Robert Reich: Why Manchin and Sinema Came out Against Voting Rights

[Tommymac]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-reich/100049/psst-you-really-want-to-know-why-manchin-and-sinema-came-out-against-voting-rights

Psst: You Really Want to Know Why Manchin and Sinema Came out Against Voting Rights?
by Robert Reich | January 21, 2022 - 7:40am


I’ve suggested that the answer to all these questions could be found in the giant wads of corporate cash flowing into their campaign coffers. But as I’ve watched the two senators closely and spoken about them with members of Congress as well as Hill staff, I’ve come to the conclusion this isn’t it – or at least not all of it.

The corporate money explanation leaves out the single biggest factor affecting almost all national politicians I’ve dealt with: Big egos. Manchin’s and Sinema’s are now among the biggest.

Before February of last year, almost no one outside West Virginia had ever heard of Joe Manchin, and almost no one outside of Arizona (and probably few within the state) had ever heard of Kyrsten Sinema. Now, they’re notorious. They’re Washington celebrities. Their photos grace every major news outlet in America.

This sort of attention is addictive. Once it seeps into the bloodstream, it becomes an all-consuming force. I’ve known politicians who have become permanently and irrevocably intoxicated by it.

I’m not talking simply about power, although that’s certainly part of it. I’m talking about narcissism – the primal force driving so much of modern America, but whose essence is concentrated in certain places such as Wall Street, Hollywood, and the United States Senate.

More at link.

They are willing to let Democracy Die to satisfy their precious EGOS. Sound like something TFG would do.

[Walleye]

1. Basking in the warm love and praise of Republicans. Sickening

[FM123]

2. Yep.

"Now, they’re notorious. They’re Washington celebrities."

[SWBTATTReg]

3. This is why perhaps term limits could be helpful in one way...it keeps those out that let this

celebrity status goes to their heads, and they lose any objectiveness in governing. Not all reps are like this of course, but some can't handle it, or they do, handle it totally the wrong way.

[doc03]

4. I don't know about Sinema but living next to WV, I saw the ads on radio, TV and the

newspapers for months thanking Manchin for standing up to socialists.

[RainCaster]

7. People who vote in WV didn't pay for those adverts

My hope is that the voters of AZ & WV toss them both out in the primaries.

[doc03]

9. A big part of WV is is owned by out of state energy companies, that is

who controls WV politics.

[allegorical oracle]

11. Would be helpful to have good Dem candidates on hand to retain those seats.

[DLCWIdem]

5. "THIS" I believe

Especially with Sinema. She is supposedly going for the Presidential bid. But she miscalculated. if she had changed her mind and switched her vote at the last minute think of how much media coverage she could have garnered. Instead she is going to fade into obscurity.

[Moebym]

19. I was desperately hoping she'd change her mind

Along with one or more of the more moderate Republicans.

I was a fool.

[calimary]

26. Hey, it sucks to trust, and get your hopes up.

Heck, I contributed to her campaign when she was running for the Senate.

Won’t make that mistake again. I will, however, be interested to see if another (real, genuine) Democrat steps up to primary her.

[zaj]

6. Becoming Powerful Makes You Less Empathetic

https://hbr.org/2015/04/becoming-powerful-makes-you-less-empathetic

"Research shows that personal power actually interferes with our ability to empathize. Dacher Keltner, an author and social psychologist at University of California, Berkeley, has conducted empirical studies showing that people who have power suffer deficits in empathy, the ability to read emotions, and the ability to adapt behaviors to other people. In fact, power can actually change how the brain functions, according to research from Sukhvinder Obhi, a neuroscientist at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada.

The most common leadership failures don’t involve fraud, the embezzlement of funds, or even sex scandals. It’s more common to see leaders fail in the area of every day self-management — and the use power in a way that is motivated by ego and self-interest.

How does it happen? Slowly, and then suddenly. It happens with bad mini-choices, made perhaps on an unconscious level. It might show up as the subtle act of throwing one’s weight around. Demands for special treatment; isolated decision-making; and getting one’s way. Leaders who are pulled over by the police for speeding or driving drunk become indignant and rail, “Do you know who I am?!” Suddenly the story hits social media and we change our minds about the once-revered personality."

[Freddie]

8. Like the kid acting up in school to get attention

Because they don’t get enough at home. Even “bad” attention is better than none.

[Phoenix61]

10. As PT Barnum said, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." nt

[jcgoldie]

12. They got a little Trump dope in their blood...

Who cares what anyone is saying as long as they are always talking about MEEEEEEE!

[Poiuyt]

13. I've thought that about Manchin -- the way he strings the Democrats along, continually

moving the goalposts. It's like he's just toying with Schumer (and us).

[Irish_Dem]

14. It has gone way beyond attention seeking. It is deliberate damage

to Biden and our party.

[jaxexpat]

23. Oh, yeah. There's always that, too.

Motives, they don' need no stinkin' motives.

I had a handle on it with:

1. to keep big donors happy
2. to satisfy their narcissism

....and now, here you go with another fact

3. to sadistically harm people who try to do good

Next it'll be:

4. to get re-elected so they can continue to "serve" shit sandwiches at the homeless shelter to wild applause

[harumph]

15. Respectfully disagree. It's the fucking $ and promises of even more $$.

[TheFarseer]

22. +1

Occams Razor. No need to come up with some exotic explanation!

[Torchlight]

16. Manchin's investments and profits from his coal interests

are (I believe) his primary motivation rather than his ego. He's has holding of up to 5 million dollars alone from Enersystems, Inc., the coal brokerage business he founded. That's the only reason (I believe) he's committed to, and stated over and over, that the market alone should dictate the speed at which the energy markets become cleaner.

I think Sinema's clownish displays however, are probably are tied directly to her ego and sense of self-worth.

[Texin]

17. "...Big Egos..." Well, I'm guessing Sinema's about to have her ego kicked in the ass.

Can't say about Manchin. He's probably safe in WVA but Sinema's approval rating is at 8% with polled Democrats in Arizona.

[Moebym]

20. Assuming she's going to seek reelection

A future as a lobbyist is likely, though.

[Texin]

27. I've thought that this was her strategy for a while now.

She's been rolling in dough from big pharma and my guess is that she's looking for either a position within one of those companies or a lobbying gig for one.

[Harker]

18. Disgraced, defeated Trumpsky wouldn't let democracy die.

He'd kill it.

[Bleacher Creature]

21. Yep, and it's also why neither will ever switch parties.

They lose the attention the minute they become backbenchers in the GOP.

[chowder66]

24. Then why not create an upset by voting FOR the voting rights act? That would have given them

plenty of press as well.


Then again maybe they don't like positive press.

[Silent3]

25. It would involve the humiliation of admitting *being wrong* (gasp!) as the reason...

...for all of that attention. Many egomaniacs who crave attention spurn that one particular form of attention. They'd rather be considered evil that "weak".

Of course, admitting error is a rare (and undervalued) strength, but egomaniacs can't see that. Nor Trump supporters.