The nature of power relationships between Senators and party leadership is transactional. It is not coercive, because Senators - and House members for that matter - are elected by unique constituencies and only slightly beholden to party structures. Sure, you want to win the primary, but individual popularity can override party desires, especially party leadership. May I remind you of Joe Fucking Lieberman?
Manchin's grandstanding is a little bit of a mystery, because he's 74 and has to know that he's unlikely to win in WV unless these bills pass. In fact, he's unlikely to win in WV because of entrenched partisanship. However, Manchin is no fool. He understands that transactional nature of legislating. It's unclear at the moment what he's trying to hold out for, but I have to think that Manchin and the Gottheimer Nine have at least SOME demands that leadership are working to address. My guess is that this will result with a BBB bill that is unsatisfactory to a lot of people, but ultimately makes real progress on a lot of issues.
A lot of people on my Twitter feed are saying that Manchin is "corrupt." Maybe, certainly in the Whiggish since of moral rot. If he getting direct kickbacks? I doubt it. If he was, he'd be a lot easier to get on board. Just offer better bribes!
Krysten Sinema does not seem to have any of these concerns. Her objections seem to be entirely optical. She has made no demands from leadership; she has simply said she won't vote for the bill.
There is some evidence that she thinks she's a Democratic John McCain and therefore needs to fuck over her party leadership. That is SUCH a profound misreading of this historical moment.
Legislating is called sausage-making for a reason. In the age of constant news coverage and social media shitstorms, legislating has become even harder. In days past, Manchin would have made his deal in return for something shady or special for WV and we would be moving on. Unfortunately, we are negotiating in public, which forces prima donnas like Manchin and Sinema to stake out public positions and then stick to them.
I have a general idea of what Manchin might be doing, but I have zero clue what Sinema's game is.
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