In a column recently published Charleston Gazette-Mail, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin notes that rules such as the filibuster are in place to keep one party from running roughshod over the other.
"Yes, this process can be frustrating and slow," the West Virginia Democrat writes. "It will force compromises that are not always ideal. But consider the alternative. Do we really want to live in an America where one party can dictate and demand everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants?"
He refers to the For the People Act, an election reform measure now awaiting action in the Senate, and he assures his home state voters he will not support it.
"This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support," he writes. "Why?"
Manchin mentions the seven Republican senators who stood up for democracy in voting to impeach Donald Trump.
"Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?" he asks.
For Manchin, the answer is no. "The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen," he writes. "The truth is there is a better way — if we seek to find it together."
Manchin notes in his column that he’s been working with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in pushing for passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
But how many Republican votes should it take? Both parties now have 50 seats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking any ties.
If Manchin succeeds in persuading those same seven Republicans to support voting rights legislation, he’ll still be three votes short of ending a filibuster. Will he vote then to change the rules?
He really should. The goal here should be bipartisanship. Can’t that be seven Republican votes? Or five?
Manchin’s goal is a worthy one, and it’s one Joe Biden seems to share.
The president has made clear he wants to find common ground on issues such as infrastructure and voting rights, but he has also been clear about something else: Doing nothing is not an option.
Both men need to recognize that the bipartisan atmosphere they seek to restore might be gone forever. For way too many of our elected leaders, politics is no longer about governing. It’s about winning.
Our senators and representatives need to remember why they went to Washington in the first place. To get things done.
If Senate leaders need to modify the filibuster to break through a partisan roadblock, they should do it. Keeping in mind, of course, that whatever rules they adopt as a majority will still be in place when they find themselves back in the minority.