Embattled West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is preparing to exploit the vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for political gain.
Facing a tough re-election bid in a state where pro-life voters are upset he has betrayed his claim to be pro-life by supporting the Planned Parenthood abortion business and where voters strongly support Kavanaugh’s nomination, Manchin apparently doesn’t want to be responsible for confirming Kavanaugh but he’s okay with voting for Kavanaugh if his vote won’t decide the outcome.
In a news article today, Politico writes that “Manchin doesn’t want to be the 50th vote for Kavanaugh,” revealing the Kavanaugh confirmation vote to be nothing more than a craven political calculation for Joe Manchin.
With the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh down to a literal handful of senators, Democrat Joe Manchin is playing coy.
Manchin, for his part, sounds like he’s leaning “Yes,” and it certainly is gettable for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the GOP leadership. It’s clear Manchin doesn’t want to be the 50th vote for Kavanaugh, but it seems like he’d be OK with being the 51st or 52nd, barring any new developments.
Other red state Democrats say it won’t matter to them if Manchin votes for Kavanaugh. And they point out that Manchin will do whatever he needs to do, regardless of what fellow Democrats — and the increasingly progressive party base — think of him.
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Manchin has kept his “powder dry” for months, giving Schumer and Senate Democrats room to orchestrate their resist and obstruct circus of President Trump’s nominee. But now with a confirmation vote just days away, Manchin is caving to pressure from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and a majority of West Virginia voters.
“Joe Manchin is waiting until the outcome is decided before he reveals his vote,” Morrisey said. “It’s gutless. Joe is capable of leading, and he’s simply giving Chuck Schumer and the radical liberals more time to obstruct and go after Kavanaugh.”
“The Kavanaugh confirmation process revealed Manchin to be nothing more than a dishonest Washington liberal who gave the resist and obstruct circus room to attempt to destroy President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee,” said Morrisey for Senate spokesperson Nathan Brand in an email to LifeNews. “West Virginians see Joe Manchin for the gutless, calculating politician he is and will see his vote as a craven political calculation in an effort to save his re-election.”
