Manchin Flips, Flops And Flips On Obamacare
By Carole on Sep 27, 2010
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West Virginia Governor and Democratic Senate candidate Joe Manchin supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) before it passed. He's on video at a union event both praising and defending President Barack Obama and clearly stating "I am totally behind Health Care Reform." He was still in favor of Obamacare after it was pushed through Congress while the majority of Americans and West Virginians were against it. But now that he's facing the possibility of losing his Senate bid because voters believe he would be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the unpopular Obama agenda, Candidate Manchin is suddenly in favor of repealing at least some of the new law.
Continued...
In an interview with RealClearPolitics, the Mr. Manchin said, "I believe in health care reform. I don't believe in the way this bill was passed. Why they overreached, I don't know." So far so good - sticking with his original position but attacking the process. But then he clarified his new position saying that he favored "repealing the things that are bad in that bill." He listed parts he supports on which he believes there is broad agreement in both parties. "Can't you keep that as a good base?" he asked. But finally he just had to flip back one more time to being the dutiful Obama supporter as he added, "It's a great bill." (source)
So in summary, Governor Manchin was for Obamacare before he started losing in the polls and then he was against some of it…but he thinks it's great. Glad he cleared that up.
Mr. Manchin's Republican opponent John Raese is expected to release a new ad this week highlighting West Virginia's Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act which the governor pushed through the state legislature last year. The new law which the Raese camp is calling 'cap and trade Manchin-style' compels the state’s utilities to obtain 25 percent of their electricity from alternative energy sources by 2025. (source)
Candidate Manchin claims he does not support cap and trade at the national level but, as with health care reform and all the other Obama agenda items, who knows how much his positions would shift once the pressure to get elected is off?
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