Democrats have been negotiating with Sen. Joe Manchin, a right-wing Democrat from West Virginia, so that they can amend the filibuster rule and pass voting rights legislation. But Democratic insiders say the process has been difficult — and one source even compared it to “negotiating via Etch A Sketch.”
Insiders told Axios that Manchin has been inconsistent throughout negotiations, changing what he wants out of a deal from one day to the next.
“You think you’re just about there. You think you’ve got an agreement on most of the things and it’s settling in. And then you come back the next morning and you’re starting from scratch,” the source said.
That same source described the talks with Manchin as being “like negotiating via Etch A Sketch,” referencing a children’s toy that erases itself at the slightest disturbance or shake.
Democrats are focusing on finding a way to pass voting rights protections before the 2022 midterm races, in hopes of preventing Republican-run state legislatures from further disenfranchising voters across the nation. But Republican lawmakers have utilized the filibuster to block major voting rights bills four times in the past year, including a version of the For the People Act proposed by Manchin; for such a law to be passed without GOP obstruction, there must be changes to filibuster.
Even as Democrats promise to set up a vote on changing the filibuster later this month, Manchin refuses to get on board, claiming that the action is too partisan, even if it means passing much-needed voting rights legislation. Manchin has said that he doesn’t want to support a voting rights bill unless the bill is bipartisan, a demand many in the Democratic Party have said is unreasonable.
“The 15th Amendment was not a bipartisan vote,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) said in an interview over the weekend. “It was a single-party vote that gave Black people the right to vote.”
Democrats are trying to persuade Manchin to support one of a few possible changes to the filibuster. In negotiations, they have discussed removing the filibuster requirement for all bills relating to voting rights; lowering the threshold needed for a cloture vote on a filibuster; and returning to a “talking filibuster,” which would require senators to stand and speak non-stop.
Most of the negotiations seem to involve three moderate members of the Senate Democratic caucus, who until recently were also wary of changing filibuster rules. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Jon Tester (D-Montana), and Angus King (I-Maine) have all taken part in the talks with Manchin, trying to convince him to back the effort to change the rules.
Democrats have also been trying to entice Manchin in other ways, including getting big names to call his office directly. Per reporting from Politico, Manchin has received phone calls from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, urging him to end his stubborn defense of the filibuster in its current form. Famed talk show host Oprah Winfrey has also reportedly called Manchin’s office to try to convince him that the filibuster isn’t worth defending if it means the right to vote is imperiled.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.