CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia has long called itself “Almost Paradise”, a nod to music and views from the top of the mountain. Now, some joke that the state’s name checked on “Take Me Home, Country Roads” could take things to a higher level as Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of the United States negotiates his passage in Congress.
“Maybe we will reach paradise status,” said Nick Casey, a longtime Democratic official.
Reviving the economically damaged coal towns of West Virginia and reversing a persistent population decline is a difficult task. But Manchin, who grew up in the mountain town of Farmington, emerged as a decisive vote in a divided Senate. Now he has his best chance in years of directing federal dollars back home.
Manchin put himself in the middle of things again this week with the COVID relief bill that was passing through Congress, stopping work on the measure on Friday alone, while Democrats sought to assuage their concerns about the size and duration of a expanded unemployment insurance.
As for his own agenda, Manchin gave public tips on the investments in “common sense” infrastructure badly needed at home: expanding rural broadband and fixing roads between them. He stated that West Virginia could provide the manufacturing firepower to “innovate our path to a cleaner climate”. And more than once, he said that coal miners can build the best solar panels if they get a chance.
Some wonder if his new influence could help him do something that former President Donald Trump promised but failed to deliver – rekindle a state economy that has long been too dependent on a plummeting coal industry.
Manchin’s colleagues in the Senate have good reason to study the needs of small towns beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Manchin, 73, was already a recognized negotiator on Capitol Hill, but deference to the more conservative Democrat in a 50-50 Senate has increased since November. A senator from Hawaii recently teased him as “his highness”. The guessing game of how he will vote has become food for late night television.
In recent days, Manchin’s opposition helped to sink Neera Tanden as President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Office of Administration and Budget.
Since Robert Byrd’s death in 2010, a West Virginia senator has not had much influence. Over the course of half a century, Byrd brought home billions of dollars in federal buildings, landmarks and roads, many bearing his name.
“This is a miserable country, man – our population is dwindling, the end of coal,” said Casey, a lawyer and former president of the state Democratic Party. “We have a guy now who can do something in terms of the legacy. And I think there is a lot of hope and some expectation that Joe will do significant, exceptional things. “
Pam Garrison, a retired cashier, said he told Manchin at a meeting to get a $ 15 federal minimum wage that Byrd has universities and hospitals named after him because “when he came to power, he used that power for good of the people”.
“If you do what is good for people, even after you leave, you will be remembered.”
Manchin, however, does not see himself as a seeker of difficult projects, but as an advocate for policies that help the Appalachians and the Rust Belt.
“What we have to do now, and I think it is appropriate – we have shown the need and that the base has been left behind,” he said.
He started on that path by joining Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow to co-sponsor a proposal for $ 8 billion in tax credits to boost clean energy manufacturing for coal communities and the auto industry.
Robert Rupp, professor of political history at West Virginia Wesleyan College, says Manchin can use his position in a 50-50 Senate to put his small state at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
“He is in the spotlight and can assert power,” said Rupp.
A former governor, Manchin has deep roots in West Virginia politics. This helps to explain why he is the last Democrat to hold a state post in a state that Trump holds twice by large margins.
Manchin maintains an air of unpredictability. He opposed a $ 15 minimum wage clause in the $ 1.9 billion pandemic stimulus package, even after activists gathered outside his state office in Charleston, leaving some to question his future legacy.
“We’re going to smell like a rose in West Virginia, or we’re going to smell like garbage, and that’s going to be attributed to Joseph Manchin,” said Jean Evansmore, 80, an organizer for the Campaign for Poor People in West Virginia.
Days later, the Senate congressman decided that an increase could not be included in the COVID-19 relief bill. This was a victory for Manchin and his reverence for Senate customs, including obstruction, which helps to sustain a 60-vote barrier to push most legislation forward.
Manchin vowed never to support the end of the obstruction.
On a recent morning in Charleston outside the golden-domed state capitol, saving it was a rallying cry for anti-abortion advocates, who held up placards saying, “Thank you, Senator Manchin.”
“We need to encourage you to stay strong,” said Marilyn Musgrave, who works for Susan B. Anthony List, a nonprofit anti-abortion organization.
Musgrave’s group looks to Manchin now, after campaigning against his 2018 proposal for a full second term, which he won with just under 50% of the vote. Manchin is opposed to public funding for abortions, but he does not support a total ban. Still, he usually scores low on abortion rights groups, which puts him more in line with those in West Virginia, who collectively sent mixed signals about abortion.
With his centrist instincts in such a red state, Manchin has occasionally been rumored to be switching parties.
“Republicans kind of dream that just because he is conservative on some issues, it would mean that he would abandon the parties,” said Rupp.
This is unlikely, especially due to Manchin’s newfound influence, he said. And that’s fine with Matt Kerner, a 54-year-old West Virgo who wants Manchin to never forget that 16% of people in his state live below the poverty line, the nation’s sixth highest rate, according to the US Census. .
“We hope that Senator Manchin will remember that he represents some of the poorest people in this country,” said Kerner.