effectively guessing what might’ve made Republicans happy, in the hopes that they’d consider releasing their hostage. In late April, House Republicans passed a right-wing ransom note, and bipartisan talks began soon after, but the West Virginian is nevertheless still complaining, insisting that Biden made a mistake by not offering preemptive gifts to GOP hostage-takers, even before the ransom note was ready. Manchin added on CBS that he’s open to a possible presidential campaign next year. Putting aside whether such a move is realistic, what kind of American leader sees value in making concessions to hostage-takers before even knowing their demands?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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