Senator Coburn supports Manchin re-election

[Hawaii Hiker]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/07/22/coburn_supports_manchins_re-election.html

Manchin sucks, but i guess that's best we can hope for out of WV,

"Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) crossed party lines and gave a $250 contribution to Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) re-election campaign "because he believes Manchin is not beholden to short-sighted political interests," The Hill reports".

[ellenfl]

1. think manchin's planning to switch parties? eom

[Hawaii Hiker]

3. I was thinking that to, but i don't think he'll switch

I guess in WV, you have to be a conservative Democrat to win...

And think, Dukakis won the state in the 1988 presidential election....Now, Democrats can't compete there in a presidential election..

[Ikonoklast]

4. Say one thing against Coal in that state, and you are sunk.

Without the extraction industries, there is very little economic activity in WV.

[ellenfl]

5. true that. eom

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. He may switch or may pull a Lieberman and go "I"

On one hand, he can't support the party on most environmental issues

OTOH, union coal miners still do a lot of the voting, and the GOP has proven very union-unfriendly.

[Arkana]

2. I'm going to be sick.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Don't know if I should be happy about this or not

Another "Democrat" in the Senate (numerically speaking), I guess.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Coburn is an interesting character

I strongly disagree with him 95% of the time but he does actually think for himself sometimes even against the Party line and he seems to have the courage of his convictions so to speak. Meawhile I remember watching Manchin during that huge sad mining disaster a coupple of years back and responding well to how he seemed in person in real time at that crisis. Manchin probably was the only person who could have kept a far right Republican from gaining that Senate seat though I often wince at what he says and does since he entered the Senate.

[Hawaii Hiker]

9. He did something odd recently

President Obama had a somewhat controversial 9th. Circuit nominee, Andrew Hurwitz...He was voted out of the Seante Judiciary Committee with a 13-5 vote, Coburn voting yes...But when it came time for a floor vote, cloture had to be filed because repubs didn't want to give him up/down vote, they were concerned about his views on abortion, based on some past writings of his....Anyway, cloture was invoked, barely, as they got the 60 votes needed....Coburn voted AGAINST cloture, yet supported him out of committee, which is odd...Hurwtiz ended up being confirmed by the full senate via voice vote, which is also strange as usually controversial nominees have a roll call vote....