Rich predicted a looming smear campaign against Senator Joe Manchin for reiterating that he opposes the filibuster and also Democrats’ federal elections bill H.R. 1. Manchin has been facing mounting criticism from the left all day, and now Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the pile on, claiming he has joined Republicans in supporting “voter suppression.”
Whenever AOC attacks, it is a gift to Manchin, a Democrat in a state that Donald Trump carried by an average of 40 points in the past two presidential elections. The only way Manchin can survive in the state is by showing people back home that he is defying the left wing of his party. Triggering AOC likely made his whole op-ed “Why I’m voting against the For the People Act” worth it.
Just thinking about how after this photo ran Wall Street Journal columnists spent more time criticizing me for not smiling enough than asking Manchin precisely what areas of “common ground” he had in mind when he stood up for the GOP.
Turns out voter suppression was one of them! https://t.co/hiMeVNKtss
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 7, 2021