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New Survey Finds Joe Manchin Underwater At Home After ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Deal

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Sen. Joe Manchin’s stock rose considerably among moderate and even conservative voters in his home state of West Virginia over the past 18 months as he repeatedly thwarted President Joe Biden’s expensive legislative agenda as well as that of his Democratic Party.

But he appears to have burned up all political capital he earned after he made a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) behind closed doors on anti-inflation legislation several analyses have predicted won’t do anything to lower prices.

“A new poll released Wednesday by Jackson County radio station WMOV 1360 AM and Oregon-based Triton Polling and Research found that U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is vulnerable after his support for the Inflation Reduction Act,” the Parkersburg News and Sentinel reported Thursday.

The outlet added:

According to the poll, 66.1% of the 762 respondents had an unfavorable impression of Manchin, D-W.Va. Only 26.3% had a favorable impression of Manchin with just 3.8% unsure and 3.6% with no opinion either way.

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The WMOV/Triton poll was conducted Aug. 24-26 with 3.5% margin of error. The poll was conducted by automated telephone, also known as interactive voice response (IVR).

The poll comes 24 days after the $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden after Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., negotiated the latest version of what started out as Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending bill.

The inflation reduction measure contains $437 billion in new spending on green energy, so-called “climate change mitigation,” and other leftist Democrat priorities including healthcare and drug price “reform.” The measure also includes $300 billion that is supposed to go towards reducing the massive national debt, which is now approaching $31 trillion.

The law includes a new 15 percent minimum corporate revenue book tax on earnings reported to investors of $1 billion or more, as well as funding for some 87,000 new IRS employees, many of whom are likely to be agents conducting audits of taxpayers.

Manchin is not up for reelection in the red state of West Virginia until 2024. However, “If the election were held today, Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey would beat Manchin 49.5% to 36.2%, with 9.4% choosing to support a different candidate and 4.9% unsure. Morrisey challenged Manchin for the U.S. Senate in 2018, losing by three points. Manchin received 49.6% of the vote, while Morrisey received 46.3%.”

He would also lose to another high-profile GOP candidate, 2nd District Rep. Alex Mooney, the outlet reported, citing the polling.

“In a match-up between Manchin and Mooney, Mooney would beat Manchin 44.9% to 37.9%, with 12.2% preferring a different candidate and 4.9% unsure. Mooney defeated 1st District Rep. David McKinley, R-.W.Va., in the May Republican primary for the new northern 2nd District after West Virginia lost a congressional district,” the outlet reported.

GOP Gov. Jim Justice would also defeat Manchin 46.5% to 32% if the U.S. Senate election was held today.

Famously, Justice — elected in 2016 as a Democrat — switched to the Republican Party later in 2017.

Perhaps as a means of burnishing his moderate credentials, in late July Manchin refused to back President Joe Biden’s reelection in 2024.

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“Do you hope Democrats keep control of the House and Senate?” host “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd asked Manchin during an appearance on the program.

“I think people are sick and tired of politics, Chuck,” Manchin responded. “I really do. I think they’re sick and tired of Democrats and Republicans fighting and feuding and holding pieces of legislation hostage because they didn’t get what they wanted, or something or someone might get credit for something. Why don’t we start doing something for our country? Why don’t we just say, ‘This is good for America?’ I’ve always said the best politics is good government. Do something good, Chuck. But I’m not going to predict what’s going to happen.”

“I’m not asking you to predict,” Todd pressed. “What result do you want? Do you want the Democrats to keep control of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives?”

Later, in an appearance with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” Manchin refused to back Biden.

“If Biden is renominated by your party will you support him?” Karl asked.

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“Everybody’s worried about the elections, that’s the problem,” the senator said.

“This is a simple question,” the host said.

“No,” the senator said. “I’m not getting involved in that.”

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