Joe Manchin urges Senators to take pledge to not campaign against each other !

[Shadows]

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) today pledged to return to an era of bipartisan cooperation and agreement in order to restore civility to the United States Senate and our political discourse.

1)         Not campaign against a sitting colleague;

2)         Not directly fundraise against them;

3)         Not distribute any direct mail against them;

4)         Not appear or endorse any advertisements directed at them;

5)         Not use or endorse social media campaigns that attack them.


“Several years ago I took a personal pledge to not campaign against a sitting colleague. I think the time has come for all Senators to make this pledge and commit ourselves to being Americans first – not Republicans or Democrats.  I am proud to take this pledge and I encourage all of my Senate
colleagues to join me.” 


https://www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=3A39593B-4301-4315-943C-AA94CEFE3E30

[BudgieForce]

What's with the exclamation point?

[Shadows]

No wonder Dems lose....let's bring out the Dukakis strategy

It is kinda weird he is asking even Republicans to support it. A Senator from WV can't campaign against him & neither can Mitch McConnell. It is crazy & will ensure all incumbents are protected. Even if the Senator is a Presidential nominee (Let's say Booker or Klobuchar), they can't campaign against vulnerable Republican Senators to give their party a majority.

This is kinda crazy & I don't know why would people give their own party Senators a blank cheque (what if they do some crazy stuff or commit a crime). This is literally begging Bernie Sanders to not give any tacit support of fundraising for the BNC primary challenger so that Manchin can dispatch her swiftly & focus on the general !

[Famous Mortimer]

what a nerd

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

This is dumb, but Manchin's pledge doesn't say anything about campaigning for someone who happens to be running against an incumbent senator...

[Antonio the Sixth]

for f**k's sake

[HAnnA MArin County]

Yeah, dumb. Democrats need to come off of the high road and realize that being the potty trained party isn't going to win them votes in a nation full of low infos. We need to retire Michelle Obama's "when they go low, we go high" battle cry while we're at it.

[Santander]

He forgot 6. Bend over.

[GoTfan]

Pft. He's afraid that Bernie will come down to campaign for his opponent.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Psssh. What a nerd.

[Antonio the Sixth]

what a nerd

Psssh. What a nerd.

[Dr. Arch]

Your ignorance never ceases to amaze--stay classy.

[Mr. Smith]

Where were these kinds of pleas in 2014 when Mark Begich and Kay Hagan were in trouble? Heaven knows heavy lobbying to get Lisa Murkowski and Richard Burr to stay out would've kept them in check.

[TJ in Oregon]

I wouldn't be opposed to such a pledge in principle; it would be nice to force our politicians to actually be for something rather than simply against everything. But there doesn't appear to be an obvious enforcement mechanism for this, so it's pretty toothless.

[Kingpoleon]

Good. I don't support empowering Senators, but we should not allow Senators to attack the people they're supposed to be working with.

I wouldn't be opposed to such a pledge in principle; it would be nice to force our politicians to actually be for something rather than simply against everything. But there doesn't appear to be an obvious enforcement mechanism for this, so it's pretty toothless.

I have to imagine breaking the pledge would mean nobody in the Senate will fundraise or campaign for them.

[Green Line]

Doesn't benefit the American people.  Just their own job security.

[Technocracy Timmy]

Apparently Joe Manchin egged on a Sanders supporter to vote him out earlier this year:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[GoTfan]

Doesn't benefit the American people.  Just their own job security.

If it was Hillary, you'd say that every Senator should get onto this agreement immediately.

[Gustaf]

Manchin obviously would benefit a lot from this so of course he'd say that. I'm not sure what the big deal is, obviously this wouldn't happen and I'm pretty sure he knows that. It's just building up to smearing "out-of-state interests" when he gets challenged next year.

[publicunofficial]

Good. I don't support empowering Senators, but we should not allow Senators to attack the people they're supposed to be working with.

Are you just secretly Ron Fournier posting in his off-time?

[This account no longer in use.]

He's not wrong

[Chief Justice Keef]

Good. I don't support empowering Senators, but we should not allow Senators to attack the people they're supposed to be working with.

Are you just secretly Ron Fournier posting in his off-time?

LOVE *clap* THAT *clap* BOY

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Admirable goal, but naive(or political positioning to prevent primary losses among the red state dems that hand seats to republicans)

Doesn't benefit the American people.  Just their own job security.

If it was Hillary, you'd say that every Senator should get onto this agreement immediately.

 Hillary isn't within a lightyear of relevant to this thread. Chill.

[The Govanah Jake]

Very Naive !