Democrats in West Virginia want Sen. Joe Manchin to kill the party-line spending package that they say is key to their domestic agenda.
Conservative groups in West Virginia have been urging Manchin to oppose the legislation, which can only be passed through a party-line process known as budget reconciliation. Manchin's support is important to the success of the Senate.
Greg Thomas is a West Virginia-based political strategist. A lot of the local groups and national groups with a local presence are reaching out to Manchin.
The pressure campaign praised Manchin for standing up to Democrats and warned that the goodwill could disappear overnight.
He said he would wait until August to make a decision.
The 60 Plus Association advertised "The Tale of Two Joes" as a right-leaning alternative to the AARP.
The narrator states that the first Joe did the right thing for West Virginia by standing up and blocking the liberals. Now the question for Joe Manchin is which Joe he is.
Activists and groups are trying to get Manchin re-elected. Seniors narrowly supported the senator over a GOP rival.
A recent ad by American Commitment slams Manchin for being open to including within reconciliation a proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.
The ad states that Manchin and AARP support government price-setting schemes that will give liberal politicians billions in funds meant for Medicare to spend on unrelated government programs. If Sen. Manchin thinks West Virginia's seniors are not watching, think again.
The national Democratic groups rushed to respond with their own spots calling on Manchin to stay true to his party.
West Virginia's relatively inexpensive media markets allow for a lot of ads to be placed. Groups can book radio and television time in the state for a few thousand dollars, but not in the eastern Panhandle. A recent ad went up in June and ran for a week.
As the summer session begins, Schumer prepares for the final shot at the reconciliation bill.
One of the reasons Manchin might have opposed the original reconciliation bill was that it was toxic to voters.
Mark Harris said that the ads helped expose the crazy stuff Democrats were trying to cram through. Manchin couldn't support the bill because he couldn't sell it to voters. Everyone had seen the ads and knew what was in it.
As inflation continues to rise, the political pressure on Manchin has only gotten worse. The political environment is getting worse for Democrats.
Manchin refused to sign on to the bill because he thought it would cause inflation. A recent poll shows that a majority of West Virginia Republicans approve of the senator's work.
Manchin tried to reconcile with Schumer earlier this year despite the polls. They agreed to the Medicare prescription drug proposal.
There were hopes for a quick deal this week. Manchin told Schumer and other Democrats that he wouldn't support tax hikes and climate change subsidies until the nation's economic picture became clearer.
I asked if we should wait until the inflation figures come out in July to know if the Fed will raise rates. Manchin told Metro News. Make a decision about what we can do and how much we can do.
The tax and climate provisions were dead when the Democrats requested a delay. The end of July is seen by many as the deadline to pass a bill before Congress leaves for a month-long recess and returns in September.
Manchin says the tax hikes and climate change provisions are still going on.
Few think the provisions will return if Manchin is serious. Inflation is unlikely to decrease significantly in the next month according to economists.
Local activists in West Virginia plan to keep pressuring Manchin into opposing reconciliation. West Virginia is a conservative state where voters are not likely to support tax hikes or policies that undermine energy independence.
"Manchin is the only Democrat in the country who has voiced concerns about inflation because he's seeing how it's negatively impacting people in West Virginia," said Moore. Hopefully, he'll vote according to the people he represents. They will hold him accountable if he doesn't.
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