USA: Where the Democratic base is eroding

The US Democrats argue over climate and social policy. Biden’s plans could fail because of Senator Manchin from West Virginia – he thinks they are too expensive and too ambitious. How is that received in his home country?

The conveyor belts rattle, lifting ton by ton of steam coal from the earth. Operations in the mines in the coal field around Fairmont in northern west Virginia are currently in full swing. The energy demand in the country, in the world, is enormous, the prices at a two-year high. The decline can still be seen at every nook and corner. Many jobs have been lost in the past few years.

The mines are the lifeline of the entire region, like everywhere in West Virginia. The area is structurally weak and jobs in the coal industry are well paid. With night shifts, weekend work, and overtime, coal workers can earn more than $ 100,000 a year.

When climate protection and environmental legislation are being negotiated in Washington these days, the alarm bells will ring. And: Politicians are believed to be remote from the world. 20 percent of the country’s electricity is generated from coal. That cannot simply be replaced.

A senator for the coal

One of those fighting for the coal industry in Washington is Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. He’s from West Virginia, the coal miners are his constituents. In addition, he earns a lot himself from the coal. In Congress he has been getting on the nerves of his own party for months because he has so far – as one of the very few – refused to approve President Biden’s social and climate protection laws. He thinks the plans are too expensive.

Manchin has taken its rather conservative stance for decades. That was the only reason why many of them were still eligible for election in the last Senate election. From the 1930s through 2000, West Virginia consistently voted Democratic. Most recently, 68.6 percent voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Some people themselves won every single county in the 2008 gubernatorial election – just barely winning the Senate post in 2018.

Who has changed – the voters or the party?

Lloyd “Bub” Barker is typical of the region. 54 years old, third generation mine worker, registered Democrat, union member. He describes his parents’ home as deeply democratic. The Democrats were the workers’ party for his family too. He also voted for Obama in 2012.

But now he can no longer do anything with the democratic party. “I haven’t changed,” says Barker, “the democratic party has changed.” The fight of the left democrats for more climate protection and against his coal – for him that is an affront. But it is not primarily his job concern that worries him. “If I can no longer work in the coal, I’ll do something else. But the Democrats no longer share my values. I am against abortion, for safe borders. I want the country to be like it was before. The Democrats are dividing the country . “

The question of the alternatives

Rick Altman is one of those who still see the Democrats as the workers’ party – a shrinking group. Altmann is Vice President of the United Mine Workers Association in Fairmont, the miners’ union. Work safety, good wages, good health care, good pensions – all things that Democrats would have fought for alongside the unions in the past, he says. Also and specifically Manchin. For him, Manchin is an important fighter for sanity in Washington.

If climate protection is discussed, it must also be discussed what the alternative to the coal industry can be for regions like his. “Before you take the coal industry away from us, you first need a plan of what new jobs can be created here instead. You first have to show people an alternative before you rob them of their livelihood,” says Rick, “otherwise they will feel the people left here “.

Altmann is therefore pleased that Manchin, as he calls it, “remains steadfast”. Others, like Barker, cannot win Manchin back for the Democrats, no matter how hard he fights in Washington for coal and against overly strict environmental regulations. He and many of his buddies have found their new political home with the Republicans.

You can see these and other reports today in the joint live broadcast “New Start for Germany – New Role in the World” by “Weltspiegel” and “Report from Berlin” – from 6:05 pm on Das Erste.