Cuilan wrote:Manchin would be replaced with someone far worse if he's take down.
True as this is, the fact of the matter remains that the entire concept of "compromise" that he hangs his hat on is rendered
completely meaningless as long as the unwritten rules remain "'centrists' on the left need to be de facto members of the opposition, while 'centrists' on the right only need to occasionally mumble non-committal pleasantries while racking up voting records in line with their party's hard-liners". I suppose this would be a good time to note that, in the wake of Manchin killing the For the People Act, the GOP has also swiftly killed both the infrastructure bill
and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which Manchin supposedly supports in lieu of the FTPA. Eagerly awaiting his next pants-on-head op-ed in defense of further inaction on his part.
If Manchin or any other "problem solvers" actually wanted to "bring Republicans to the table" they would be positively chomping at the bit to reform or eliminate the filibuster, and that would just be the start; as has been detailed exhaustively by now, under the current system the GOP enjoys an
enormous default advantage both electorally and legislatively, as aptly demonstrated by their ability to effortlessly cripple so much of Biden's agenda even in the minority. Why in heaven's name would they want to "negotiate" anything when they're already holding so many of the cards, and their base is willing to set Washington on fire to make sure they get the rest? If you want to put modern conservatism in the mood to deal, you don't give them power,
you take it away.