I know we're not supposed to speak ill of Democrats here, but seriously--is he what passes for a Democrat in West Virginia? That's the best we can do there? Ugh.

distaste. But he DID vote against DeVos.

Someone will post every reason they can think of why Dems need him. Need him for what,he votes with CONS on everything,he shows up on Fox and takes orders from Slannity and O'lielly,but we can't say anything negative about him.

He is in our face every chance he gets he slipped up the other day talking to Wolf Blitzer when he said something about the Democrat party and then said MY party and we can also add Harold Ford to that list he is Joe Scarborough's YES man to talk against Democrats,"right Harold" as Scar says.

I don't want to hear about how much he won by,does he ever get any competition by any other Democrats. Do these republiCONS ever get any in red states,NO! I hear about gerrymandering but do Dems ever try to run someone,yes once in awhile. Dems need to be in these states all the time.

I am tired of Dems so scared they will take a so called Dem because they are afraid to take a chance.

His teabagger Republican replacement would. He voted against Betsy DeVos even though his vote didn't count. He hasn't switched to the Republican Party to give their caucus another member. He didn't join the Trump Administration. I get how you feel about him. Maybe somebody can dig up a strong progressive alternative to Manchin in WV but, given how Trumpian Red it is at the moment, I doubt it. What do we do? If nothing else, he adds to our numerical advantage in the Senate and keeps us one seat closer to becoming the majority.

His voting record is about 75% with the Democratic party.

In the Senate, Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) voted against the rest of the Democrats more than 25 percent of the time. But Susan Collins (R-Maine) was even more of a maverick, at nearly 27 percent. (The original maverick, John McCain, is only at 8 percent so far this Congress. His protege, Lindsey O. Graham, cracked the top 10 for Republicans.)

Yes for cover he votes on certain things. He is a RepubliCON. I have watched him show up on Slannity's show before he votes on something he makes sue that he assures Slannity he will do the RIGHT thing for the RepubliCONS.

He usually shows up right before a vote then he goes to CNN,MSNBC and no telling where else to scold Democrats.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

So If I don't agree with Manchin I'm not an American. Do you care about the party or do you care or go along to get along and don't get anywhere.

replaced with some hypothetical progressive WV Democrat. I don't see anyone like that on the horizon, and more importantly anyone who would have a chance of actually winning. Manchin at least caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate and if we are able to pick up a couple of more seats in other states, it would make the difference between having a Democratic majority leader vs. Mitch McConnell if we lose the WV seat to a Republican. Republicans control both houses of the WV state legislature by a margin of about 2:1. I don't see the support for a viable Democratic challenger winning in the general election, even if Manchin is successfully primaried.

we need to have a slate of confident unapologetic liberals who are unafraid to stand firm for what they believe, win or lose
chasing the center doesn't work, the last decade should have shown us that quite clearly
we need to shift the center, something the Republicans are very good at

And because he carries a D flag folks will fall over themselves to justify his rightwing votes.

If we rid ourselves of his treachery and of all the others just like him are we really going to be that much worse off? Or are we going to be one small step closer to cleansing the party of those who pretend to be Dems and getting ourselves some REAL progressives?

100% against Democrats, it seems. I don't get it.

West Virginia is a state that has flipped red with the closure of coal mines and the dwindling of union strength that sent Democrats like Harry Byrd to the Senate and Harley Staggers to the House of Representatives. I'd rather have a borderline Democrat who votes for us some of the time than a Tea publican who votes AGAINST us ALL the time. Let's put this on a to-do list AFTER the good guys retake North Carolina, Florida, and Wisconsin and flip both Georgia and Texas blue.

Or do we just assume that?
At least primary him and find out.

Yet. Or are you under the impression that the Democrats have a sixty-vote majority that can squash Republican filibusters like a cockroach?

If the latter, may I gently suggest a reality check? We don't even have a real even split, no thanks to BOBs and non-voters.

I wonder if some of it is astroturf/Russian bots generating some of this.

while they're posting.

I'm wondering the same thing.

The state voted 70% for Loofah Faced Shitgibbon

What is the limit of their transgressions, that you will no longer welcome them in your party? Seriously. For me, he's passed his use-by date and his shelf life is up. Enough is fucking enough. Two goddamn Repubs voted against DeVos, too, so there's that. Christ.

Because heaven forbid Democrats actually try rather than immediately conceding defeat before the battle even starts (which has worked out soooo well for us) then we should be trying to pick off blue state Republicans.

The problem is going to be that even if we squeak to close to a majority, if any of our votes or legislation or choices hinge on Manchin's one vote then that automatically means that he gets to control the narrative and make all the important decisions. We've seen this movie before and it doesn't end well.

We should be trying to pick off people like Snowe and Collins, in places where we can actually run and win with progressives. Or do we concede defeat there as well and just shrug our shoulders and say "Oh well, they vote with us SOME of the time". If the purpose is to get a supermajority so that we control the committees and narratives and everything else then we should be fighting for every seat even if they are "friendly republicans". When the chips are down, those two regularly vote with the R's.

Fine, let Manchin have his seat as long as we don't get in a situation where he controls ANYTHING.

A dino he was.

I would like to target them first. Kind of makes sense.

Some of you blue staters are unaware of the ignorance that exists in some of the backward Southern states that some of us live in

pretty much every republican is. Maybe we should focus on getting rid of those crazies before we get rid of those who are somewhat sane.

Seats in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that were up for grabs. We now have to play defense in the Senate until at least 2020. It makes no sense to attack Manchin, a more liberal Democrat won't win in WV. The purists and BOB people cost us in 2016, constantly ripping at the throats of Democrats while giving republicans a free ride.

I get upset with him too, but I agree..... at least he counts for one place on the democratic side. I do not know if there is anyone in WV who could challenge him and win.

he doesn't support the other Democrats in the Senate. Granted, he has a lot of cronies in West Virginia, but we're trying to go forward.

I know everyone here hates Joe Manchin, but you would really HATE Jenkins. He was a Democrat who never got past local office, until he changed to the Republican party (frankly, a much better fit for Jenkins' policies).

I haven't seen any polls, but I suspect that Jenkins has a pretty good chance of being the next U.S. Senator from West Virginia. If he can beat Joe Manchin, do you really think a progressive candidate has a chance?

(Full disclosure -- I am a member (and group leader) in the newly formed Tri-State Indivisible organization. We are working on changing the hearts and minds of the people of West Virginia, and nearby Kentucky and Ohio. But we are realistic!)

Realize that repealing the ACA will prove to help Democrats like Manchin and put many republican seats in play big time. I wish that everyone on our side would realize that bluedogs like Manchin is all that we will get out of red states for the time being.

then this would be a better world and a less frightening time.

Manchin's daughter, who is the CEO of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, is under investigation by DOJ in a criminal price-fixing case.

Hmm, I wonder how vigorously Jeff Sessions will be pursuing this case?

Hmm, I wonder how vigorously he'll pursue a case involving the daughter of the one Democratic senator who voted for his confirmation?

Hmm, I wonder if Joe Manchin was hoping to get something for his support?

Mylan NV set off a firestorm in Congress last year over skyrocketing prices of its EpiPen. Now it’s facing a U.S. antitrust investigation over whether it improperly thwarted competition to the blockbuster product.

The company has received a request for information from the Federal Trade Commission as part of a preliminary investigation, it said Monday in response to a query from Bloomberg. It said it hasn’t acted improperly to prevent generic competition.

The FTC is looking at whether Mylan’s practices violated antitrust laws, including whether small changes it made to the EpiPen effectively shielded it from competition from lower-priced products, according to a person familiar with the matter. Making minor changes to extend a patent, such as dosage levels, is known as product-hopping. Another area of scrutiny is whether Mylan entered any agreements that delayed cheaper versions of the EpiPen from coming to the market, said the person, who asked not to be named because the inquiry is confidential.

The FTC inquiry puts more pressure on Mylan, which is also caught up in a Justice Department criminal investigation into price-fixing by generic-drug companies. It’s not clear whether Mylan is a target of that investigation. The FTC probe into the EpiPen is in its early stages and may not result in an enforcement action, the person familiar with the matter said.

EDIT

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mylan-faces-u-antitrust-investigation-201427536.html

The maker of the Epipen, used for the emergency treatment of anaphylactic shock, is facing a federal anti-trust investigation after lawmakers were alerted to a massive price increase last year.

According to the Washington Post, Mylan, the maker of the injectable drug, admitted that the Federal Trade Commission requested information from them months ago “as part of a preliminary investigation.” Mylan has been under scrutiny after raising the price of the EpiPen more than 500 percent in recent years, to over $600 per two-pack.

Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Mylan’s CEO, Heather Bresch, is the daughter of Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Bresch helped engineer the bump in prices after taking over as head of the company. At issue now are accusation that Mylan may have tried to halt competition while reaping huge profits.

EDIT

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/epipen-maker-mylan-faces-anti-trust-investigation-following-massive-price-increase/

CVS has a much less expensive option on sale and a third company is about to offer an option at even less money than CVS does.

if we ran someone who would satisfy DUers.

And WV Democrats are mighty pissed with Manchin. I know because I am one, and have been to numerous meetings the past few weeks trying to figure out what to do.

brilliant strategy

This is exactly the kind of purity foolishness that got us where we are now. It would be another thing to support a challenger but this is Bullshit.

I expect him to switch party any day now, as soon as they promise him good committee assignments.

The Republican from WV who would replace him will be much much worse.