Joe Manchin’s Motivations

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Representing a vanishing brand of Democratic politics that makes his vote anything but predictable, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has become the make-or-break legislator of the Biden era. We explore how and why Mr. Manchin’s vote has become so powerful. Guest: Jonathan Martin, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Transcript

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0:00.0	With a 50-50 split in the Senate, all eyes are turning to moderate Senator Joe Manchin of us working on.
0:06.0	All eyes on Joe Manchin once again, when it comes to time.
0:08.0	From New York Times, unlike a Babaro, this is a daily.
0:12.0	Democrats don't even have all 50 members on board. There's that one outstanding conservative moderate Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
0:19.0	From the moment Joe Biden was elected president, much of his attention has been focused on winning over a single lawmaker from within his own party.
0:29.0	Joe Manchin is literally the only standing living Democrat left in West Virginia.
0:34.0	He is in the state that Donald Trump won 68% to 29%.
0:40.0	Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
0:43.0	Joe Manchin has been very clear that he is not budging on the filibuster.
0:47.0	Joe Manchin is throwing a writ into president Biden's infrastructure plan, whose vote has become indispensable.
0:54.0	On voting rights, on guns, Joe Manchin is seen as a democratic obstacle toward the White House getting their agenda through.
1:02.0	And whose personal views can make or break Biden's legislative agenda?
1:08.0	Joe Manchin is the most important person in this conversation today.
1:13.0	Arguably the most powerful senator in the whole Capitol building.
1:16.0	Joe Manchin is the most important man in the world.
1:19.0	I spoke with my colleague Jonathan Martin about what motivates the most powerful legislator in Washington.
1:27.0	The question is, what does Joe Manchin want exactly?
1:33.0	It's Wednesday, June 2nd.
1:36.0	Jonathan, we have been wanting to have this conversation with you for a long time.
1:46.0	Because pretty much from the day Joe Biden was sworn as president, we've kept hearing that a single member of Congress, Senator Joe Manchin, has become the maker break legislator of the Biden era, which is a kind of a hard concept to wrap your head around.
2:02.0	So this is the nature of only having 50 seats in the Senate. It empowers single senators and gives that one senator outsized control of the agenda of his party.
2:14.0	Because keep in mind, for the most part, you have to have 60 votes in the Senate to get anything done.
	...

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