It doesn’t matter if coal is dying, it matters if coal is paying him.

I don't think you realize, he's not pandering - he IS coal. That's where his family made their money and he continues to directly benefit from coal cut-outs in legislation that he forces in.

Almost Republican? When his vote really, really matters, he doesn't vote for democracy. There's a reason why people abhor Sinema and him.

He's merely protecting his and his family's interests. His son runs the coal business he started and he has been making special deals for it ever since.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/08/manchin-family-coal-company-00003218

"If it was good enough for my grandpa (dead at 45 from black lung), my father (currently in hospice with lung cancer) and me (on disability after a collapse), its good enough for my kids (TBD)!"

I think its partially familiarity, and partially that a lot of the communities were formed around these mines... and without them the community will dry up and wither away. Which is a hard pill to swallow for people who've lived there for multiple generations.

First I will say the sooner we are off coal the better.

But will answer your question. First off, coal is one of the cheapest energy sources. There is a reason the world is using record breaking amounts today. Keeps their energy prices down. Secondly thru taxes it benefits every person in said state. Not only do these companies pay normal taxes on high profits, but they pay an additional tax in the form of royalties. Third. Have you ever worked in a mine? They take safety serious. Not only that, jobs that pay over 100k a year with little education. Not too much complaining by those that work there.

Short answer. Pay lots into government taxes, keeps energy costs down while creating some of the highest paid jobs. That against the damages to global warming.

the dems are better one vote down than with joe mccoalstack on 'their side'.

He might run for President with No Labels and hand the presidency to Trump.

Yeah, he's running in an R+22 state that voted Trump over Biden by 40 points. He knows the D brand is dogshit in his state, and so he's gonna drag it through the mud over the next year to give himself as much breathing room as possible. People don't understand how blood red West Virginia is nowadays. The best way to make his comings and goings absolutely irrelevant is to hold Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, and Montana, and potentially take Florida and Texas. This map is absolutely brutal, as Dems are running to keep several R-leaning states, and Republicans aren't running to keep anything D-leaning.

He can’t win as a democrat. He’s behind Jim Justice 32-54. That’s a 22 point spread. He loses 16 points if he goes I. This is him trying to save a flagging campaign.

Honestly, I wish he’d go I and the dems pull his committees and his funds, and send them to races they have a chance of winning with candidates who will not extort them in an ongoing power play.

Exactly this. Anyone who replaces him would likely be as MAGA a Republican as they come, vs Manchin who supports much of the Democratic agenda. We want Manchin to keep his seat, and we want more Democrats in the Senate so he and Sinema can't block anything single handedly.

Speaking of, I'm all in on Colin Allred beating Ted Cruz next year, I think he's a much better candidate than Beto was last time around.

Why? I thought centrists were all reliable voters who will vote blue no matter who. Progressives sure as fuck won't vote for him.

Room where? In West Virginia?

Whether he retires, switches to the Republican Party, dies, or serves until 2050 as a Democrat, Joe Manchin is the last Democratic senator from West Virginia for the rest of our lifetimes.

Well, the good news is if he leaves, we can replace Feinstein without any additional penalty.

He can't hold his seat anymore regardless. Dems and Dem caucusing Is are 51-49 so they can lose him and still have the Senate with Harris as VP. Realistically, at least one other D is going down on the 2024 senate map, so they'll need to bump off Cruz to compensate and keep it 50-50.