Joe Manchin speaks out against Socialists

I try to keep my nose out of politics for the most part but when I see the name Joe Manchin I listen because this guy is a Democrat that managed to get elected and stay elected in a state that is one of the most "red" in the entire USA. He was a US Senator in West Virginia for 15 years. he left because he wanted to step down, not because he was voted out. Well, I guess this isn't entirely true. Early polls were suggesting that he was going to lose badly in the next election so he claimed he didn't want to run. Nice out, buddy!

West Virginia is a state so conservative and red that Democrat Presidential candidates don't normally even bother to spend any time or money campaigning there. Much like how Republicans don't bother with California, there just isn't much of a point when one side simply wins all elections by a heavy margin, every single time. This is what makes Manchin so unusual to me. He defied the odds not one time in a fluke, but managed to convince the deeply red people of West Virginia that voting for him was a good idea for 15 years.

I believe that he is one of the only non-self-serving politicians that has existed in my lifetime and when he has something to say, I listen.

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Lately he hit the news because he said that he would not support any self-described Socialist candidates in the mid-term elections or any election for that matter.

"I support the good ideas, But how could you support some of the crazy stuff they're for?"

Now I will admit that I don't really follow who is pro-socialism and who isn't because I have tried to distance myself from politics as much as possible because I believe it is mostly a waste of one's time and that time is better spent in focusing on your local elections - which almost nobody anywhere actually bothers to vote in despite the fact that their rulings are much more likely to affect your day-to-day life.

Every now and then though, someone that I don't think is completely corrupted by the political machine has something to say and I think people should listen. I really don't think Joe was a true member of the political machine, if he had been, West Virginia would have voted him out a while ago.

For Democrats that are considering backing Socialist candidates I think they do so at their own peril. If these "crazy ideas" make their way to the forefront of Democrat politics, the media is going to be all over it and conservative media is going to attempt to try to paint all of them with the same crazy brush. There will be division in their ranks and from a purely strategic standpoint, this is something that they cannot afford even if they do end up with a Senate majority later this year.

Now that I said that, I do want to point out that I don't think that Joe's decision to go on these news shows was entirely innocent. He brought his daughter Heather with him and I think it was required that the interviewer allow her to speak as well.

Is this Joe's way of pushing his daughter into the limelight of politics? I mean, why is she even there? At the moment she is the CEO of a pharmaceutical company but does she have political aspirations? It wouldn't surprise me at all if that was the case and if it is the case I would be really disappointed in Joe.

While I personally tend to lean conservative I mostly am just really distrusting of almost all politicians regardless of what the letter is next to their name. Joe Manchin and Ron Paul were the only real exceptions that come to mind. Maybe Rand Paul as well, the jury is still out on that one.

Will Socialism become popular on a national level in USA? I doubt it. I think it will become popular on a regional or even state level at some places but then everything that can be regarded as even a minor failure will be spoken about ad nauseam. I'm anti-Socialism because I don't think the spoils of my labor should be taken from me and given to someone else who didn't do anything to deserve it.

I think if Dems are smart though, they will maybe take heed of Joe's words.