FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 23, 2021 

Contact: Prudence Robertson, probertson@sbalist.org (240) 672-2828 

“If Manchin sides with liberal elites to eliminate or weaken the filibuster with carve-outs for Democrats’ priorities, he would violate the trust of voters.”

Washington, D.C. The Election Transparency Initiative (ETI) today launched a new paid media and grassroots campaign in West Virginia thanking Senator Joe Manchin for pledging to protect the 60-vote legislative “filibuster” and urging him to reject left-wing pressure to eliminate the Senate rule through partisan “carve-outs.” The 2-week, mid-six-figure campaign consists of TV ads on broadcast, cable and satellite services, statewide radio, digital and Web video, billboards, traditional advertising, and targeted grassroots engagement.

“There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” Manchin wrote in The Washington Post.

“I’m sitting in Bob Byrd’s seat. Just read his history,” he told National Review.

For more than 100 years, the U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule has been used to ensure bipartisanship and consensus-driven decision making. It is designed to prevent the majority party from pushing aside the minority party to ram through controversial legislation. Under this rule, legislation in the Senate can only advance with bipartisan support of 60 total Senators.

Manchin has consistently issued his pledge as liberal Democrats seek to abolish the filibuster rule to force their most contentious legislative priorities into law, including a federal takeover of state elections with only 51 Democrat votes instead of the normal 60 votes.

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National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the following statement:

“Despite intense pressure from Democrat party leaders Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Stacey Abrams, and The Washington Post editorial board, Senator Manchin has consistently and unequivocally pledged to uphold the Senate’s time-honored rule that ensures bipartisanship—requiring Congress to rise above deep ideological differences and political divides in order to pass most major legislation. The 60-vote legislative filibuster helps protect West Virginia values, which East and West Coast liberals couldn’t care less about.

“Eliminating or weakening the 60-vote filibuster wouldn’t just force a federal takeover of elections into law, but the rest of the highly unpopular liberal agenda as well, including forced taxpayer funding of abortions, packing the Supreme Court, assaults on free speech and expression, 2nd Amendment rights, and so much more. Evoking the legacy of his predecessor the late senator Robert Byrd, Senator Manchin understands gutting the filibuster would be disaster for the U.S. Senate, his party, and the American people, especially West Virginia. We urge him to stand strong, to keep his promise, and to protect the 60-vote filibuster—no partisan carve-outs.”

In 2017, Manchin joined in signing a bipartisan letter of 61 senators urging preservation the 60-vote threshold for legislation. The letter, which was also signed by senators John McCain (R-AZ), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH, Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Jon Tester (D-MT), expressed their shared opposition to “any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.”

According to a McLaughlin poll with a demographic makeup of 38% Republican, 39% Democrat, and 23% Independent, nearly 7-in-10 likely general election voters in West Virginia oppose Democrats ending the filibuster. Another statewide poll found that 61% of West Virginia voters agreed with Manchin’s pledged opposition to “weakening or eliminating” the filibuster rule.

Democrats seek to abolish the filibuster to force a federal takeover of state elections into law, through H.R. 1, H.R. 4, and S. 2747, without bipartisan support required by the filibuster rule. The takeover legislation would effectively abolish voter I.D. protections supported by 81% of American voters, force states to register illegal aliens to vote, erode election safeguards enacted by many states – making it nearly impossible to detect fraud – while mandating unsecure and unverifiable absentee voting practices, overriding voter roll maintenance laws, and dramatically altering First Amendment protections by imposing unnecessary and unworkable regulatory standards.

Should the Democrat takeover of elections become law, children in West Virginia would need more identification to fish than adults need to vote. Although it would do away with voter I.D., anglers 15 or older in West Virginia must still possess both a fishing license and a state-issued ID or driver’s license while fishing.

TV SCRIPT:

Washington liberals are trying to change Senate rules to advance a radical agenda.

For over a century, the filibuster has been a bedrock Senate tool ensuring bipartisanship.

Ending it means more extremism and dysfunction.

Thankfully, Senator Joe Manchin pledged to protect the filibuster…

…despite immense partisan pressure to cave.   

If Manchin sides with liberal elites to eliminate or weaken the filibuster with carve outs for Democrats’ priorities…

….he would violate the trust of voters. 

Tell Senator Manchin

Keep your promise. Protect the filibuster.

BACKGROUND:

The Washington Post: “There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster.”

The Washington Times: “There’s no way that I would vote to prevent the minority from having input into the process in the Senate,” Mr. Manchin said. “That means protecting the filibuster … the minority must have input, and it must be a process to get to that 60-vote threshold.”

Gazette-Mail: “I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster. For as long as I have the privilege of being your U.S. senator, I will fight to represent the people of West Virginia, to seek bipartisan compromise no matter how difficult and to develop the political bonds that end divisions and help unite the country we love.”

National Review: “I’ve always been there. That’s been my position from day one,” Manchin tells National Review. Are there any circumstances where Manchin could see himself voting to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for legislation? “Never,” Manchin replied. “Nope, I’m sitting in Bob Byrd’s seat. Just read his history.”

CNN.com: “The filibuster is permanent.”

The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between American Principles Project (APP) and the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), was organized to combat H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.

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