Why is Joe Manchin a member of the Democratic Party when he consistently votes against them?

Question

From his Wikipedia page, Joe Manchin appears to be a Republican pretending to be a Democrat to get elected in a state that is solidly Republican, but has returned him since 2010. He gets huge majorities in his primaries and thin majorities in the actual election and then in the current session has basically appeared to block all significant Democrat policy, but doesn't seem to be drawing significant removal attempts from either side.

Why is Joe Manchin a Democrat when he sides so consistently on significant votes with the Republican party? Why do Democrat primary voters in his state vote for him so strongly, or even consider themselves Democrats if they consider him to align with their positions? Why does the central Democrat party continue to support him? I assume all of this has an underlaying unifying cause, but I have no idea what this might be.

Answer 1

Well, I guess I'd better start by saying, it's not clear that Joe Manchin DOES consistently vote against his own party.

BUT I suppose if you pre-suppose the conclusion, you can get plenty of explanations for why Joe Manchin consistently votes against other Democratic Party members.

You could say it's safer for a Democrat to cross party lines on legislation. Comparing Manchin and Sinema to Sasse and Romney, I'm not sure that's clearly the case.

You could say it's because he's a greedy, reactionary coal baron who cares more about his own wealth than democracy or social welfare. But that doesn't match up. If you look at how often senators voted "Democratic" (i.e. voted along with the democratic president) look at their net worth and adjust for how long they've been in office, then there's some shaky data to suggest that you're either AS likely or slightly MORE likely to be a multi-millionaire if you vote strictly along party lines.

You could say that it's because West Virginians voted for Trump in 2020. And it's true that if you look at a scatter plot of voting records, Manchin is definitely an outlier.

So is he an outlier on his voting record too? Well, West Virginia is one of five states with both a Democratic and a Republican senator. Of the five, 2 voted with Biden 98% of the time (along with 17 non-split state senators). 1 (Manchin) voted with Biden 95% of the time (along with 12 non-split state senators), and 2 voted with Biden 93% of the time (along with Bernie Sanders). So is that our smoking gun? I don't know. Seems pretty shaky to me.

So...maybe we should circle back to the beginning. Maybe Joe Manchin DOESN'T consistently vote against his party. Maybe if he IS affected by Republican intolerance or greed or the demands of constituents, the effect is so small that you can only see it if you believe it's there from the outset.

Answer 2

West Virginia voted 68.62% for Trump in 2020.

Ask yourself if anyone running against the Republicans in this state can afford to be very progressive-leaning within the Democratic party?

Also ask yourself (and without disagreeing with Carduus' analysis of the kingmaker power his position gives him): if you believe that West Virginians need to have access to a choice of policies during congressional elections and you are, in your own convictions, left-of-state-Republicans but right-of-USA-wide-Democrats, is running against the state Republicans on a Democratic ticket something that is somehow dishonest and against your principles?

Susan Collins, as a Republican in Maine (53.09% for Biden in 2020), has a similar position (and Dems are happy playing the bipartisan card with her).

The US used to have more cross-the-aisle politicians who were capable of bipartisanship to get things done and for all the Ted Cruzes and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes whining otherwise, I can't see that as bad thing, not with the level of legislative gridlock.

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There is also another way to understand the question, which is what I understood at first, which "why is Manchin not kicked out?":

The case for exiling Manchin and Sinema from the Democratic Party

Ask yourself these questions: would the Dems be served better for running a "purer" Dem in W Virginia and likely loosing? Would the Dems be better off booting Manchin and dealing with him as an Independent? Would Manchin be liable to lose to a Rep if running as an independent without Dem support and with possibly a Dem opponent? I.e. what's the gain, at the country level, to the Dems from chucking him out?

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If this question is motivated by his vote on the Federal abortion bill, consider that 58% of West Virginians want to restrict abortion, one of the USA's highest proportions.

Finally, look at an answer questioning the explicit assumption in this question's title, whether Manchin does in fact vote "a lot" against Dems.

Answer 3

Even if Joe Manchin's track record wasn't very much in line with other Democrats (as shown by other answers), he could still remain a member of the Democrat party if he wanted. As explained in Do the Democratic/Republican parties have any control over their membership and primary voters, both the Republican and the Democratic party have little control over who participates in their primaries. So in theory, even Donald Trump could run in a Democratic primary and if the voters support him, he'd have a "D" next to his name in the next election.

As to why Joe Manchin might sometimes choose to vote against his own party, keep in mind that West Virginia is a heavily conservative state. Its one of the most anti-abortion states in the country, for example. And since Senators are elected state-wide, he can't rely on an urban districts alone to propel him into power. So in accordance with the Median Voter Theorem Manchin does his best to throw a bone to his voter base from time to time. To some extent he can keep his cake and eat it too - constantly be in the news for voting against his party, while at the same time he gets to vote for Biden's agenda 95% of the time. Your very post is a great illustration of the illusion he's created about his persona as a supposed "Republican Democrat"

Answer 4

Republicans as a rule have strong incentives not to cross party lines on any legislation: their party heads can strip them of committee assignments and any position of power within the legislature.

But Manchin's position as the tiebreaking Democrat gives him a great deal of power. If the Democrats want to pass anything in the current 48 Democrats, 50 Republicans, 2 Independents-who-vote-with-the-Dems split, they essentially need his permission. He wins a lot of pork for his state due to this power, which makes him both fabulously wealthy from corporate sponsorships and tremendously popular with his constituents.

Answer 5

Everyone likes to present political parties as a unified front. But each Senator represents his or her own state, not the entire party. You have to be able, at some point, to go home and get voters to send you back.

Joe Manchin is very much a big spender in the mold of his predecessor, the infamous Robert Byrd. If you're not aware, a lot of West Virginia infrastructure is named after him. Manchin is a Democrat somewhat for the same reason: money for the state. The March 2021 stimulus is a prime example of Manchin very much favoring government spending. From Manchin's own website

West Virginia alone will receive approximately $140 million for broadband expansion, $152 million for emergency rental assistance, and $1.34 billion for our schools and childcare facilities. Every city, town, village and county in the state will receive funding to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and support essential frontline workers. A vast majority of West Virginians will also receive $1,400 stimulus checks. We were also able to extend unemployment benefits through the end of August and protect those receiving unemployment benefits and making less than $150,000 from being hit with an unexpected tax bill next year. This relief bill will help West Virginia rebuild after this incredibly difficult year.

Shocker of shockers: even Republicans like money. But the proposed major Democratic stimulus after that sparked fears of inflation with Manchin

What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity. Suggesting that spending trillions more will not have an impact on inflation ignores the everyday reality that America’s families continue pay an unavoidable inflation tax. Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery. This is the shared reality we all now face, and it is this reality that must shape the future decisions that we, as elected leaders, must make.

Manchin was right (Apr 2022 numbers hit 8.3%). And Manchin clearly knows his own state (Apr 2022 survey)

57% of West Virginia voters approve of Manchin’s job performance, up from 40% during the first quarter of 2021.

And

While Manchin has made up ground on the right, he’s angered West Virginia Democrats, 54% of whom now disapprove of him, up from 32% around this time last year. However, he’s also made large gains with independents over that time frame, with an approval rating rising from 31% to 50%.

In other words, Manchin is a rare bird in politics: a member of one political party who draws enough support from the other party to win elections. In fact, he can afford to anger his own party within his home state. Remember, Joe Manchin is all but obliged to vote for Democrats to control the Senate (meaning that if he were removed, the Senate would flip 51-49 for Republicans). Former Clinton strategist James Carville notes why the Democrats need Manchin

“Understand that Joe Manchin is a Roman Catholic Democrat in a state in which not a single county has voted Democrat [for president] since 2008,” Carville said.

“Politics is about choices and he’s up for re-election in 2024. If Manchin runs for re-election, I’ll do everything I can to help him because it’s either going to be Joe Manchin or Marsha Blackburn. It ain’t Joe Manchin or Ed Markey.”

Blackburn is a hard-right Republican from Tennessee, Markey a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts.

In short, you'd rather have someone who at least identifies with your party and carries some of positions, than to nominate some who will carry all of your positions... but can't win. There is no other Democrat in West Virginia who is even remotely popular enough to win a statewide election in a state that is currently considered R+23.

Answer 6

Short answer: it's an internal game of good cop-bad cop.

Long answer: Party politics is used as an obfuscation technique to cover up the policies in play. Both parties have effectively the same modus operandi and conform to the same parameters when creating policy. Both parties receive money from the same donors, industries such as finance and banking, military contractors, property developers, FF companies etc.

These industries wouldn't donate to any party that wouldn't push policies that favored them. As a result, the two parties must find a way of generating the appearance of conflict to hide the actual parity of their policies.

For Republicans, this approach is fearmongering and scapegoating to whip up their base into a frenzy about a non-issue that nobody really cares about. In decades past, this would be desegregation, civil rights, gay marriage, and now more recently which bathrooms people can and can't use. Since they always pick losing battles, they always have something new to complain about every few years.

For Democrats, the technique is to browbeat most rational people into thinking that the only way to prevent the lunatic Republicans from taking everybody back to the 1800s is to vote for them. This is seen every election cycle ("vote for us or you'll lose access to abortion").

The result is what's commonly called the "culture war", except there is no actual culture involved. Both sides are largely manufactured. A majority of people support right to choose, universal healthcare, ending foreign wars, freedom of expression, etc. They have to be convinced that the rift is far greater than it is, which is where people like Manchin come in. By pointing at people like Manchin, Dems can say "damn, we'd love to get anything done, but he keeps getting in the way. Oh, kick him out and run someone else? But then a Republican might get his seat!" Manchin creates the spectacle of political disunity, which keeps the culture war going and keeps everyone distracted while Dems and Reps keep pushing for neoliberal and neoconservative policies.

Tldr : Politics is a spectacle and Manchin is just one of this season's stars of the show.

Answer 7

It is normal, even expected, for party members to represent a diversity of interests that lead to inter-party disagreements. Instead of asking why Manchin differs from other Democrats, we should be asking why there is no disagreement within Republican circles. What Manchin does is (democratically) healthy; what the Republicans do is not.

I hate to say it again, but everyone ought to read Federalist 10, slowly and carefully. The destructive potential of unified factions should never be underestimated.