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Senator Joe Manchin is facing strong pressure in West Virginia to permanently kill the party-line spending package, which the Democratic Party says is key to President Biden’s domestic agenda.
The Conservatives have been on the West Virginia radio for the past few weeks, calling on Mr Manchin to stick to his opposition to the bill. The bill can only go through a partisan process known as budget adjustment. Manchin’s support is key to success, as the Senate is divided 50-50 between the two parties.
“Joe clearly hears from many different people,” said Greg Thomas, a West Virginia-based political strategist. “There were paid ads, but local groups and national groups with a local presence are also reaching out to Manchin.”
The pressure campaign took two approaches: praising Manchin for confronting the Democratic Party by upsetting previous versions of spending transactions and at the same time warning that goodwill could disappear overnight.
Manchin denied opposition to the Democratic spending bill and said he would wait until a decision was made.
The strategy was featured in a recent ad, The Tale of Two Joes, by the 60Plus Association. It claims to be a right-wing alternative to AARP.
“The first Joe did the right thing for West Virginia by standing up and blocking. [President] With Biden [House Speaker Nancy] “The liberal agenda of Pelosi,” said the narrator, who describes Manchin’s dual image.
Activists and external groups are targeting constituencies that are important to Manchin’s chances of reelection in 2024. At the top of the list are seniors who had a slight support for the Senator against Republican rivals in 2018.
One of the recent ads by the conservative group American Commitment accuses Manchin of being open to including proposals in the settlement that allow Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs.
“now [Manchin] AARP supports a government pricing scheme that gives liberal politicians money for Medicare to spend on unrelated government programs and to fill the profits of large insurers. ” .. Look and think again. “
Such an ad attracted the attention of a national Democratic group rushing to respond in their own spot calling on Manchin to remain loyal to his party.
The flood of advertising has been made possible by the relatively cheap media market in West Virginia. Apart from the Eastern Panhandle included in Washington’s media market, groups can book radio and television time in the state for thousands of dollars. A recent ad that appeared in June and ran for a week cost only $ 55,000.
Schumaer prepares the final shot as he passes the settlement bill as the summer session begins.
Republicans say one of the reasons Manchin chose to oppose the original reconciliation bill was because conservative groups made it toxic among voters.
“Advertising helped reveal all the crazy things Democrats were trying to squeeze in,” said Mark Harris, GOP President of West Virginia. “Manchin himself said he couldn’t support the bill because he couldn’t go home and sell it to voters. Well, everyone saw the ad and knew what was really in it. So he couldn’t sell it. ”
Political pressure on Manchin is only increasing as inflation continues to rise and is hitting. 9.1% this month. And for the Democratic Party, the political environment continues to deteriorate.
Last year, Manchin refused to sign a $ 1.75 trillion buildback better bill for fear of exacerbating inflation. This decision has boosted the popularity of Senators among Republicans in West Virginia, and recent polls have shown that 69% of state GOP voters have endorsed his ability to perform their duties. rice field.
Despite polls, Manchin was Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y, earlier this year. Returned to the settlement negotiations with. The duo have made some progress by agreeing to the Medicare prescription drug proposal.
However, expectations for quick trading have diminished this week. Manchin told Schumaer and other members of the Democratic leadership that he could not support, including tax increases and climate change subsidies in the package, until the country’s economic situation became clear.
“I said,’Can you wait for inflation? [for] Until the Federal Reserve raises interest rates in July? “Mr. Manchin told West Virginia Metro News.
Democratic leaders accepted the request for postponement because they admitted that tax and climate regulations were dead. Many see the end of July as the deadline for Congress to leave for a one-month adjournment and pass the bill before returning to September, when many government spending deadlines are approaching.
Mr Manchin denied the tax increase, said climate change provisions have been abolished, and that negotiations between the two are “going in a very productive way.”
Still, few think that the provisions will be reinstated if Manchin’s ultimatum is serious. Economists have admitted gasoline, saying that while some commodity prices are on a downtrend, inflation is unlikely to drop significantly next month.
Anyway, West Virginia political groups and local activists plan to continue pressing Manchin for an opposition reconciliation. They say West Virginia is a conservative state and there is a political reality that voters are unlikely to support tax increases and policies that undermine energy self-sufficiency.
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Republican West Virginia Treasury Secretary Riley Moore said, “Mr. Manchin will be the only Democrat to express concern about inflation after seeing how inflation is affecting people in West Virginia. “. “Hopefully he will vote the way his voters want, otherwise they will hold him accountable.”