In advance of the Senate vote on whether to have an independent commission investigate the siege on Capitol Hill, Senator Joe Manchin has made a powerful statement. But don’t just take the statement at face value. Many political pundits are saying you also need to read between the lines.
“There is no excuse for any Republican to vote against this commission since Democrats have agreed to everything they asked for. Mitch McConnell has made this his political position, thinking it will help his 2022 elections. They do not believe the truth will set you free, so they continue to live in fear.”
CNN’s Dana Bash says “this is very, very note worthy for a host of reasons.”
First and foremost, he’s lashing out at Mitch McConnell, making clear he believes that Mitch McConnell is the reason that they can’t find the ten votes to vote yes on this commission. But there are a lot of layers to this. First and foremost this is the man, Joe Manchin, who has been pleading with his democratic caucus to have time to work across the aisle, to work in a bipartisan way on a host of issues. Namely, right now infrastructure. And they’re getting frustrated. And it is clearly hard reading not so deeply between the lines here that he’s looking at his fellow republicans starting with Mitch McConnell saying, how do you expect us to work in a bipartisan way if you can’t even agree to a commission to get to the truth?
But shortly after releasing this statement, Manchin didn’t indicate he’s ready to change his position on the filibuster.
Manchin’s unwillingness to take a true stand with the Democrats has left a lot of people frustrated.
pretend you are a democrat and care about democracy end the filibuster
— ✌🏼rosanna arquette (@RoArquette) May 27, 2021
As long as you support the filibuster, senator, you’re helping Republicans block this commission and more.
It’s an antidemocratic tool that has been abused by the right. Let it go, sir.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 27, 2021