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“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart grilled former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W. Va., about his book advocating moderate politics, and his argument about how the Democratic Party’s policies have alienated voters.
Manchin, who had previously been a Democrat, spoke with Stewart about his new book, “Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense.” His home state of West Virginia was once heavily Democratic until the 2000s and was historically known for its “Blue Dog Democrats,” who embraced liberal labor politics but remained socially conservative.
The state is one of several that represent the broader shift toward Trump-era politics, having overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump in the last three presidential elections.
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“In your book, you go through a lot of legislation and the choices that you’ve made in defense of moderation. I would say to you, I don’t know if West Virginia is a moderate state. It voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who is not a moderate president.”
Manchin agreed that West Virginia overwhelmingly supported Trump but argued that it was the Democratic Party — not voters — that abandoned moderates.
“I have told my Democrat friends, they said ‘Joe, what happened to the West Virginia Democrats?’ and I said, ‘Nothing,’ I said ‘They want to know what happened to the Washington Democrats,’ and they said, ‘What do you mean?’” he recalled.
“I can tell you why the union coal miners and all the factory workers that I grew up with where they are today, why the switch and started voting Republican,” Manchin said. “They believed that the Democratic Party in Washington basically spends more resources, effort, and time on able-bodied people that don’t work or won’t work than you do to those who do.”
“That makes sense — it’s just not true,” Stewart argued. “That’s a caricature of social programs.”
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Stewart argued that the number of people who have legitimate reasons to rely on some level of government assistance to get by is far larger than the “’so-called moocher class.’”
Manchin said he agreed that perception may be a caricature, but insisted that Democrats’ far-left policies have alienated voters who no longer believe the party represents their interests.
He went on to argue that the key area where Democrats overreached was on border policy, missing an opportunity for compromise.
“The thing that I have said again, to my Democrat friends, the mistake was made on the border. We have never done asylum at the border. The Democrats can say we are compassionate, we want to do that because the world was in a flux,” Manchin said.
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“But, so we made a mistake, and so we want to work with President Trump. We want to have a secure border and please, will he work with us and have a legal immigration program that people can come for the right reason,” he added.
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