WILL THE DEMS LOSE THIS ONE? – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia must now be called a DINO – a Democrat in Name Only.  He represents a state that once was a Democratic stronghold and is now tilting very strongly Republican.  He was governor of that state.

Manchin is up for re-election in 2018, and clearly knows he's at risk if he runs on the Democratic ticket.  So he is distancing himself, more and more.  From Daily Caller:

Imagine the intensifying pressure on West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the Senate’s most approachable Democrat for Republicans.

In the increasingly toxic, partisan Washington, D.C., Manchin walks a treacherous path down the middle of the road. He says, “I’m a West Virginia Democrat, not a Washington Democrat.” He looks for solutions, but says “this toxic atmosphere is not for me. It’s not who I am,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

He describes President Donald Trump voters in West Virginia “like returning Vietnam veterans who did everything their country asked and then got kicked in the teeth.” He says his state has done the heavy lifting for America – mining, manufacturing to be the superpower of the world — but the Obama energy and environment policies crushed West Virginia’s spirit.

When his state elected Trump, they rejected “a traditional Democrat and a traditional Republican,” he said. Critiquing the dominant policies in his own party, Manchin says, it’s almost gotten to the point that “the Democrats are preventing the working class from working.” He thinks Trump is committed to getting things done, and in a “troubled world and a divided country,” Manchin is ready to help.

COMMENT:  Sounds like a man who might switch parties.  I hope he does.  He is not wanted among the Democrats.  Being a white, straight man, he is definitely not wanted.

There are other Democratic senators from very red states who are also up in 2018.  They are all potential defectors. 

February 5, 2017