Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski crossed party lines and endorsed each other during a joint inte

[Polybius]

Source: Business Insider

Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski crossed party lines and endorsed each other during a joint interview

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski appeared in a joint TV interview on Sunday and exchanged endorsements.

Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," during which Manchin endorsed her and called her a "dear friend."

"It's hypocritical to work with a person day-in and day-out and then when they're in cycle you're supposed to be against them because they have an R or a D by their name," Manchin said. "If these are good people I've worked with, we've accomplished a lot, why in the world wouldn't I want to continue to work with them?"

Murkowski, who is facing Trump-endorsed primary challenger Kelly Tshibaka this year, also said she would endorse Manchin if he runs for re-election in 2024.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/sens-joe-manchin-and-lisa-murkowski-endorse-each-other-2022-2

[Blue Owl]

1. Well aren't they special... so fuckin' special....

[BlueIdaho]

2. Too cute by half.

Now all they have to do is convince two very skeptical groups of voters.

[JohnSJ]

3. We have two Senators in very red states, one a Democrat who currently helps give us the majority in

the Senate, and one a republican who has no Democratic challengers, and sometimes votes with the Democrats, including for judicial nominations, and definitely is not representative of Senate republicans.

This is NOT a typical situation, and trying to present this as an example of "bipartisanship", completely misleading

[William Seger]

10. Yes, real bipartisanship means real compromise

[LenaBaby61]

24. THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

[Irish_Dem]

4. This guy has perfected the art of being a complete jackass.

[LenaBaby61]

25. Be careful calling him a jackass. He still has many supporters on the site here 🙄

[Irish_Dem]

27. Ok, I will tone it down. Is asshat better?

[LenaBaby61]

28. Ok, I will tone it down. Is asshat better?

[Stuart G]

30. The American Asshat Association...(Of Which I am a Founding Member) takes Issue With This........

We cannot have any referecne of any kind to the Idiots who support Trump. It is clear to our
Association that Manchin and the young lady..are those idiots......Of course the lady might not
support Trump on gender responsibilities, but the man supports Trump some of the time...
.................that man is a fool............Apologies to ....The American Fool Association...(AFA)
of which I am also a member...............................opps ............time to hide again...

[UCmeNdc]

5. Awww This is so cute.

I wonder if she will help Joe Biden pass his agenda?

[monkeyman1]

22. match made-to-order ?

[quakerboy]

23. Im sure she will/has happily lend moral support

as he blocks Bidens agenda

[monkeyman1]

6. Guess he's tired of the Arizona money grabber ?

[tirebiter]

7. Being civil is a good thing

I applaud it.

[Wuddles440]

17. While I appreciate...

and share your sentiments, the GQP cultist harbor disdain for those prompting such views and consider it a sign of weakness to exploit. Unfortunately, it's a zero sum game with them and maintaining any semblance of civility is not a winning strategy.

[Metaphorical]

8. The New Independence Party

I know it's popular to bash Manchin here, but I don't see this endorsement as being a bad thing.

We have to start acknowledging the fact that there are in fact a large number of independent voters out there that were formerly staunch old school Republicans who couldn't take Trump and the MAGA takeover. They will not formally join with the Democrats, but they are well aware that the Republican party has gone into deep crazy zone and can't support it anymore.

What I see emerging is a new centrist bloc that I'd informally dub the Independence party - Manchin, Sinema, maybe Jon Tester on the Democratic side, Murkowski, Romney, maybe Collins on the Republican side. They may caucus with the Democrats in order to give them control of that house, but they are likely not going to uniformly follow the Democratic agenda.

Realistically, this is the political situation that we face right now. These six or seven senators have an oversized role precisely because the two chambers as currently constituted cancel one another out. They also represent the hope of a "moderate" wing re-emerging that could end up becoming the nucleus of a new Republican party. As progressives, we may feel stymied and frustrated when big initiatives fail, but I'd rather have a bloc that can come together when the need is there than one where polarization makes ANY government unfeasible.

[BradAllison]

13. "Puke smells better than shit" n/m

[True Blue American]

16. I agree!

After listening to the Jake Tapper interview Sunday I see a path forward of working together to get things done. Lisa is a very level headed woman and what they both said makes sense, working together.

They may prove me wrong but I will wait and see.

[SouthernDem4ever]

19. Anyone that voted against removing trump from office

is NOT level headed.

[LenaBaby61]

26. THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

[Mawspam2]

9. She didn't bring any help for the VR bill he crafted.

How good of a friend can she be?
https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/M001153-lisa-murkowski/compare-votes/M001183-joe-manchin-iii/115

They agreed to:
Make Haspel CIA Dir.
Make Pompeo SoS.
Spy on US Citizens.
Stop the distribution of the Federal Record.
Make Ajit Pai head of FCC.
Make Gorsuch SC Justice.
Make Sessions AG.

[LittleGirl]

11. That was a cringy interview. eom

[XacerbatedDem]

12. Isn't that special. That Manchin guy sure does get along with everybody, doesn't he.

Maybe they can put sun screen on each other's backsides at the beach this summer.

[BradAllison]

14. A party for people who's real fear is Kamala Harris, AOC and Ilhan Omar.....

Not Teddy Crud Josh Heehawly and Orange Anus himself.

[Emile]

15. REAL DEMOCRATS would never endorse Republicans!

Just sayn!

[dbonds]

18. They now are addicted to the fame.

It may have one time been about issues, but both now get too much tv and interview time.

[angrychair]

20. Of course they did

Not surprised

[Lancero]

21. Not the first time he did this.

He also endorsed Susan Collins over her Democratic challenger Sara Gideon for 2020.

And while some may point out that this race shouldn't count because we're not running anyone, Manchin stated in 2019 that he would support Murkowski over any Democratic challengers.

It's odd, really. A certain group of individuals here love to lash out against The Squad for not supporting Democrats enough... meanwhile nothing but three cheers from them when Joe Manchin - in their words, a "Real Democrat" - endorses Republicans at the cost of our own candidates.

[riversedge]

29. Each believes they will get voters to cross Party lines and vote for them. Probably will work IMHO