2021 was a year of stops and starts. The virus appeared to be waning, but roared back. Inflation was supposed to be transitory, but wasn’t, exactly. Biden’s agenda moved forward, and then stalled. We had a debt ceiling crisis, then we didn’t, then it was looming, and then it was resolved. Putin threatened to invade, but hasn’t–at least not yet.
No one exemplified this trend better than Joe Manchin, who permitted parts of Biden’s agenda to move forward, but not all of it. He is the fulcrum of the teeter-totter that was Washington in 2021. As I’ve noted before, you can make a good argument that he represents the will of the American people, as expressed by the results of the 2020 election. Whether this constitutes good policy or not is another question.
For his accomplishments, for better or worse, West Virginia Joe is the Manchin of the year for 2021.