On Tuesday, a Wheeling Intelligencer editorial once again praised West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin for his supposed bipartisanship:

He [Manchin] went on to lay blame for our dangerously heated political atmosphere on BOTH parties.

“It’s not normal to teach people to hate the other side. There’s only one side — the American side,” he said. He talked about the “bad behavior” of extreme operators on both sides of the political aisle.
And he’s right, of course. Deep down most of us know the way we’re being encouraged to think about politics and government right now isn’t normal, or even OK.

“We’re all in this together,” Manchin reminded the audience in Parkersburg.

In recent years, Manchin has come to blame just about everything that has gone wrong in the United States on the excesses of partisanship. Consequently, "bipartisanship" became the Senator’s mantra, even if it was irrelevant to the question. For example, from last March:

BIDEN’S JUDGE PICKS: Sen. Joe Manchin said he will not support President Biden's judicial picks who don't have any Republican support. MORE: https://t.co/72o8YmYbrn pic.twitter.com/JRnmfxImGj

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) March 22, 2024

Bipartisanship, here? As I noted at the time, how Manchin's Republican colleagues will vote on a nominee should be irrelevant to his vote; his only criteria should be whether or not the nominee is qualified. (Okay, he also might consider what his constituents think.)

Senator Joe went searching for bipartisan Republicans but could only find one!

Back in June, not long after leaving the Democratic Party, the senator proclaimed that his independence was not just rhetoric -- he would use his personal PAC money to reward bipartisanship regardless of party affiliation:

"I will reward people who have worked across the aisle and passed legislation, engaged in bipartisan conversation and stood up to the extremes," @Sen_Joe Manchin writes, announcing a new direction for his PAC.https://t.co/cUbkpBX2XA

— CNN Opinion (@CNNOpinion) June 25, 2024

This morning, I checked Manchin’s Country Roads political PAC at Open Secrets and found that his political action committee has donated $70,000 in this election cycle to Federal candidates. Of that $70,000, only $5,000 has been given to a Republican, Brian Fitzpatrick, from PA1. Yes, Fitzpatrick has displayed bipartisanship, although that may be out of necessity: the district is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans and voted for Biden in 2020. It should also be noted that Fitzpatrick had political connections to Manchin through the No Labels Party which considered nominating Manchin for President earlier this year. Additionally, Manchin has also given to fellow independent senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Angus King. (King votes with the Democrats more than Manchin does.)

Finally, I had to laugh at the following sentence in the editorial:

Deep down most of us know the way we’re being encouraged to think about politics and government right now isn’t normal, or even OK.

It won’t happen, but maybe Ogden ought to look more closely at some of their own extremist political columnists. See, for example, anything by Josh Hammer, who usually appears in the “Region” section on the weekend.

So what has Joe Manchin been doing lately?

Perhaps, running for a different office:

I'm in Morgantown with my lifelong friend, Coach Nick Saban, to celebrate the Mylan Park recreational complex & its profound impact on youth across our state & beyond. After 25 years, the Mylan Park Foundation will continue to provide endless opportunities in the decades ahead. pic.twitter.com/GSFphU4JBg

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) October 23, 2024