Sen. Joe Manchin May (Or May Not) Go Against His Party

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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 22 : (L to R) Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speak during a press conference after the Senate passed a procedural vote for a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, Capitol Hill, January 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Lawmakers are continuing to seek a deal to end the government shutdown, now in day three. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Senator Joe Manchin is under extreme scrutiny today. Call it a case of damned if he does or damned if he doesn’t vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. The West Virginia Democrat sure seems to be walking a political tightrope. Polls for his re-election are getting closer and he clearly doesn’t want to lose votes. One would assume if he votes for Kavanaugh he would lose Democratic votes, lots of them. That would be an easy decision IF he believes Kavanaugh isn’t fit for the court. But on the flip side could he pick up Republican votes if he votes for Kavanaugh? Seems more unlikely.

The West Virginia Gazette says:

Since the nomination in July, Manchin hasn’t signaled how he’ll vote. He has declined repeated interview requests this week. A spokesman did not respond to questions regarding what information he’s seeking in the FBI report, what standard of evidence he would need to deny confirmation or how he evaluates Kavanaugh’s jurisprudence.

“We are not doing any interviews this week. Sorry,” said Jon Kott, Manchin’s communications director.

After 17 women staged a sit-in at his Charleston campaign headquarters around 2 p.m. Monday, calling on him to oppose Kavanaugh, Manchin joined the nine of them remaining later that evening in a conference call. While he did not offer any definitive position, he said the accusation lacks corroborating evidence.

CNN is reporting that “Manchin is not going to announce his vote til he goes to the floor, aide says.” Here is what we do know according to Politico:

In multiple conversations, Manchin said he doesn’t want to downplay the sexual abuse allegations from Ford and Ramirez, which he called “terrible.”

Manchin also called Trump’s taunts of Ford “awful … very wrong.”

Yet Machin openly empathizes with Kavanaugh as well, noting that the accusations against the current appeals court judge stem from his youth, not from his adult life.

“I can understand also a person [Kavanaugh] who from 22 to 53, how he’s conducted his life, how he took care of his family, how he basically approached his job in a responsible manner,” Manchin said. “I’m not hearing anything from the 30 years as an adult, in his professional life.”

Perhaps he is waiting to see how Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski vote. We will know soon.