What Joe Manchin did on the Sunday talk shows was important (#4420)

      Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has been in the spotlight lately with his demands for bipartisanship at a cost to our democratic majority rule. But if you look at what Joe Biden has been saying, Manchin's demands are within Biden's political scope. Joe Biden has wanted bipartisanship all along. What Joe Manchin is doing is paving a pathway for it. Now that may sound counter intuitive but here is my take on it. Previous to Sunday Manchin had said that he was against filibuster reform of the legislative process in the Senate. He didn't equivocate. Which is where this last Sunday marked an important pivot.
     On Sunday Manchin iterated on all the political talk shows he joined is that he wants bipartisanship to have a chance to succeed but, and this is where the importance comes in, only for as long as it takes to see that bipartisanship is not working if that is the case. Then and only then would he be in favor of changing the Senate rules such that passing important legislation along party lines is allowed. With his statements on Sunday he has effectively drawn a line in the sand for the republican party to cross. Joe Manchin went from he would not change the Senate rules to he will be in favor of changing the Senate rules if republicans keep acting in bad faith.
     The beauty of this is simple and effective. If republicans do not come on board to help pass legislation that Joe Biden promised the American electorate then by damn they will be shut out of the process. At least 10 Senate republicans will now have to show that they are willing to compromise with Senate democrats to pass common sense, fair, just and equitable legislation that is demanded by our citizenry. Joe Manchin has served to be the hinge by which the Biden administration's desire for bipartisanship will swing. I did not see this as an end game but as it became clear it filled me with hope that the burning republican party may now be ready to show that it is rising from it's ashes. Thanks to Joe Manchin and his threat that not working with democrats will further their agonizing inferno.