| Does Sen. Joe Manchin support creating jobs or not?
Will Manchin stand by working families or the Koch brothers? In 2012, Manchin is going to need the votes of West Virginians and the Koch brothers don't vote here.
A vote against the Jobs Bill will imperil Manchin's reelection chances. Via John Cole, the Washington Post has an article on the popularity of the Jobs Bill] and the risk to Democrats voting against it:
The White House and Dems have been railing against Republicans for opposing the jobs bill, but if a few Senate Dems defect, and a simple majority of the Senate doesn't support it, that will dilute the Dem message that Republicans are the key obstacle to progress on the economy.
But Greenberg's case for voting for the bill went significantly beyond this concern about overall party messaging. He argued that moderate Democrats who vote against it are actually imperiling their own reelection chances.
"They reduce their risks for reelection by showing support for a jobs bill that's going to be increasingly popular as voters learn more about it," Greenberg said. "They have to be for something on the economy, and this the kind of proposal they should support. If I were advising them, I'd say you want to be backing a jobs bill with middle class tax cuts paid for by tax hikes on millionaires. Moderate voters in these states very much want to raise taxes on the wealthy to meet our obligations."
Crucially, Greenberg pointed out that if moderate Dems are hoping to show distance from the President and his low approval numbers by voting against the jobs bill, they run another risk: Dem disunity on the economy could backfire on them.
"Voting No would increase their risk of losing," Greenberg said bluntly. "Democrats would look divided on their central agenda. In the end you all go down with the ship here. Why would you send Democrats back to the Senate if they are divided on the most important issue facing people? Here you can show unity and purpose, which Democrats have not had an opportunity to do during budget negotiations."
Greenberg dismissed concerns about Obama's overall numbers. "It's a long time until the election, and the presient's standing can go up," he said. "If the Democrats are divided and have a weak vote on the jobs bill, then moderates will only hurt themselves."
Republican John Raese hurt himself by appearing to want to represent millionaires more than West Virginians.
If Manchin wants to claim millionaires need those tax loop holes because they're "job creators" he should answer this:
Where's all the jobs those "job creators" have created?
A no-vote by Manchin on the Jobs Bill will make him appear as out of touch with West Virginians as Raese did.
Update
Senator Manchin came through on this vote, though the Republicans succeeded in filibustering. Republicans are opposed to job creation because they see their best chance for electoral success is to keep the economy down. As Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said, the No. 1 goal of the Republicans is to defeat President Obama, not to revive the economy and get people back to work. |
