John, I’m mad at Joe Manchin, you’re mad at Joe Manchin, everybody is mad at Joe Manchin. Nothing encapsulates the frustration of our current politics in Washington more than watching one man with deep financial ties to the coal lobby from one of the poorest states in the country blow up the historic, incredibly popular, people-first agenda that Democrats ran and won on in 2020. There are think pieces aplenty about why Manchin is doing what he’s doing and why it makes no sense; so instead of getting into that, I want to point out one thing he’s said that I absolutely agree with: To pass more progressive legislation, you have to elect more progressives.
Don’t forget: The fact that the Build Back Better bill passed the House with all of the incredible benefits in it still intact — paid family and medical leave, universal Pre-K, the largest effort to combat the climate crisis in U.S. history, and the super-wealthy and corporations finally paying their fair share — is because progressives refused to back down. And they did that with one of the slimmest Congressional majorities in recent history. Just imagine what progressives could do with more leverage to negotiate against conservative Democrats like Manchin (I didn’t mention Republicans because, frankly, Republicans appear to have no desire to negotiate at all). I got in this race to help people by passing bold solutions to the real problems Floridians face every day: healthcare, jobs, climate, and more.
— Eddie
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