Biden’s dug a hole for himself, but he keeps digging
Biden and Schumer ought to listen to Manchin, who seems to have a better understanding of where voters are than either the White House or the Democratic leadership. In our September survey, we tested two of Manchin’s statements on the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion proposal:
Statement 1: “The proposed $3.5 trillion in new spending isn’t to solve urgent problems, but to re-envision America’s social policies.”
Statement 2: “Spending trillions more dollars not only ignores present economic reality, but makes it certain that America will be fiscally weakened when it faces a future recession or national emergency.”
A wide majority of respondents agreed with Manchin’s first statement, 53 percent to 23 percent. Not only did Republicans believe this (54 percent to 27 percent), but Democrats did too (59 percent to 19 percent). Liberal Democrats agreed with the statement at an even higher level, 64 percent to 17 percent — a clear indication that the goal of the legislation is social reengineering rather than solving urgent problems.
Almost half of respondents (49 percent) agreed with Manchin’s second statement, while only 30 percent disagreed. Two-thirds of Republicans believed this (68 percent to 17 percent), while only a third of Democrats did (33 percent to 46 percent). Importantly, independents agreed with Manchin on both statements — 45 percent to 24 percent and 47 percent to 24 percent, respectively — validating the West Virginia Democrat’s position as a bona fide centrist in the Senate.
Biden and Schumer ought to listen to Manchin, who seems to have a better understanding of where voters are than either the White House or the Democratic leadership. In our September survey, we tested two of Manchin’s statements on the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion proposal:
Statement 1: “The proposed $3.5 trillion in new spending isn’t to solve urgent problems, but to re-envision America’s social policies.”
Statement 2: “Spending trillions more dollars not only ignores present economic reality, but makes it certain that America will be fiscally weakened when it faces a future recession or national emergency.”
A wide majority of respondents agreed with Manchin’s first statement, 53 percent to 23 percent. Not only did Republicans believe this (54 percent to 27 percent), but Democrats did too (59 percent to 19 percent). Liberal Democrats agreed with the statement at an even higher level, 64 percent to 17 percent — a clear indication that the goal of the legislation is social reengineering rather than solving urgent problems.
Almost half of respondents (49 percent) agreed with Manchin’s second statement, while only 30 percent disagreed. Two-thirds of Republicans believed this (68 percent to 17 percent), while only a third of Democrats did (33 percent to 46 percent). Importantly, independents agreed with Manchin on both statements — 45 percent to 24 percent and 47 percent to 24 percent, respectively — validating the West Virginia Democrat’s position as a bona fide centrist in the Senate.