Politico: ‘Progressives Are From Venus, Manchin Is From Mars’

Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Well, Bill, it’s like this: when you see a “D” behind a senator’s name you want to be able to depend upon that person to vote a certain way. The whole system pretty much hinges upon that concept. I confess to being intrigued with this article in the Politico nightly newsletter, “Progressives Are From Venus, Manchin Is From Mars.” I basically agree with their comparison to that clickbait pop psychology book from the early 90’s, I just don’t think they’re going far enough with the idea. Manchin would be doing well to be as close as Mars. When last sighted, he was on Deep Space Nine, compared to the other senators with a “D” and Mitch McConnell was singing his praises, which is a clarion call that something is amiss.

CONGRESSIONAL LOVE LANGUAGES — The 1992 best-seller “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” looks today like a reductive exercise in gender stereotypes. But set the retrograde cliches aside: The book accurately conveyed a central truth that might help congressional Democrats as they stare down a brutal fall. Relationship breakdowns happen when you and your partner are communicating on your own terms, rather than trying to find common ground despite different frames of reference.

And lately, Democratic centrists and progressives are not only talking past each other, they are also doing so in two separate languages. So while the binary Mars-Venus frame doesn’t work for gender, it might just teach the two camps inside President Joe Biden’s party how to live under the same roof without the stakes of its big tent flying away in a gust.

The first lesson comes from Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). She told POLITICO on Friday that she has the votes within her 96-member bloc to stop the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill from clearing the House next week unless a multitrillion-dollar social spending bill also moves ahead. People “want to see us fight for them,” she added.

This is Mars talk, more or less. Progressives are willing to risk short-term legislative failure if it connects to their deeply held policy principles — because they’re motivated by the fight itself.

Centrists, on the other hand, are from Venus. Here’s how Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) addressed the social spending bill in a recent ABC News interview: “No one is talking about inflation or debt, and we should have that as part of the discussion. … I can’t understand why we can’t take time, deliberate on this, and work.”

And nobody wants to take time more than the Obstructionist Turtle himself, Mitch McConnell. He loves to take his time. He prays for Joe Manchin.

McConnell on reconciliation: "I pray for Manchin and Sinema every night, give them a lot of love, wish them well, and hope they can withstand the pressure… to prevent the defeat of this extraordinarily ill-advised proposal." pic.twitter.com/xC3E61fB1x

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) September 9, 2021

Jim Clyburn, always the voice of reason, is trying to keep factions of the party from going for each other’s throats.

House Dem @WhipClyburn tells Jim @Acosta the $3.5 T figure for budget reconciliation is just a "celling" and not a "floor". Clyburn says there is $2T worth of negotiating room. Worth noting that progressives like @BernieSanders & @AOC have said $3.5 T is already a compromise. pic.twitter.com/JXZiVB73iA

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) September 8, 2021

Centrists like Manchin would prefer long-term legislative stasis to a short-term failure if it gives them more time to socialize their goals. They’re motivated by the act of outreach, however performative it may look to their colleagues on the left.

Can Democratic leaders please both fight-for-what’s-right liberals and talk-it-through centrists? Possibly, but it would require a conversation about the $550 billion infrastructure bill that bridges this Mars-Venus divide.

And parse through this one fact, because it is important: the progressive wing of the party didn’t want to nominate Uncle Joe. The centrists, of which I am one, were saying, “Are you mad? Biden is the obvious strategic choice.” Progressives weren’t buying it for the longest time.  They were waiting for some miracle whereby they got Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg. And don’t get me wrong. Nobody but nobody thinks more highly of Warren and Buttigieg than I do. If the 2020 election was happening against a different backdrop, they would have been my first choices as well. The key issue in 2020 was healing, and getting the country back on an even keel, not making huge progressive strides. We are now in a position to address a progressive agenda precisely because we have a centrist president in office, as paradoxical as that might seem.

In any event, the progressives are asking for too much too soon right now, the centrists are trying to get Biden’s bill passed and Joe Manchin is out there in the weeds with the Republicans.

Each wing would have to accept the other’s needs for the whole party to get what it wants. And based on Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s recent ultimatum to Biden about walking away from the social spending talks if the House infrastructure vote fails as soon as next week, the chances of that acceptance aren’t looking good.

The second lesson comes from Reps. Cori Bush (R-Mo.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and other progressives who, after the Senate parliamentarian ruled against including immigration reform in the social spending bill, urged their party to push past the rules referee. Top Democrats “can and should ignore” the parliamentarian, Omar tweeted. “The parliamentarian must be overruled,” Bush tweeted.

This isn’t going to happen, but they’re illustrating a classic element of progressive communication: Always try to move the range of acceptable outcomes.

Think of this as the progressive version of what original Mars/Venus author John Gray described as “the cave” that Mars denizens retreat to when they’re under pressure. A trip to the cave doesn’t necessarily accomplish the goals of Mars natives, but it lets them blow off steam that later helps them communicate better.

To that end, the Democrats’ left flank is going to naturally want to clamor for bigger and bolder resistance after a defeat like the one they got dealt on immigration. That venting is valuable and is likely to be followed by a come-together moment for the party — when the time is right.

A Second Great Depression was avoided in this country by stimulus checks, PPP, and the extension of unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. A vital and necessary expansion to the social safety net, affecting generations to come, could be made now with the infrastructure bill. It is devoutly to be wished that all the factions concerned do get on the same page and start talking the same language. This is no time for Congress to go the way of the Tower of Babel.