Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is doing everything he can not to be labeled as a liberal in his upcoming re-election in 2018 and so Thursday he will introduce Trump’s Energy Secretary nominee Rick Perry at his confirmation hearing.
Manchin had been up for the job himself, but announced in December that he would stay in the Senate.
Manchin’s move gives a bit of insight into how he is gearing up for what is going to be one of the toughest re-election campaigns of the 2018 cycle. President-elect Trump won nearly 70 percent of the vote in West Virginia, a sign that it won’t be an easy race for Manchin.
This is just the latest example of Manchin trying to appear bipartisan. Manchin has been very public about his relationship with the incoming Trump administration and announced earlier this month that he had a conversation with Trump about health care and how to extend miner’s health care benefits once Trump is sworn in.
Manchin is one of the Democrats to watch who may be willing to work with Trump even on replacing Obamacare.
