Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline ” that no Republicans in the Senate voting for Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) negotiated voting bill means the needle moved toward more Democratic Senators being willing to ditch the filibuster rule for a “carve-out” on voting rights.
McCaskill, who is also now an MSNBC contributor, said, “Let me say clearly why these voter suppression laws are happening. I’m going to quote Senator Warnock. He said it best. Some people don’t want some people to vote. And some people are the Republican Party, and some people — they don’t want to vote for the people who don’t vote for them. So what really is getting teed up here, and I do think this will make a difference, what happened today. Joe Manchin was for this bill. He negotiated this bill. And Joe Manchin has been given the ever-loving arms of the Republican Party around him. Oh, Joe’s our guy. Joe’s standing up for what’s right. He couldn’t get one vote for his bill. It makes Joe Manchin look so weak that he can’t manage one Republican vote.”
She continued, “I know for a fact there are other Democratic senators that are patting Joe Manchin on the back and saying I’m glad you’re doing this. Reporters should ask every single Democratic Senator to get on the record as to whether or not they would vote to carve out the voting rights legislation from any filibuster attempt. That should happen right now, and every voter in their state should know about it.”
McCaskill added, “I really do think we maybe move the needle a little bit on a carve-out today. The states that have passed these laws are the states we have to win to hold the majority.”
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