My guess is that millions of centrist Democrats living between the coasts are sending Christmas cards to Senator Joe Manchin of "almost heaven" West Virginia.  So far, Manchin has been saving the Democrats from themselves and from the crazy left that they are scared of.  The good news is that Manchin does not have to worry about criticism from the left.  In fact, it probably helps where he comes from.

Manchin's latest target is the so-called Build Back Better proposal headed to the U.S. Senate.  This is from the Washington Post via MSN:

Waiting around for Manchin has become something of a pastime in the nation's capital. Hill reporters track his movements on the Senate floor, staking out his office, sometimes for hours, and then orbiting around him like electrons as he walks the halls of Congress. 

On a recent Monday morning, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) bumped into such a gaggle on the way to her office, which is near Manchin's. "What are you guys doing here now?" she asked them. "It's Monday, you know he's not going to get here till 3 o'clock in the afternoon!"

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't chained to this one spot," says Burgess Everett, Politico's chief Manchin correspondent. "But, at the same time, this is the best place to get the news of the day because it's what everyone is interested in."

The power and spotlight has earned the gentleman from West Virginia a new nickname.

Yes, they call him Mr. President.  In many ways, he is.  Joe Manchin does not walk around with the nuclear codes, but he is a very influential man. 

I guess that's what happens when you represent a state that voted for President Trump by almost 40 points.

It would be easy to say that Manchin is in tune with West Virginia and is voting that way.  However, I think that it's a bit more to it than that.

Back in September, he told reporters that he's never been a liberal.  Some of the reporters were a bit stunned to hear a Democrat say that.  However, we used to have a lot of men like Senator Manchin in the Democrat party.  I'm not talking about the Dixiecrats of yesteryear, but rather the late Scoop Jackson and Lloyd Bentsen.

To be fair, some of my friends warn me that Manchin has a "D" next to his name and could crack.  For example, there is Senator Jon Tester of very conservative Montana and an automatic vote for anything his party puts up.

Time will tell, but so far, this 50-50 Senate has turned into a nightmare for the Democrats.  And a guy named Manchin is a big part of it.

PS: You can listen to my podcast (Canto Talk).

Image: Senate Democrats.