White House war with Manchin marks new phase for Biden: The Note

Biden’s domestic and voting-rights agenda are both now effectively stalled.

The TAKE with Rick Klein There was a time when President Joe Biden led an ascendant and relatively united Democratic Party, driven by urgencies underscored by his predecessor, and hope that the pandemic would soon be history.

That time is decidedly not now. Biden's domestic and voting-rights agenda are both now effectively stalled, all while progress against COVID slides backward and Democrats view the coming midterm election year with a combination of resignation and dread.

The White House chose to fight Sen. Joe Manchin's fire with attacks of its own. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki accused Manchin of going back on his word to the president, and vowed to press him to "honor his prior commitments and be true to his word."

The strategy aligns Biden with an incensed left. But it's hard to see it changing Manchin's mind, as Manchin, of course, represents the reddest state to send a Democrat to the Senate, and has hardly been inscrutable regarding his priorities, on spending, social policy or environmental policies.