When will congressional Democrats realize that Joe Manchin is doing them a favor? In a column published Sunday in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the West Virginia senator gave them two things they haven’t had since Joe Biden became president: a message and a strategy.
Manchin has been clear from the start that he’s inclined neither to get rid of the filibuster nor to support the For the People Act, the so-called voting-rights legislation that Democrats have already passed in the House. Last month, he expressed his preference for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is more narrowly framed.
Manchin’s column implicitly raises a crucial question: Why, if the For the People Act is so comprehensive in protecting voting rights, is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act even necessary?