DEMS/SENATE/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When Senator Joe Manchin III became the lone Democrat to support Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court on Saturday [10-6-18], protesters in the Capitol screamed ‘shame.’ But in his home state of West Virginia, voters were, if not encouraging, at least understanding: He had saved himself from political suicide…Both Republicans and Democrats in this historic capital along the Kanawha River seemed to extend Mr. Manchin some sympathy for a wrenching Supreme Court vote that came amid his increasingly tense battle to win re-election. Mr. Manchin, 71, seeking his second full term in the Senate after practically a lifetime in West Virginia politics, including service as its 34th governor, was the last undecided senator to announce how he would vote on Justice Kavanaugh. To his supporters, his decision to stand apart from his party in one of the nation’s most contentious and bitter political battles in years proved he is attuned to the will of West Virginians and will stand firm against national party pressure. To his detractors, it was a classic example of the senator’s tendency to flip-flop, a nakedly political vote cast to ensure his re-election.”
–Catie Edmondson, “Joe Manchin’s Yes on Kavanaugh Finds Sympathy in West Virginia,” The New York Times online, October 8, 2018