Paula Jean Swearengin, Joe Manchin’s 2018 primary challenger

Senator Joe Manchin, so-called Democrat of West Virginia, is by far the worst Democrat in the Senate. I’ll get to why I support Paula in a minute, but let’s start with why Joe needs to go.

First, Joe Manchin has a TERRIBLE environmental record. The Senator voted to handcuff the EPA’s “overreach” (which doesn’t exist). He vocally supports the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines. He supports fracking and using shale for natural gas development, and instead of building a green energy economy and transitioning from coal and oil, he wants to squeeze the earth for its very last fossil fuels. Manchin supports mountaintop removal, which creates temporary jobs and completely destroys the environment. The Senator used to run a coal mining company and he has close family ties to coal barons. His policies are actively destroying our planet.

Second, he is terrible on social issues. Senator Manchin was the only Democrat to vote to defund Planned Parenthood and voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which barred homosexuals from serving in the military. Manchin quickly switched his position on Planned Parenthood after receiving backlash from the Democratic party, but that doesn’t change the facts. This shows that Joe will say anything to get reelected. Joe Manchin also threatened to beat up anyone who desecrated the flag, which is an attitude that is extremely unconstitutional. Lastly, Senator Manchin wants a new war on drugs, because the original one worked so well (not).

Joe Manchin is also very pro-gun, he was endorsed by the NRA and doesn’t support serious gun control. He and Republican Senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania proposed the Manchin-Toomey Bill, which was very, very, weak and filled to the brim with loopholes.

He also blatantly disrespects the people of West Virginia. Case in point, when his state went to Bernie Sanders in the primary, all 55 counties, in fact, Senator Manchin supported Hillary Clinton. When Manchin was confronted with his right wing policies by actual citizens of West Virginia, he said, and I quote, “vote me out, I’m not changing”. He obviously does not care what the people of his state think, which is also evident through his corporate donors, siding with banks, Big Oil, and Big Pharma instead of the people of West Virginia.

Last thing I want to look at is the Cabinet Picks that Senator Manchin voted for. He was the only Democrat to vote for Jeff Sessions, the racist Attorney General who said “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary who foreclosed on a woman who came up $27 cents short in rent when Mnuchin was a banker. He also voted for paleo-conservative Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch, joining Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly on the Democratic side. Joe voted to confirm Sonny Perdue as Agriculture Secretary and Rick Perry as Energy Secretary, two dunderheads who don’t believe in climate change. Lastly, when EPA nominee Scott Pruitt was up for confirmation, Maine Republican Susan Collins had the guts to vote no, but, Manchin and Heitkamp voted for Pruitt, so he was confirmed. Let me remind you that Scott Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times for overregulating. Luckily, maybe he won’t be able to do as much harm in the EPA because Joe wanted to limit the power of the office.

Manchin’s top donors

You may ask why Manchin is such a right winger, well, look at his donors, he’s taken $343,000 from Mining, $180,000 from Oil & Gas, $186,000 from Lobbyists, $179,000 from Pharmaceuticals, $175,000 from Insurance, $161,000 from Securities & Investment, $127,000 from Real Estate, and $83,000 from Air Defense. Not to mention his daughter is the infamous Heather Bresch, the Mylan CEO who jacked up the EPI-Pen prices by 500%. (Mylan, which contributed money to Joe Manchin hand over fist).

So, we’ve discussed why Manchin is awful, so let’s discuss what we need to do to fight him. Paula Jean Swearengin, backed by Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, has announced her primary campaign against Joe Manchin. Paula is against mountaintop removal, for environmental regulation, for universal healthcare (unlike Manchin), and most importantly, takes no corporate or PAC money (yet again, unlike Manchin). Paula is a true progressive who will fight for the people of West Virginia, instead of corporate interests. After Paula beats Joe, she’s going to maul Rep. Evan Jenkins, or Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Go to paulajean2018.com and read her platform.

Paula confronts Joe at a town hall

Paula Jean 2018!