I don’t live in either Maine or West Virginia. I got married and vacationed in Maine once, and I have been through West Virginia multiple times. But despite all the opinions and diaries I have read about Collins and Manchin on Daily Kos, what do the people in Maine and West Virginia think about their senators? I have plenty of words to describe how I feel about Collins, and most of those words would land me in trouble with a bunch of people on Daily Kos. And I definitely think that Manchin is one cowardly guy. Yeah, I want to punish both in some ways because I’m royally pissed now, but other than withholding money from Manchin — I will send my meager donations to other more deserving U.S. Senate candidates — and contributing, eventually, to Collins opponent, what else can I do? I don’t get to vote in Maine or West Virginia.

I’m not asking these questions to be defeatist.

I am asking if anyone has compiled some data, or has links, or has a blog posting about what Mainers and West Virginians are saying about their senators. I think it would be helpful to the rest of us who do not live there to read about the political situations in those states. I know I would find it helpful because I don’t know enough about Maine.

I can guess about West Virginia because I live next door in KY.

However, it is only a guess about West Virginia. The situations are similar in both states with regards to demographics and the economy. It is also why I’m more than a little pissed at Manchin’s vote on Kavanaugh.

You see I think Manchin could have framed a “No” vote on Kavanaugh that had nothing to do with sexual assault. Manchin could have framed the political debate around how Kavanaugh could not be trusted on ruling against the ACA and pre-existing conditions. Last time I checked, a whole lot of people in West Virginia are on Medicaid and have pre-existing medical conditions. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court makes it highly likely that the ACA will be overturned with some batshit legal challenge. In fact, there is one going to the Supreme Court NOW that argues the ACA is unconstitutional because the individual mandate is null and void.

As Kerry Eleveld wrote about, Manchin got a “promise” from Kavanaugh that he would do his utmost to be “surgical” when it came to the ACA. Ain’t that cute! A promise from a liar. What’s Manchin going to do when Kavanaugh joins in a 5-4 decision to overturn the ACA? Nothing. Not only will West Virginians lose, but all of us will lose. And Manchin will do nothing.

And there is nothing I can do about Manchin, except call him a coward and give him no money. I can’t think of anything else to do at the moment.

But what do the voters in West Virginia think? Do they think this is great? Are Manchin’s poll numbers going to go up? Hell if I know.

I am open to suggestions if someone has anything that we can do proactively, but I think the first step might be to have some information on what is going on in Maine and West Virginia.