Joe Manchin . . . again

Joe Manchin is at it again. The West Virginia Democratic senator organized a bipartisan meeting this week to move forward on legislation boosting energy production, and says he wants some climate change mitigation as well. He hopes to get Republican support.

At the same time, The Post reports, the White House is trying one more time to engage Manchin in talks about a bill resuscitating aspects of President Joe Biden’s agenda. This would theoretically pass via reconciliation, with only Democrats. It would include lowering prescription drug prices and rolling back some 2017 GOP tax cuts, with hundreds of millions of dollars raised getting plowed into deficit reduction.

Yet the White House is pessimistic about getting Manchin to agree to anything, per The Post’s Jeff Stein. Why would anyone believe Manchin is serious about getting to yes on anything?

Manchin does seem to entertain genuine policy goals. He has consistently supported undoing some GOP tax cuts so wealthy people pay more. He genuinely wants to reduce inflation and decrease the deficit. He has supported certain types of tax incentives to encourage development of renewable energy sources.

But it’s worth noting that Manchin’s apparent seriousness about such policy goals is exactly what makes this situation so frustrating.

Democrats of all ideological stripes are desperate to pass more legislation before they lose control of at least one chamber in the midterms — and their chance to act on climate and economic inequality possibly for years to come.

And so, if Manchin wants to get to yes on a deal resembling the framework he seems to support, Democrats will do pretty much whatever is necessary to get there.

Yet the tone among Democratic aides is weary and fatalistic. And for good reason. It’s easy to see Manchin being even more reluctant to do anything partisan via reconciliation without any new bipartisan deal to give him cover.

The status quo is serving Manchin well. Morning Consult polls show that over the last year, Manchin has boosted his approval ratings more than any other senator, from 40% to 57%.

How? In part by making Republican voters happy. His approval among them rose to 69%. Is he likely to disturb this arrangement?

Individual Democratic senators have been informally talking to Manchin about possibilities similar to outlines he’s floated, a senior Senate Democratic aide says. But even when this happens, it’s not clear whether he thinks of these talks as actual negotiations.

Democrats aren’t giving up. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are in discussions about a reconciliation bill that would roll back some GOP tax cuts and reduce the deficit.

But as a Democratic aide told us, Manchin refuses to indicate whether he could ultimately vote yes on even a package that is crafted around his specifications.