If Manchin wins, will he break w/ Dems as often as Ben Nelson?

[Mr. Morden]

.....or will he be more like an Evan Bayh or Blanche Lincoln?

[politicalchick20]

I'm hoping for the latter, but I'm honestly not sure. But to paraphrase John Raese: "He won't be a rubber stamp for Barack Obama." (using Raese's main argument against him FTW).

[tpfkaw]

I don't believe his recently-switched views would affect his voting record were he to be crowned Senator-for-Life.  His voting record would resemble Byrd's or Rockefeller's.

[Capitan Zapp Brannigan]

Until 2012 he'll be the most conservative Democrat in the senate because he still has to be re-elected in 2012. After that he'll drift left.

[Torie]

Probably more often. Nelson tried to just avoid making waves and surviving. Manchin needs to make a spectacle of himself kicking Obama in the nuts every chance he gets.

[The Vorlon]

When exactly did Nelson vote against Obama again?

Refresh my memory please.

[tpfkaw]

When exactly did Nelson vote against Obama again?

Refresh my memory please.

The financial "reform" bill, and one or both of the Supreme Court nominees.  I don't believe he's ever voted against anything significant that the Democrats weren't able to gather 60 votes for, so I'm assuming he had permission for both of those.

[Mr. Morden]

When exactly did Nelson vote against Obama again?

Refresh my memory please.

Nelson's only voted with the majority of Dems 59% of the time in this Congress, which is markedly lower than any other Democrat:

http://www.senatereports.com/PartyPercentRankings.aspx

If you want a list of all the votes in which he broke with Dems, you could always use the google.

[Eraserhead]

Doubt it.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Ugh, I'd rather the Democrats lose this one rather than have someone possibly more right-wing than batsh**t crazy Ben Nelson.

[memphis]

I don't think it matters too much to Manchin. It's not like WV is going to remove an incumbant.

[Frink]

Ugh, I'd rather the Democrats lose this one rather than have someone possibly more right-wing than batsh**t crazy Ben Nelson.

His opponents even worse.

[Guderian]

My guess is Manchin will vote like a generic Republican over the next two years. He will need to distance himself from Obama as much as possible in that period. They will be together on the ticket in 2012 and Manchin must avoid associating himself with someone who will lose West Virginia by 20 points. After that he can probably relax and be a typical moderate Democrat.

[SvenssonRS]

Ugh, I'd rather the Democrats lose this one rather than have someone possibly more right-wing than batsh**t crazy Ben Nelson.

His opponents even worse.

I think it's one of your party who said "I'd rather have a true conservative than a fake liberal." Don't know which member it was, but yeah.

It's better to have someone who's unapologetically far to the right than someone who'd rather lie about being a Democrat just to get elected.

[memphis]

Obama didn't hurt Rockefeller in '08.

[Nichlemn]

Obama didn't hurt Rockefeller in '08.

Obama wasn't in office yet at that point. Also, Manchin is campaigning explicitly on distancing himself from Obama. He needs to vote that way not just because Obama is unpopular in his state, but to keep his pre-election promises.