Manchin and Trumpcare

Senator Manchin was interviewed last night by Politico and had some things to say about the health care package passed yesterday by the House:

Saying Obamacare had helped treat people addicted to opioids and extended insurance coverage to 20 million people, Manchin said he has warned Trump that the law’s beneficiaries will blame him if they lose their insurance.

“I said, ‘Mr. President, 172,000 West Virginians got insurance for the first time,’” Manchin said. "They’ve got something they never had before. They don’t know how they got it, they don’t know who gave it to them, they don’t know the Democrats, nothing about, ‘It’s Obamacare.’ They don’t know any of that. All they know is they’ve got it.”

“And you know what? They voted for you, Mr. President,” he said. “They’re going to know who took it away from them.”

Our local rightwing "newspapers" apparently aren't the only ones still obsessed with Hillary

A number of other news sources picked up the senator's comments found in yesterday's Politico interview. At a number of conservative sites, however, they either skipped his Trumpcare comments entirely or mentioned them in passing preferring to feature the comments that Manchin apparently made about Hillary Clinton. (I could find no mention of them on Politico's website.) For example, here's the headline from a Townhall article earlier today:

Manchin: The Clintons Are My Friends, But What She Said While In West Virginia Was Just 'Horrible'

The Townhall article at least mentioned Trumpcare. Here's the Washington Free Beacon's take on the Politico interview:

Manchin: Hillary Clinton Made ‘Horrific,’ ‘Horrible’ Comments About Coal Miners

Hillary Clinton has apparently become the right wing's obsession and/or security blanket.

A Manchin challenger

Speaking of Hillary and obsession: earlier this week, Yahoo News, among a number of news sites, reported that Manchin would have at least one challenger in next year's senatorial election:

Exactly one year ago, out-of-work West Virginia coal industry worker Bo Copley delivered one of the 2016 presidential race’s most memorable moments when he challenged Hillary Clinton. Now Copley tells Yahoo News he has set his sights on unseating his state’s Democratic senator, Joe Manchin.

“With everything that has happened over the past year, with all of the attention we have received, with all of the people saying, ‘We really appreciate you representing us,’ we thought maybe people want someone to represent them who understands what they’re going through,” Copley said in a Tuesday telephone interview. “It’s what God’s telling me to do.”

Fortunately for Manchin, Copley will be entering the race as a Republican. It's going to be an interesting election.