The Rachel Maddow Show Tonight: Go BERNIE !

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126. Joe Manchin is a Democrat too.

So was Lieberman, until he lost the primary, after which establishment Dems could not wait to ditch the nominee (Ned Lamont) in favor of their pal, now Independent Joe Lieberman. As far as I am concerned, if it was good enough for Lieberman, it's good enough for Sanders.

Now, in my opinion, both Joe Manchin and Lieberman are not really Democrats because of their policies and inclinations away from progressive policies. The party can somehow accommodate DINOS like that (or Independents like Lieberman who did not reliably caucus with Democrats even when he was one), and yet not include independents like Sanders who has never caucused with anyone else, nor espoused any particularly conservative positions, unlike both Manchin and Lieberman (who would both have been Republicans in another era).

I hate this needless harping over labels. It is unproductive, and it is hostile. 35-40% of registered voters refuse to align with a party. That number is rising every year. If Democrats are serious about attracting new voters (or disaffected old ones), they must be open to new ideas and a return to policies that will attract such voters, which is what Sanders is trying to do. In the immediate short-term, the goal is to rally people to protect SS and Medicare from Republican depredations. To that, I say, all hands on deck, whatever the label.