Obamacare

While WV Democratic senator Joe Manchin last night voted with the Democrats against the adoption of the budget resolution to repeal Obamacare, he continues to look and act like a Republican. For example, Politico reported two hours ago that he wants to help the Republicans "repair" Obamacare:

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday that he has contacted Republican leaders offering to help bring fellow Democrats on board for fixes to Obamacare that he portrayed as "repair" of the existing system rather than the GOP-touted replacement.

Additionally:

Manchin added that he is aligned with Trump in insisting on repeal and replacement occurring in rapid succession. The West Virginian said he joined his party in opposing a budget blueprint that passed in the wee hours of Thursday morning, setting the stage for the GOP's repeal plan, because "I am not going to vote to throw everybody off" health plans without a clear timeline in place for what comes next.

Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

Right wing sites are currently highlighting Manchin's announcement this morning to vote for attorney general candidate Jeff Sessions. Here's Breitbart's headline:

Joe Manchin Will Vote to Confirm Jeff Sessions for Attorney General: ‘I’m Voting for the Person I Know’

As Joe explained:

Jeff Sessions has my vote. He’s my friend. I’ve built relationships and friendships here. I don’t care whether you’re Democrats, Republicans, independents. We were sent here, basically sent here, to work to make America better. And Jeff Sessions, I’ve known him for six years. We’ve been friends. We talk about an array of things.

Shorter Joe: friendship trumps everything including minor things like qualifications.

All of this recalls an excellent opinion piece by Bob Kincaid in the Charleston Gazette-Mail two weeks ago:

It’s time for Joe to come out of the closet and embrace the Republican he is and always has been. He must change his party allegiance now, so he can finally feel the warm embrace of his natural Republican allies (like senators Sessions and McConnell) and prepare his campaign for the 2018 GOP senate nomination. Democrats can then go about the business of finding an actual Democrat to run for the seat, a real Democrat who represents the values of FDR, of JFK, of RFK, of Dr. King — of respect for working people of all colors, genders and ages, not to mention the planet upon which we all must live. In other words, someone who is everything Joe Manchin is not.