Manchin is not moderate by any stretch. He is so blatantly beholden to his special interest money sources that he doesn't seem to have any political direction at all. He's a democrat by title who pretty much hangs out with the Republicans, and also votes with them. That's not moderate.
He's a "moderate centrist" in the sense that he's basically the median senator. Which honestly says more about the Senate than it does about him or his politics.
He votes with Biden about 90% of the time, though. He's obstructed some big parts if the Democratic agenda, but if you'd rather have another Republican like Shelly Capito in his seat then you're nuts. At this point, the chance of replacing him with even a mainstream Democrat is basically nil. That whole state has swung very far right.
Centrists haven't changed. The Liberal perception of them has changed. Largely because the right has gone so far fascist that it's pretty difficult to defend allowing them into office, even if you don't agree with the left on an issue or two.
Politics uses more buzz words than tech.
Liberal, democrat, republican, moderate, progressive, etc. Usually just for headline effect, as they largely are misleading.
What left wing people are you talking to? Nobody I know likes Biden. They just vote for him because the alternative is literally going to collapse democracy.
Yeah, Biden is literally the reason we have the current student debt crisis - he originally supported the bill that made it illegal to declare bankruptcy from loan debts in the early 2000s after supporting getting loans super easy back in the 70s.
More like “Hero of the Left Hook I Wanna Give Him”.
Senator Byrd came to consistently support the NAACP civil rights agenda, doing well on the NAACP Annual Civil Rights Report Card. He stood with us on many issues of crucial importance to our members from the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the historic health care legislation of 2010 and his support for the Hate Crimes Prevention legislation," stated Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy. "Senator Byrd was a master of the Senate Rules, and helped strategize passage of legislation that helped millions of Americans. He will be sorely missed."
Byrd certainly wasn't perfect, but he wasn't Strom Thurmond, George Wallace or David Duke.
I really doubt he just did a 180 on being a klan leader turned anti-civil rights politician. He was an opportunist who saw a chance to gain more support by supporting more progressive policies. It's good that he started supporting civil rights, but he and politicians like him will turn their backs on progressivism the moment it benefits them, which scares the shit out of me in times like this where conservatives are getting more radical and violent all the time.
Idk what the context for biden being with them is, but politicians take photos with all kinds of people though, even politicians on the other side of the aisle. It's part of the political game, and based on the picture alone I wouldn't judge him too hard just for having a picture with them
I don't think anyone considers Biden the hero of the left, except for maybe dummy Republicans who can't understand that you can vote for a politician without worshipping them. Leftists know he's not a leftist. Hell, centrists know he's a corporatist.