Thread by @dsamuelsohn

NEW: West Virginia is getting a lot of love from the Biden administration. And it's not a coincidence. By ⁦@ngaudiano⁩ & ⁦@WARojas⁩ ($) ⁦@thisisinsider⁩ businessinsider.com/biden-is-court…

The state's Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, has become the linchpin for President Joe Biden's agenda, and the administration is wooing the 67-year old lawmaker whose opinions matter now more than ever given the current power dynamics on Capitol Hill.

Favorable appointments, grants, & attention are going his state's way, even as progressives fume over Manchin's rejection of an admin-backed voting rights plan & his long-stated opposition to removing the Senate filibuster that forces 60 votes to get most stuff done in DC.

“I've never had an administration pay this much attention," Manchin told Metronews Talkline during a recent joint interview with @SecGranholm on potential energy and workforce investments for the state.

So far, all the doting hasn't swayed Manchin on other priorities for Biden and Democrats at large. Even after an "informative" meeting with civil rights leaders on Tuesday, Manchin told reporters his position on the "For the People Act" had not changed.

In a 50-50 divided Senate, Manchin holds a strong hand in negotiations w/ the White House & he's using it, from his position on voting rights and the filibuster, to his insistence that negotiations continue w/ Republicans on the administration's massive infrastructure package.

Democrats are plenty familiar with what could happen if they push too hard too. Looming in the background is the ever-present possibility that progressives or Biden could push Manchin so far that he switches parties and costs the Democrats control of the Senate.

Manchin has repeatedly said nothing of the sort is going to happen. "They gave up," he told Insider late last year.  "Everybody gave up. They have been trying for 10 years."
History suggests the Republicans won't stop trying.

Back in ‘01, Vermont GOP Sen. Jim Jeffords changed parties & became a Dem over opposition to Bush's agenda. His move turned a 50-50 Senate in R control because of then-VP Cheney's tie-breaking vote instead into a D-led Senate that upended some of Bush's biggest plans.

More recently, West Virginia's current Republican governor, Jim Justice, left the Democratic party to join the Republicans during an August 2017 rally with now-former President Donald Trump.

Politically, West Virginia was once a reliable Democratic state in presidential elections before George W. Bush in 2000 flipped it and its 5 electoral votes into GOP hands. No Democrat has come close to winning it since.

"He's in a state where it's almost impossible to get elected as a Democrat," said Sen Tom Carper, a Del D born in country roads WVa. "& we need every Democrat in the Senate that we can have. & he's been elected as governor, he's been elected as US senator & frankly, we need him."

David Bonior, a former House Democratic lawmaker from Michigan who whipped votes in both the majority and minority status, said Biden should keep Manchin close and carefully consider his greatest wants and needs.

Bonior's reasoning: 74 M voters backed Trump in 20 — including a half-a-million West Virginians who likely feel "socially and economically left behind" without their guy at the helm. 
"There are a lot of people who are angry at the establishment right now," Bonior told Insider.

But progressives are furious, likening Manchin to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and saying he supports preserving Jim Crow systems.

At a progressive rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington Wednesday to support Democrats' stalled voting rights bill, activists chanted: "Fire Joe Manchin!" Some wore shirts scrawled with anti-Manchin messages, including one that said "Manchin is choosing Jim Crow."

The Poor People's Campaign, an anti-poverty group, has planned another march more directly targeting the lawmaker, dubbed the "Moral March on Manchin" in Charleston, West Virginia, on June 14.

Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, said convincing Manchin to embrace languishing priorities — including the infrastructure deal, voting rights, and gun reform, among others — needs to happen ASAP.

"We've just got to keep making the case, you know, why it's not just good for West Virginia but why it's good for the country," Padilla told @thisisinsider after speaking at Wednesday's rally. "Time is of the essence. The 2022 elections are going to be here before we know it."

Padilla added he's already learned an invaluable lesson: reaching across the aisle has its limits. "Behind the scenes, people say, 'We want to work together.  Let's keep talking, let's keep talking.' But it's about time we start seeing it play out on the Senate floor," he said.

Biden has not been too critical of Manchin— at least not publicly. But the president recently took a veiled shot at Manchin and fellow conservative Sinema, describing them as "two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends." (They do not.)

Calling out Manchin specifically was a "very strong step in the right direction," said Adam Green, a co-founder for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Lots more in this great deep dive on the Biden-Manchin relationship from @ngaudiano & @WARojas - Subscribe! And check it out. Sign up here: businessinsider.com/biden-is-court…