Legal expert: Getting rid of Manchin 'is a moral gain' for Democrats

17 November 2023

Many Democratic strategists panicked when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced that he won't be seeking reelection in 2024. Deep red West Virginia, they warn, is an extremely difficult state for their party — and Manchin is a centrist Democrat with a long history of winning statewide races.

Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, he was governor of West Virginia. Manchin, supporters argue, is a rare example of a Democrat who, over the years, has enjoyed a great deal of support from West Virginia's GOP voters.

But progressive legal expert Elie Mystal is one person who isn't losing any sleep over Manchin's announcement.

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In a blistering article published by The Nation on November 16, Mystal (a frequent guest on MSNBC) acknowledges that losing Manchin's seat to a Republican in 2024 will make it harder for Democrats to hold their narrow U.S. Senate majority. But Mystal argues that Manchin was probably going to lose that seat anyway.

An Emerson College poll released in early October found that in a hypothetical race against West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (the likely GOP nominee in the state's 2024 Senate race), Manchin would lose by 13 percent.

"Manchin’s retirement in West Virginia means that Democrats have no margin for error heading into 2024," Mystal explains. "The thing is, Democrats have always had zero margin for error heading into 2024. Manchin was always unlikely to hang on to his seat…. Manchin was most likely toast the minute Justice declared for the seat."

Mystal goes on to explain why he won't miss Manchin when his term ends and he leaves the U.S. Senate in January 2025.

"Manchin is no great loss to the Democratic Party; instead, being rid of him is a moral gain," Mystal argues. "Take, for instance, the courts. Manchin defenders have pointed out that Manchin has been a reliable vote for Biden's judicial appointments, including his Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. That's true, but what's also true is that Manchin has been a reliable vote for Republican presidents' judicial appointments, including alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh."

The progressive legal expert continues, "Manchin did vote against Amy Coney Barrett, but that was purely for process reasons given the rushed nature of her appointment after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and after the election to replace Trump was already underway. Manchin was happy to vote for Barrett in 2017, when Trump appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Read Elie Mystal's full article for The Nation at this link.

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