The West Virginia Democrat is free to tack right and left in what’s likely his final term in the Senate.
Joe Manchin has a choice as he enters what is likely his last term in the Senate: Be a MAGA conservative Democrat or embrace his party’s ascendant left wing.
Or maybe in his own way, he’ll try to do both.
The West Virginia moderate just won reelection in the most Trumpy state in the country and is already trying to re-establish a frayed relationship with President Donald Trump, who went all-in against him during the midterms. At the same time, he’s trying to beat back criticism from progressives, who argue he’s too friendly to the coal industry to lead Democrats on the Energy Committee.
It’s classic Manchin: Committing to work with everyone, no matter how much they might be at odds.
“I have a constituency group in my state and I have a constituency group within my caucus,” Manchin explains in an interview. “I want to make sure I’m attentive to all.”
Manchin has a reputation for finding himself in the thick of things, and that will only increase next year when he becomes one of the few moderates in either party left in the Senate. The president is eager for bipartisan accomplishments ahead of his 2020 reelection bid and Manchin will be seen as a prime target for cooperation.
Yet the former governor has said he doesn’t want to run again for his Senate seat and so will no longer have to worry about backing Trump’s agenda to boost his reelection chances. And as ranking member on the energy panel starting next year, Manchin has a prime opportunity to shape big-ticket legislation, particularly if his party takes back the majority in 2020 and makes him chairman.
“Sen. Manchin, by his very nature, wants to be in the middle of where the action is,” said GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a fellow West Virginian. “He’s going to continue to do that very aggressively whether it’s through the committee, whether it’s through the president. I think he’s agnostic: However he can get into the middle of things, he’s going to be in the mix.”
Manchin had lunch with the president earlier this month and pledged to work with him going forward.
