Democrats just got great news about taking the Senate away from Mitch McConnell
Even as Donald Trump’s 2020 poll numbers continue to get uglier, and the Democrats see their odds of winning the White House get even better, the question remains about whether they can also take the Senate. Today, a major development just made that goal a whole lot easier for the Democrats.
Joe Manchin of West Virginia is everyone’s least favorite Democrat. Because he represents a red state, he has to say and do certain things in order to maintain his own re-electability. That means he votes with the Republicans from time to time. But the key is, if you look at his record, he’s never once cast a deciding vote in the wrong direction. In other words, he only votes with the GOP when the math is such that his vote isn’t going to make a difference anyway. Whatever you think of Manchin, he just did something fantastic for the nation.
Joe Manchin has announced that he’s not going to run for Governor of West Virginia in 2020, after significant speculation that he might run. Why does this matter? It means he’s going to remain in the Senate, thus keeping that seat in the hands of the Democrats. If he’d become Governor and resigned, his seat would have fallen into the hands of the Republicans, and it would have made it far more difficult for the Democrats to take the Senate majority in the 2020 elections.
Again, you’re free to hate Joe Manchin as much as you want. He’s said some things that are indefensible. But whenever he’s had to cast a deciding vote, he’s always voted with the Democrats, which is all that matters when it comes to Senate majority math. The odds of the Democrats taking the Senate just went up significantly.
