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By Jeremiah
Joe Manchin is running against people like me. I am a West Virginia Democrat. I am a libertarian on social issues, range moderate to conservative on fiscal issues, and strongly believe there is no better fight than one defending the working person. I am just an average, hard working West Virginian. I am not unique. I am not special. I am one of you. Hell, I welcome the idea that everything I am about to write could be wrong, but I think if you, the reader, weigh the logic, you will find yourself reluctantly agreeing with me.
Politics can be gut wrenching. It is rare that there is a campaign where people have a hard time deciding which candidate is better. The old political cliché that folks vote for the lesser of two evils is often true. The crook or the criminal. The scourge or the scoundrel. We often calculate how we should vote based on which candidate will do the most harm and then vote for the other rascal. I had every intention of making that calculation and voting against John Raese by voting for Joe Manchin. Let me be frank. Raese is awful. This silver spoon Florida goon supports the "Let them eat cake" platform for hard working West Virginians. Raese is a villain. He sickens me. After the primary on August 29th, I wrote:
"Looks like John "rich man" Raese bought his way into the special election. I guess growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth does have its perks. Thankfully I get a chance to vote against the Floridian. Raese will make this election with Manchin a referendum on Obama and I say bring it on. Once you get passed the empty talk radio talking points and get to substance then you realize that Obama has did a hell of a job given all the problems he was left by the GOP. There is a lot more the Dems need to accomplish and we truly cannot afford to reverse course like the radical right wing wants us to do."
How I wish this were just about John Raese and his policies. Manchin has taken that away from us by trying to be John Raese. It did not have to be this way.
The Election Strategy from Hell
Manchin was up by double digits in the polls. The Tea Party storm could have been managed. Most progressives and moderates, including myself, would have regretfully looked the other way on environmental issues and social issues to keep Raese out of office. Then Raese started using his fortune to link Manchin to Obama. Everyone knew it was coming but the Manchin campaign was overwhelmed and slow to respond. You have to give the GOP credit- they have the discipline to push a bumper sticker campaign completely devoid of facts and not even blink. If we could all be such liars then politics would be easy- future be damned.
Who knows why it took so long for the Manchin campaign to get the gears moving because we all know MoJo had been planning this moment for years. Once they did, it was mistake after mistake. The inherent flaw in the campaign was the lack of foresight over the past two years. Manchin was so popular and his head so big that he refused to use any of his political capital defending President Obama in the Mountain State. In West Virginia the Governor has a bully pulpit like most other state governors would only dream of having. Manchin wasted his. I am not saying Manchin should have been out their touting Cap and Trade or calling for an end to mountaintop removal in defense of the Obama Administration- we all know Manchin is a coal-crat above all else. However, Manchin could have defended the roads, bridges and other projects being built with needed stimulus money. He could have touted the influx of Medicaid funding that kept the state budget in the black. He could have defended tooth and nail the provisions of health reform that everyone supports. Hell, Manchin could have stood up for Obama on a whole host of populist issues that would have appealed to any West Virginia Democrat or independent moderate. No, the same self serving politician that backed the Democrats for Underwood campaign did nothing. The irony is that by allowing Obama to become so toxic, Manchin may have sealed his own fate. It would be sweet if it weren't so damn sour.
That fundamental failure aside, Manchin still could have pulled this race off in an easy fashion. Unfortunately, instead of jabbing attack after attack at the gaffe prone and very easy to hate John Raese, Manchin has spent more time distancing himself from Obama and undercutting the Democratic Party's core economic values. In this anti incumbent climate of Tea Party fervor, Manchin's tactic has not carved into those backing Raese. This counterproductive, and in my opinion cowardly, strategy has deflated progressive to moderate Democrats even more than they had already been.
Manchin has not only run away from Obama, but he has run against Obama. Manchin sued the Administration in defense of mountaintop removal. He has an ad where he literally shoots the cap and trade legislation, which looks more like a SNL parody than anything else. He has said in various interviews, including one with the Wheeling Intelligencer that he would vote to repeal "Obamacare" if not everyone could agree on it. To top it all off, Manchin has defended extending the disastrous Bush tax break for the rich- an issue that should have been a populist windfall for Democrats. We are not leaving Manchin, Manchin is leaving us.
Ultra Conservative Joe
It has gotten so bad that Manchin is often front page material on Politico and other political news sites for his anti Obama stances. The country's best pollster, Nate Silver, has written a hell of an article questioning how good Manchin actually is for the Democratic Party. Silver questions whether national Democrats should spend money for someone that will likely continue to cause them grief, especially since he will have to run again in 2012 and be in full campaign mode for two years. Mr. Silver, they should not. Manchin is in it for Manchin and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually switched parties in the next decade. Check out Silver's chart on Senate candidates and where they rank along the ideology scale. Manchin aligns more closely with his opponent than any other competitive race measured and is far right of center, even further than a few campaigning Republican Senators. This is why I say Manchin is running against me.
I am not going to vote for Joe Manchin unless he makes an obvious effort to come back from the right wing fringe and defend core Democratic principles. Our vote is our only real leverage against self serving politicians and unless we take a stand here then I fear the template will be set in the West Virginia Democratic Party for years to come. Undercut the weak kneed base and go for the propagandized right wing vote- there are no repercussions.
Agree to Disagree
I have had some very heated discussions with Democratic friends and allies over this. If someone ultimately supports Manchin to keep Raese at bay then I understand. However, it does make me question the viability of progressive success in West Virginia if we are not willing to take a stand at some point. Frankly, I do not think there is anything that Manchin could do that would cause many die hard Democrats to take a stand against him, even if he is destroying the foundation on which their values stand. While I can understand the rationale, I cannot understand the unwavering dedication to it. There are a number of factors that drive folks to vote, keeping someone out of office being one, but should we overlook every other component in the equation? At what point do we quit standing for what we believe in and actually become the agents not of change but of the status quo? In late August I wrote,
"I will likely vote for Manchin in the special election as long as he does not go off the deep end distancing himself from Obama. I disagree with Manchin on social issues, the environment, and am ashamed of his perpetual bow to the coal bosses. I know I will never agree with Manchin's radical support of Corporate Coal but there are other issues out there that must be considered. Beyond that, Manchin will be the best candidate on the ballot and the balance of power in the Senate must remain in Democratic hands."
Well, Manchin has gone off the deep end. Those other issues that must be considered? Manchin has thrown them under the bus. Not only that, I contend that we are allowing Manchin to do irreversible damage to the Democratic brand in West Virginia. Come 2012 when Obama is getting creamed in WV despite the Democratic surge nationwide then remember this election. In ten years or so when the GOP has taken the WV Legislature and controls our Congressional seats because the Democratic brand was so thoroughly disparaged by our popular "Democratic" Governor then remember this election. Folks think I have my politics and policies confused. Fair enough. I am also confused why the WV Democratic Party has no back bone. I am confused as to why there are not more WV Democratic leaders stepping forward to defend CORE aspects of the Democratic platform. People have to remember that the Democratic Party, at least for me, is only a vehicle by which to achieve better public policies. Winning an election is not an end- it is a means by which we reach an end. I think too many folks have forgotten that.
Use whatever analogy you want, but I view politics like war. You do not hurt your chances of winning the long term victory so that you can win a single battle. If we try to win at all cost now then we will ruin our chances later.
Post Campaign Narrative
So what is the narrative of this campaign? Win or lose, my bet is that the voter turnout will be poor with WV Democrats. If Manchin wins then some Dems will contend it was his radical right turn that saved him. If he loses then those same elements will say that the liberal tag caused it. These folks are wrong. Manchin has disenfranchised the base. Disheartened Democrats are not going to go vote for a no chance candidate like Jesse Johnson so don't let people give those small numbers for the Mountain Party as an indication of the progressive/moderate Democrats standing. Democrats will either stay home or write in their cousin's name, Donald Duck, or go with sweet irony and write-in Charlotte Pritt. More likely than any of that though, and this will be proven whether Manchin wins or not, most Democrats will stay home because they simply cannot stomach Manchin's selfish war against the Democratic Party.
The lesson here is that the policies the Democratic Party stands for mean something. We have to get out there and educate the public about the positions that make us Democrats. We have to face down the GOP and not capitulate to their propaganda like a bunch of cowards. We have to hold our leaders accountable when they do not represent us or fight for the policies that we feel are best for the country. We have to take back the narrative and quit giving up so much ground to nonsense. We have to put sound long term public policymaking ahead of short term political calculations. If we want better, we have to be better, and we must demand better.
Governor Manchin's ego and this two year Senate term are not worth destroying the future of the West Virginia Democratic Party and more importantly, not worth us sacrificing what we as citizens believe to be the best course for the state and country. It is time to take a stand. |
