Jun 14, 2021 4 min read

I just thought it was a chance meeting at the time.

I’d never expected to come face-to-face with a U.S. senator while waiting to get my car fixed.

That happened nearly a decade ago just outside of Pittsburgh.

I was in the waiting room of a local Meineke Auto Car Care Center, holding my breath while awaiting the verdict on my malfunctioning Buick.

Some familiar looking guy walked into the waiting room. He went to the service desk and asked if he could get an oil change.

No luck.

He was told he’d have a long wait.

Upon learning he’d not be able to get his car worked on, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin headed for the door.

I headed right for him.

It was my golden opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the “World’s Most Deliberative Body,” from one of its participants.

I followed him outside, introduced myself to him, then asked him what a U.S. senator from West Virginia would be doing in the suburbs of Pittsburgh on a Monday morning.

No mystery.

His daughter lived in Pittsburgh, and he came to visit her and her family over the weekend.

I then proceeded to pepper him with the kinds of political questions that must be annoying to politicians returning to Washington, D.C., with anxieties about needing an oil change before getting on the road.

But Manchin was surprisingly open about his political philosophy.

He had only been in office a few months since he assumed office in November 2010.

He expressed some apprehensions about being in the Senate.

For him, being one member of a body of 100 people hadn’t been as meaningful as when he had been the governor of a state.

He told me he had felt more comfortable being able to have a direct influence over projects and policies than when he was part of a group.

To him, it was the stuff that directly affects people’s lives.

That was understandable.

In fact, I once had a conversation with Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites in which he told me he and another commissioner (Joe Hardy) flew down to Charleston to have a face-to-face meeting with Manchin in his office.

The issue was the completion of a segment of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

Vicites and the other commissioner broached the plan.

According to Vicites, within a week Manchin held a news conference to announce the deal.

Done, and done!

By 2018, in a comprehensive article about him in GQ Magazine, he proudly said, “My worst day as governor, is better than my best day as senator.”

In Charleston, he’d gladly engaged in retail politics.

Nowadays, though, he’s gone full wholesale.

He might be the most powerful man in Washington these days – including Joe Biden.

He’s standing firm against the removal of the filibuster that may enable President Biden to advance his agenda including the “For the People Act” (a voting rights bill), a massive infrastructure bill and, police reforms.

Of course, some of his fellow Democrats are furious. They’re claiming Manchin is immobilizing Biden’s agenda with his notions of wanting bipartisan legislation.

Republicans shouldn’t take delight in any of this.

Democrats may shout their disapprovals at Manchin’s actions, or inactions. But unlike Republicans, there aren’t any Democrats calling for Manchin to be removed from the various committees he either heads (Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee) or he’s a member of.

By contrast, Wyoming’s Liz Cheney used to be the third highest ranking among Republicans in the U.S. House.

That is until she voted to impeach Donald Trump, and she’s consistently told the truth about his claims of widespread voter fraud.

One of her colleagues, Florida’s Matt Gaetz, boldly traveled to Wyoming and held a rally against her in January.

That sort of thing won’t happen to Manchin.

He’ll stand firm. But there probably won’t be many recriminations against him from his fellow Democrats.

Nor will Biden speak ill of him.

Unlike Trump, who still calls his fellow Republicans “losers,” and “political hacks.”

Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.