Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Second rate reporter says what?

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

So very ready.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / I Love This For Him

I Love This For Him

by | 67 Comments

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Manchin is not running next year:

Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday he won’t run for re-election next year, a much anticipated decision that will reshape the battle for Senate control in 2024.

“After months of deliberation and long conversations with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia. I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate, but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Manchin said in a written and video statement.

While I will miss his vote as a mostly Democrat, I will definitely not miss his self-serving bullshit, non-stop posturing and mugging for the cameras, and getting in the way of progress and the current century using the will of the voters as his justification. Just fuck off already and go home and roll in your piles of coal money. Hell, don’t even go home. Live on your yacht.

Personally, my nightmare scenario is him stepping down, running around damaging Biden with no labels bullshit for all of 2024, and then being appointed the President of WVU when Gee quits. So that’s probably what will happen, even thought you’d think he and his daughter Heather Bresch had done enough damage to WVU.

And don’t anyone begin to fool you that this could be a Democrat hold if we find the right candidate. Just ignore them. We’re about to get the most pig ignorant money grubbing degenerate the WV GOP can puke up, so that probably means Jim Justice is probably the BEST option. He’s just stupid and a crook.

Reader Interactions

67Comments

  1. 1.

    japa21

    It wasn’t going to be a Dem hold if he ran. I do believe, however, that the Dems will hold onto the Senate.

  4. 4.

    brendancalling

    I’d prefer a massive heart attack for Manchin before he does some 3rd Way/No Labels shit, but I’m glad he’s leaving. Sure, he’ll be replaced by a GOP drooler, but at least you know what to expect. Manchin was a grandstander and a liar. I wish him nothing but black lung.

  6. 6.

    Cameron

    I dunno.  That statement of his sounds to me a lot like he plans on doing the No Labels Tapdance across the USA in 2024.  I really hope that isn’t so.

  7. 7.

    bbleh

    This was utterly inevitable.  Only reason he managed to hang on was his name and his history, and the only reason he stayed a Dem was that he would’ve lost sooner otherwise.  And anybody who thinks even Jesus Christ could win WV running as a Dem obviously is being paid money to say so.

    It would be amusing AF if he somehow managed to shoehorn himself back into the Governor’s mansion, which is not entirely beyond WV voters, but I agree it’s much more likely he’s going the Lieberman route, ie as an unctuous, self-absorbed, whiny pest who does little except annoy people and make the political situation even worse than it is for … well, pretty much everybody.

    FFS Joe, can’t you just putter off in your dingy houseboat fabulous yacht, maybe to a nice tropical island where they have cat-5 hurricanes, and sink into history?  As a WV voter and constituent, I would greatly appreciate it, and it certainly would influence my vote!

  8. 8.

    smith

    @bbleh: I don’t recall that Lieberman was able to do much damage after he left office. Let’s hope Manchin goes the same way. I’m not even sure he’d do much as a No Labels spoiler — is he really all that attractive a candidate for anybody except the billionaires who fund it? Who’d vote for him?

  9. 9.

    Jackie

    We’ve got to hold our senate seats and take out Raphael Cruz to replace Manchin. Eazeepeezy.🤪

  10. 10.

    Cameron

    @smith: The problem is if it’s a close election next year.  A third- (or fourth- or fifth-) party candidate who even grabs a small percentage of votes could really mess things up.

  12. 12.

    geg6

    He was going to lose anyway.  And I had the exact same thought about Justice.  He’s about the best you could hope for.

  14. 14.

    Maxim

    Does anyone think some wealthy folks are encouraging Manchin via his wallet to put the Senate in play? That’s the first thought I had when I heard, but I’m a cynical bastard sometimes.

  16. 16.

    bbleh

    @smith: concur; I think Lieberman mostly just annoyed people, and — the frantically transcribed wet dreams of political columnists notwithstanding — Manchin would do about the same.  But as with Lieberman, thanks to said columnists, we likely will have to put up with reams of speculation and hours of his jowly bloviation.

    You’ve got the money — go sit on a beach!  Have yummy drinks with paper umbrellas in them!  Eat all you want and get fat.  Buy the occasional trick on the side.  Just, please, leave the rest of us alone!  But noooo …

  18. 18.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Maxim:

    Possible, but not necessary.  He’s increasingly unpopular with his fellow Senators, and WV is increasingly insane and anti-Dem.  It not being worth his time to run is very plausible by itself.

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Maxim:

    Does anyone think some wealthy folks are encouraging Manchin via his wallet to put the Senate in play? That’s the first thought I had when I heard, but I’m a cynical bastard sometimes. 

    Entirely possible.  And why did Justice Anthony Kennedy resign?

  20. 20.

    Bill Arnold

    @japa21:

    I do believe, however, that the Dems will hold onto the Senate.

    Maybe 50/100 seats, if the Democrats play very well relative to the Republicans. Game on.
    Kinda sucks. We should also be continuously keeping in close touch with Republican Senators who are not happy with some of the extreme right-wing (or Christian Nationalist) bits of the Republican platform.

  21. 21.

    smith

    @Cameron: Still, what group of voters would he appeal to? I could be wrong, but my impression is that the ones who think they want some in-between neither-fish-nor-fowl candidate are mostly never-Trumper Republicans. Are there that many otherwise Dem voters who’d jump at the chance to vote for him?

  22. 22.

    grumbles

    He was going to lose anyway.

    That was my first thought.

    He was occasionally useful, but good god what a massive tub of self-regard and unearned arrogance.

  23. 23.

    smith

    @mrmoshpotato: Who knows? It certainly turns out that SCOTUS justices are eminently buyable. What I heard, however, was that it wasn’t money, but kompromat TFG had on Kennedy’s son the banker who had a history of playing footsie with the Trump Org, and probably Russian mobsters as well.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jay: You’re weeping about losing Shithead Ted?  Weird.

    Maybe he’ll flee to Mexico.

    Oh, and you fail English.  That’s unpossible totally possible.

  26. 26.

    japa21

    @geg6: Justice was once a Dem, and as Republicans go, as close to moderate as you can get.  He was big on masking and vaccines.  I would laugh if, once he got to the Senate and really had to deal with the nutcases in the GOP caucus, he switched to being a Dem again.  I know, it wouldn’t happen, but a guy can dream (as long as he knows it is only a dream).

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    @smith:

    What I heard, however, was that it wasn’t money, but kompromat TFG had on Kennedy’s son the banker who had a history of playing footsie with the Trump Org, and probably Russian mobsters as well. 

    Yeah.

  28. 28.

    Cameron

    @smith: I don’t see many Democrats, but he may appeal to never-Trumpers.  Though the No Labels folks appear to want a Republican at the top of their ticket.

  29. 29.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Cameron:

    Though the No Labels folks appear to want a Republican at the top of their ticket. 

    No Labels are ratfuckers.  Always have been.

  30. 30.

    bbleh

    @geg6: @japa21: he was surprisingly sensible about COVID — one of the reasons WV had the best vax rate in the country for a while, and that it didn’t go completely off the rocker like other states when the backlash really hit — and he’s not even Q-adjacent.  But he’s a nasty 19th-century plutocrat through and through.  He’ll keep his mouth mostly shut when the kulturkampfers are raging — not that he’ll do anything to quiet them down — but on economics, the environment, immigration, and of course gun safety, he’ll be as hard-right as they come

    @mrmoshpotato: more grifters and aging C-level showboats than ratfkers IMO, but YMMV.

  31. 31.

    Geminid

    @Frankensteinbeck: Manchin knew he wasn’t going to beat Jim Justice. He’s been down by double digits in polling for months. Manchin and Justice are both known quantities in West Virginia and Manchin had no way to turn this around.

  32. 32.

    smith

    @Cameron: I’m pretty sure Biden isn’t counting on never-Trumpers to put him over the top. I’m more concerned about where we will get a senator to replace Manchin than what Manchin will do after he’s gone.

  33. 33.

    Quaker in a Basement

    We’re about to get the most pig ignorant money grubbing degenerate the WV GOP can puke up,

    Don’t sugar coat it, JC.

  34. 34.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Has NoLabels ever run ANY candidates? Or just suck up $$$ from richy-rich idiots?

  35. 35.

    Chris

    Every time a Democratic president comes into office, there are a few professional centrists in the legislature who take it on as their job to spend the entire first year gumming up the works and engaging in a bunch of highly public battles on issues they’ve never previously given a shit about, until they’re sure any post-inauguration momentum has run aground and the “Washington’s still broken, the new presidency is just more of the same” narrative has set in.

    In 2021, that was Joe Manchin.

    (And Kristen Sinema. But Sinema shows every sign of being a genuine fucking idiot. Manchin knew what he was doing).

    In short, fuck him.

  36. 36.

    RaflW

    I love to see Dean Philips get fired from his current cushy job by MN voters, and join Joe Manchin as his ‘centrist national tour’ ball washer caddy.

  40. 40.

    Scout211

    Well, Joe Manchin has Arnold Schwarzenegger  as a supporter for his run for president under the No Labels party.

    Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said centrist lawmakers such as Sen. Joe Manchin, could stand out in the 2024 race for the White House, even as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are “taking the air out of everything” ahead of next year’s presidential election.

    Asked on “Meet the Press” whether there’s a candidate who can “bring the type of leadership that’s needed right now,” Schwarzenegger said he believes candidates other than Biden and Trump aren’t given enough of a chance.

    “Joe Manchin is one of them that I think stands out because he’s kind of like a center guy. He comes from an energy state, but he’s a Democrat, so he knows the challenges and all that,” he added, noting that there are “many others” who could focus on compromise.

    Ugh.  Shut up, Arnold.

  41. 41.

    Dangerman

    A Democrat (DINO) representing WV is kinda unnatural anyway. It’s a warp in the Universe. It’s kinda like Taylor Swift calling me up and saying she wants to bear my children. Since I have no interest in having a song written about me, I’ll pass.

  42. 42.

    Jay

    @Poe Larity:

    Manchin’s boat, yacht, houseboat, what ever you want to call it, cost $990,000 to build. It’s open plan, 3 bedroom, two full bathrooms. It was designed to be an entertainment center.

    He bought it for $220,000 at a Bank Sale.

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @Dangerman: Manchin wasn’t just a Democrat In Name Only. At least not in January of 2021, when he voted to organize the Senate with Chuck Schumer as Majority Leader. He was also the 50th vote for the American Recovery Act and the IRA.

  45. 45.

    Eunicecycle

    Joe Manchin is 76 years old! He’s almost as old as Joe B. I mean, seriously, what’s 3 or 4 years? Why would anyone not vote for Joe B because he’s old, but then vote for Manchin?

  46. 46.

    lowtechcyclist

    You know what’s going to happen if Manchin starts down the No Labels route? He’ll make public appearances, of course, but after a few weeks, most of the people who show up will be media, and after that, decreasing numbers of them as well. At that point, he’ll decide this isn’t fun after all, and quit.

  48. 48.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: I think Minnesota’s 2024 Congressional primaries will be in August. Phillips already has a solid challenger. It’s a fairly safe Democratic district now, and Democrats there might well decide that Phlips is expendable. I would.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    @Eunicecycle: Not to mention a stone’s throw from Trump @77 and for god’s sake, would somebody please throw that stone? 5 pounds minimum, thanks.

  54. 54.

    TriassicSands

    @Eunicecycle:

    I know what you’re saying, but at that age 3 or 4 days can make all the difference. On the other hand, younger people die all the time, and we have a VP to take over (that’s really the whole point of the job) in the event the president is incapacitated or if he were to  die. Joe is old. Will he make it through four more years (five at this time)/ I don’t know, know one does. I don’t want that to happen, but if it does I am not worried about Harris taking over. (I would be more worried FOR her given all the racism and nutjobs in this country.

    And a vigintillion times more worried any Republican were president.

  55. 55.

    Gvg

    @Scout211: Sometimes it shows that he wasn’t born here. A lot of parliamentarian origin transplants never seem to get that third parties are not always what they claim, or desirable. Nor are they really about centrism. Well someday there should be a new third party as the republicans die, but no labels isn’t it. He isn’t very wise which is why he isn’t a good leader.

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Manchin said in a written and video statement.

    I’ve never understood what Manchin sees as “the middle.”

  58. 58.

    Princess

    If we’re going to lose anyway…what about senate candidate John Cole? I know some people who would write postcards.

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    @Eunicecycle:

    Joe Manchin is 76 years old! He’s almost as old as Joe B. I mean, seriously, what’s 3 or 4 years? Why would anyone not vote for Joe B because he’s old, but then vote for Manchin?

    For whatever reason, only Joe’s age matters with the MSM.  

  62. 62.

    Anotherlurker

    Merritt, the manufacturer of Joe Manchin’s yacht (yes, it is a yacht) is well know for producing very high end vessels.  I have no doubt that she is fully capable of open ocean running.  My guess is that she has state of the art navigation electronics, stabilizers and and a gyroscopic anti roll system.

  63. 63.

    Steve M.

    @brendancalling: Third Way has actually been criticizing No Labels for this plan to run a presidential campaign. I thought the two groups were effectively identical, but apparently not.

    Third Way has also done some pretty good research on guns recently. I was surprised to see it.

  64. 64.

    TriassicSands

    @Jackie:

    Biden is almost certainly healthier than Trump. He certainly looks to be healthier. But genes are strange and bloated orange monsters like Trump sometimes live a long time, while much leaner, more fit people die earlier, though Biden already has four years that Trump may never get. However, that has no bearing on this, because that can only be sorted out when people die. Trump may be brain dead, but he’s got the zombie act down perfectly. His speech is only slightly more intelligible than that of zombies, but I rarely see that in the news coverage from the Times and Post except in opinion columns where columnists are constantly writing about problems their own newspapers have. That never have an effect.

    We have so many problems now, not just in politics, that could possibly be fixed if we had the will, but we don’t. The MSM are definitely on of those problems.

  65. 65.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    The lyrics in “Take Me Home” should have the “Almost heaven, West Virginia” updated to “Almost Mississippi, West Virginia”.

  66. 66.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @kindness: Just FTR, the Monongahela River is navigable for its entire 128-mile length, so in theory there’s no reason Mountaneer Joe couldn’t tie up his 65’x20′ glorified houseboat in Morgantown (convenient if&when he takes over as WVU President) or Fairmont (6 miles from his birthplace of Farmington).

    The problem would be getting it there. I suppose it could be floated down the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay, south on the Coastal Waterway, around America’s Penis into the Gulf, up the Mississippi to the Ohio to Pittsburgh and then south – a journey of something like 4,000 miles.

    OTOH it might just be narrow enough to load onto a trailer and (escorted with red flags flying) WIDE LOAD it the 210 miles to Morgantown. No doubt it would piss off everyone else driving on those interstates (I-495 to I-395 to I-70 to I-68), but unlike Joe’s time in the Senate, he’d only be pissing folks off for one or two days, not intermittently for years…

  67. 67.

    robtrim

    Forget about Manchin. It’s Jill Stein who threatens American democracy.

    She’s the Reichstag Fire waiting to happen. Swing state voters looking for an “alternative” candidate could sink Biden and the U.S. Constitution.

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