It's never been more of an adventure to be Democrat in WV — just ask Joe Manchin!

The Appalachian Mountains stretch across parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. But only one state lies entirely within Appalachia: West Virginia.

The wonderful people of West Virginia — 70.0% of whom voted for Donald Trump and 28.1% for Kamala Harris — love America just as much as the wonderful people of Baltimore, where 84.6% voted for Kamala Harris and only 12.1% for Donald Trump.

By Mike Reid | April 2025

I recently sat down and imagined the conversation I’d like to have with disgraced former Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat turned Independent who chose not to seek reelection, clearing the way for a Republican to win his Senate seat in 2024.

Mike Reid: Senator, I'm so excited to have the opportunity to sit down with you, and what a thrill that we're actually conducting this interview for 7 ½ hours straight while in the cafe car on the train from Baltimore to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the first of eight stops in West Virginia.

Joe Manchin: Well Mike, I figured Joe Biden got all this cred for taking the Acela home to Delaware every night for 36 years as a senator, so I figured this interview would be good for my image, because obviously the train to West Virginia is way more hardcore than the Acela from DC to Wilmington — and I'm hoping I might even get a thumbs up from Elon Musk, because I know that being extremely hardcore is what Elon is all about.

Mike Reid: And speaking of your image, I mean, Joe, fuck man, I don't know where to begin. Everyone fucking hates you. I mean, ok, obviously when you look at polling of voters nationwide most people don't really care about you either way, but of the people who do have an opinion, way more people disapprove of you than people approve of you, you know what I mean?

Joe Manchin: Yes Mike, I'm aware of all that.

Mike Reid: I mean, Jesus Christ, Joe. What happened?

Joe Manchin: What happened???? I was a god damn Democratic senator from a red state, Mike, and not just any red state. From West Virginia, for fucks sake, Mike.

Mike Reid: Wow. Ummmm, ok. Can you say more about that?

Joe Manchin: Ok, Mike, well obviously you know all about this already, but if you're going to be a Democrat elected in a red state, you're going to have to do things that appeal to the voters in your state, like supporting coal mining obviously and obviously you've got to vote against an enormous spending bill that in hindsight would have made inflation a lot worse than it was, by the way.

Mike Reid: So I guess you and Kyrsten Sinema are actually kind of the heroes of the story, in a way. Kind of. But let's turn to the topic of West Virginia. And senator, look, I get it. I really do. It's not like you were the Governor of West Virginia, you were one of 100 senators, and a lot of your job was obviously about legislation in Washington and things like that, and so I don't think it's fair for people to blame you for all of the problems in West Virginia.

‍Joe Manchin: I don't mean to interrupt, but, um, actually I was the Governor of West Virginia from 2005 until 2010 and before that I was the Secretary of State of West Virginia and before that I was in the West Virginia Senate for ten years and before that I was in the West Virginia House of Delegates for four years.

Mike Reid: Wow. Ok. And what did you do before that?

Joe Manchin: I, ummmmm, I worked in the energy industry.

Mike Reid: Oh, cool! Like wind and solar?

Joe Manchin: Um, no. Like, um, coal mining. I mean, I obviously wasn't the one doing the mining. It was more of a desk job.

Mike Reid: Thanks for saying that so openly and candidly, Joe.

Joe Manchin: Sure. I mean, what do I have to lose at this point, Mike? Everyone hates me. Democrats hate me. Republicans hate me. Even Angus King hates me.

Mike Reid: Wow, even Angus King hates you?

Joe Manchin: Yeah, um, I guess he didn't want me to become an independent. Said it was 'his thing'. Said I was ruining the brand even more than Kyrsten Sinema was because 'at least she wears those crazy outfits but you're just another old white guy in a suit,' he said. Honestly, I don't really want to talk about it.

Mike Reid: Wow. Ok, um, new topic. Ummm, ok, let me ask you this: The movie Zoolander as well as The Hunger Games' District 12 are both based on West Virginia. But which movie was a more realistic portray of West Virginia?

Joe Manchin: Well, to be honest I've never seen Zoolander so I'll say The Hunger Games.

Mike Reid: You've never seen Zoolander?

Joe Manchin: The one where Ben Stiller plays a coal miner? No.

Mike Reid: But you have seen the Hunger Games?

Joe Manchin: The one with Jennifer Lawrence and she saves her sister from the games and then wins? Yeah, I've seen it. Jennifer Lawrence's character is from West Virginia, you know, and she wins against all the better funded districts like New York.

Mike Reid: Nobody ever said West Virginia was heaven, huh Joe?

Joe Manchin: It's almost heaven, Mike. But it's not heaven.

Mike Reid: Almost. Except for the undrinkable tap water — and also obviously the general sense that things are getting worse, not better? But I guess that feeling isn't just in West Virginia right now, it's everywhere in America. But to be completely honest, Joe, I think the thing that most shocked me about West Virginia as I was preparing for this interview was....

Joe Manchin: You prepared for this interview?

Mike Reid: Um, yeah. I mean, I didn't study up on you, obviously, because I could just google or ask ChatGPT things as I wrote, but I did watch a couple YouTube videos on West Virginia before I got started. And I've also actually been to West Virginia once, back in 2018 before the pandemic and it was pretty bleak back then and most people are saying it's getting worse, not better. But anyway, getting back to the point I was trying to make: One thing that really shocked me about West Virginia — but I think this is a reason to be optimistic — is that there really aren't that many of you.

Joe Manchin: Excuse me?

Mike Reid: Look Joe, the population of your entire state is only 1.7 million people. And it's, ummm, it's declining every year.

Joe Manchin: Yes, I'm aware of that, Mike. What's your point?

Mike Reid: Ok, Joe. I mean, you must be aware that some of the other states have larger populations, right? Like, I know that in the Senate there are always two of you per state, but if you go over to the House and ask around for the reps from West Virginia there are only two of them because you used to have three members but your population is declining so you only have two now. But if you count the number of reps from a place like New York it's 26 and there's an entire delegation of 52 members from California.

Joe Manchin: Senators try to avoid the House side as much as they can, obviously, but yes, I'm aware of all that, Mike.

Mike Reid: Ok, so in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris won New York by over a million votes, and she won California by over three million votes, but Donald Trump won West Virginia, obviously.

Joe Manchin: He won West Virginia big time, Mike.

Mike Reid: Yeah exactly, Joe. But your population's so damn small that while Trump won West Virginia with 70% of the vote, he only won by a little more than 300,000 votes.

Joe Manchin: What's your point, Mike?

Mike Reid: West Virginia needs more Democrats, Joe.

Joe Manchin: Yes, I am aware of that, Mike, obviously.

Mike Reid: And I think Democrats would love West Virginia.

Joe Manchin: Of course they would. This place is almost heaven.

Mike Reid: And you do have a great song, you really do! There's no better advertisement for a state via song than you've got for West Virginia. Sure, Midnight Train to Georgia is catchy, but the whole having to take a train that leaves at midnight is a turn off. And yes, obviously Katy Perry has a great song about California Girls and I like Katy Perry and the women of California, but there's also that song Hotel California, so it's a double edged sword obviously with California, you know what I mean? And ok, yes, maybe Sweet Home Alabama comes close, but Alabama doesn't have a train running through it from Chicago to NYC like West Virginia does, and people fucking love trains, Joe. Have you been on YouTube lately?

Joe Manchin: Sorry, have I been where?

Mike Reid: Oh, ok, sorry, you were born in 1947 and you were an elected official since 1982 — so you never really learned how to use the internet, right? Ok, um, how do I explain this? There is this place on the internet with literally endless videos on certain topics that for whatever reason the algorithm loves. And so you can — day or night — watch one of literally hundreds of videos on YouTube of people taking very long Amtrak rides, and you'd think maybe a few dozen people would have watched the videos, right? But no! Tens of millions of Americans are watching other people ride the Amtrak on YouTube, and they could be doing it themselves, Joe! And you know where can they take the Amtrak? To West Virginia! The train we're on right now is exactly what people watch other people do on YouTube, Joe, but we're actually doing it right this very now, and it's fucking glorious, isn't it Joe?

Joe Manchin: Ok. If I squint, I'm beginning to understand where I think you're heading with all of this, Mike.

Mike Reid: Your state needs tourism, Joe, it needs goddamn blue state Democrats from DC and Chicago and New York and maybe even Palo Alto — and honestly foreigners too — flooding into the state and spending money, creating new jobs in tourism that pay $50/hour. And you also need Democratic Super PACs to open up offices in West Virginia, to set out on a new political frontier and do things that even Republicans enjoy, like creating jobs that pay $50/hour. But it can't just be Democrats moving to West Virginia, Joe, we've got to create opportunities for West Virginians to get jobs in places like Baltimore that pay $50/hour and then some of these West Virginians will stay and maybe even marry Democrats and others will decide to return to West Virginia with a new perspective on blue America, Joe.
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Joe Manchin: Wow, Mike. That sound like heaven. Well, almost.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.