Daily Archives: June 20, 2021

Senate Democrats in tough races next year, namely Sens. Mark KellyMark KellyCentrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle The Hill's Morning Report - After high-stakes Biden-Putin summit, what now? Tensions grow between liberals and centrists on infrastructure MORE (Ariz.) and Maggie HassanMargaret (Maggie) HassanCentrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle The Hill's Morning Report - After high-stakes Biden-Putin summit, what now? Tensions grow between liberals and centrists on infrastructure MORE (N.H.), say it's more important for an infrastructure spending bill to be bipartisan thanfor it to fit in all the priorities that President BidenJoe BidenObama: Ensuring democracy 'continues to work effectively' keeps me 'up at night' New Jersey landlords prohibited from asking potential tenants about criminal records Overnight Defense: Pentagon pulling some air defense assets from Middle East | Dems introduce resolution apologizing to LGBT community for discrimination | White House denies pausing military aid package to Ukraine MORE has outlined and his party base are clamoring for.

The implications for control of the Senate and House after 2022 are not lost on the Biden White House, and the bloc of vulnerable Democrats could carry significant influence over what direction Democrats and the White House pursue in the weeks to come.

The White House has given extensive runway to bipartisan talks over the last few months. Officials close to the administration insist there is a genuine desire to get a deal with Republicans and stress they are willing to let the process play out.

Brokering a bipartisan deal would show Biden is able to work across the aisle after he campaigned on his reputation as a creature of the Senate who could restore some sense of collegiality. White House officials are keenly aware that a bipartisan deal could shield vulnerable lawmakers from a tough vote on a partisan, multitrillion-dollar reconciliation package that Republicans in purple states could wield against them in campaign ads next year.

I dont think theyve ever given up on bipartisanship, said one Democratic strategist close to the White House. I think theyll keep trying to get something until they cant, which is likely around Labor Day. Thats when youd need to go with reconciliation.

Kelly, who narrowly won last years Arizona special election and is a top GOP target in 2022, says at the top of my list is to pass an infrastructure bill with bipartisan support.

I want to see this get done and I prefer we do this in a bipartisan way, he said.

While many of his more liberal colleagues have grand plans about fighting climate change, expanding access to child care and broadening Medicare, Kelly says simply funding traditional infrastructure needs is a top concern of Arizonans.

Ive driven every corner of Arizona over the last couple of years. Seems like every road and highway needs help, he said. The major highway between Tucson and Phoenix doesnt have feeder roads in most places. Its a public safety issue.

Kelly is one of 21 senators, including 11 Republicans, nine Democrats and an independent who caucuses with Democrats, supporting a $974 billion, five-year infrastructure spending plan.

Hassan, who also signed onto the bipartisan framework last week, said whats important is that we work together to reflect the values of our constituents.

A University of New Hampshire poll from late April found that spending on traditional infrastructure had the most support of the elements of President Bidens infrastructure agenda.

I think its always important when we can do things in a bipartisan way to reflect the way our constituents do things. They work together without regard to political party all the time and theres large bipartisan support for infrastructure, Hassan said.

The Problem Solvers Caucus released its own $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework earlier this month in a push for a bipartisan deal. The effort is backed by Democrats in purple districts such as Reps. Tom MalinowskiThomas (Tom) MalinowskiOvernight Health Care: Biden 'very confident' in Fauci amid conservative attacks | House Dems press Biden on global vaccinations | CDC director urges parents to vaccinate adolescents House Democrats call on Biden to do 'much more' to vaccinate the world Rep. Malinowski traded as much as M in medical, tech stocks with stake in COVID-19 response MORE (D-N.J.), Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Chris PappasChristopher (Chris) Charles PappasFormer Trump aide eyeing New Hampshire congressional bid House Democrats hit Republicans on mobile billboard at GOP retreat House votes to extend ban on fentanyl-like substances MORE (D-N.H.).

With Democrats holding narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, many progressives are clamoring to cut off talks with Republicans and move forward with a reconciliation bill that looks more like the $2.2 trillion proposal Biden announced in late March with investments in roads, bridges, broadband, elder care and efforts to combat climate change.

But the realities of a 50-50 Senate and a nine-seat majority for Democrats in the House have made clear how much sway moderate members from purple states and districts have.

Kelly faces reelection in Arizona next November. He defeated former Sen. Martha McSallyMartha Elizabeth McSallyMcGuire unveils Arizona Senate campaign On The Trail: Arizona is microcosm of battle for the GOP Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly welcome first grandchild MORE (R) in a special election last year by roughly 80,000 votes, but Biden only carried the state by 11,000 votes and the party in power has historically had headwinds during midterm years.

Hassan was last on the ballot in 2016, when she defeated incumbent Sen. Kelly AyotteKelly Ann AyotteSununu seen as top recruit in GOP bid to reclaim Senate Lobbying world Overnight Defense: NATO expanding troops in Iraq MORE (R-N.H.) by roughly 1,000 votes in one of the most closely contested races in recent memory.

Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinHollywood goes all in for the For the People Act The Hill's Morning Report - ObamaCare here to stay Centrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle MORE (D-W.Va.), one of the loudest proponents for passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill, said it didnt take much to convince Kelly and Hassan to sign onto the proposal last week.

We didnt have to go out and recruit. Theyre aggressively wanting to be part of it, which speaks volumes, he said.

This is one time in the history of our country weve never been more divided than we are right now if we cant put our country above ourselves, God help us all, he added.

Sens. Catherine Cortez MastoCatherine Marie Cortez MastoPast criticism of Trump becomes potent weapon in GOP primaries Infighting grips Nevada Democrats ahead of midterms Top union unveils national town hall strategy to push Biden's jobs plan MORE (D-Nev.), Raphael WarnockRaphael WarnockDemocrats scramble to unify before election bill brawl Joe Manchin keeps Democrats guessing on sweeping election bill Loeffler meets with McConnell amid speculation of another Senate run MORE (D-Ga.), Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiTrump endorses Murkowski challenger Centrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle Senate confirms Radhika Fox to lead EPA's water office MORE (R-Alaska) and Jerry MoranGerald (Jerry) MoranCentrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle The Hill's Morning Report - After high-stakes Biden-Putin summit, what now? Bipartisan infrastructure group grows to 21 senators MORE (R-Kansas) are among the other senators up for reelection in 2022 who are expected to face difficult challenges in either the primary or general election.

Murkwoski and Moran are among the Republicans who have backed the bipartisan infrastructure framework. Spokespeople for Cortez Masto and Warnock did not respond to requests for comment about whether they prefer a bipartisan approach or moving ahead on reconciliation.

I think members facing tough reelections in 2022 would rather be seen as being bipartisan, but regular people care about results more than process, said a second Democratic strategist. [Senate Minority Leader] McConnell understands that. Bringing money home and building bridges and fixing roads will help them get re-elected more than any magic compromise with Republicans.

The thing McConnell understands better than most politicians in Washington is 99% of the things we focus on, like process, don't matter to regular people, the strategist added.

Democrats hope that passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill will help inoculate their candidates from efforts by Republicans to paint the Democratic Party as being dominated by its most liberal members, such as Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill's Morning Report - ObamaCare here to stay Centrists gain leverage over progressives in Senate infrastructure battle OVERNIGHT ENERGY: EPA announces new clean air advisors after firing Trump appointees | Senate confirms Biden pick for No. 2 role at Interior | Watchdog: Bureau of Land Management saw messaging failures, understaffing during pandemic MORE (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezHillary Clinton backs Shontel Brown in Ohio congressional race Ocasio-Cortez, Gillibrand and Moulton call for more high-speed rail funding in infrastructure package Pelosi picks Democrats for special panel tackling inequality MORE (D-N.Y.), the author of the Green New Deal.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John BarrassoJohn Anthony BarrassoJudge halts Biden pause on new public lands oil leasing GOP senator: I want to make Biden a 'one-half-term president' Biden land management pick faces GOP scrutiny over decades-old tree spiking case MORE (Wyo.) says the $6 trillion reconciliationpackage that Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, floated in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerFive takeaways on the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision Senate confirms Chris Inglis as first White House cyber czar Schumer vows to only pass infrastructure package that is 'a strong, bold climate bill' MORE (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday will be a liability for Democrats in swing states next year.

Were greatly confident that the contrast between what the Democrats are doing and what the American people want is so significant that its going to help us retain the seats we have, pick up seats and win the House, he said.

Speaking of the $6 trillion reconciliation proposal, Barrasso said Sanders has told other Democrats that hes expecting the Democrats to lose either the House or the Senate in two years and this is their last opportunity to take this big socialistic step.

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Democrats facing tough reelections back bipartisan infrastructure deal | TheHill - The Hill

Senate Republicans are preparing to unanimously block Democrats marquee election reform legislation, in a move that sets the stage for a bitter showdown over the future of voting rights across America and the survival of the filibuster rule.

The Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and a dozen top lieutenants said on Thursday that they would vote down the bill known as S1, predicting that not a single Republican would cross the aisle to join Democrats.

McConnell also said Republicans would not support S1 even if a revised version, with changes amenable to Republicans, was introduced.

Equally unacceptable, totally inappropriate all Republicans, I think, will oppose that, he said.

The opposition from McConnell, who commands deep and authoritative control over Republicans in the Senate, is all but certain to ensure the failure of S1 when the bill is set to be introduced on the Senate floor next week.

Democrats are relying on S1 to expand ballot access and tighten controls on campaign spending as they attempt to roll back a wave of new Republican voter restrictions, passed in response to Donald Trumps lies about a stolen 2020 presidential election. The Republican measures are set to have a particular impact on communities of color, and are seen as likely to suppress the Democratic vote.

The bill was revised this week to include a number of Republican priorities, including voter ID requirements, after longtime Senate Democratic holdout Joe Manchin indicated he would extend his support if his party made the changes to secure bipartisan support.

But McConnells forceful denunciation, making clear that no election reform bill has a chance of passage, suggests the futility of seeking bipartisanship with a Republican party openly committed to thwarting Democrats legislative agenda.

The expected blanket opposition from Republicans came soon after the revised S1 bill gained a notable endorsement from senior Democratic figure and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, who said on CNN she would absolutely support the proposal, and heralded it as the first step to preserving democracy.

Abrams, a former Georgia candidate for governor credited with helping deliver Joe Biden the presidency, is unpopular with Republicans and they quickly used her words of support to call the revised S1 bill unacceptable.

When Stacey Abrams immediately endorsed senator Manchins proposal, it became the Stacey Abrams substitute, not the Joe Manchin substitute, said Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules committee, which oversees election issues.

The resistance from McConnell and his lieutenants is likely to head off the growing push for election reform legislation, but it also threatened to reopen the simmering tensions over whether to impose new limits on the filibuster.

McConnells hard-line approach to doom S1 is backstopped by the filibuster the 60-vote supermajority rule that gives a united minority party ability to block any legislation and his knowledge that Manchin remains opposed to changing that rule, even though its existance thwarts the passing of much of Bidens ambitious domestic agenda.

But now, with Manchins own version of S1 in peril, some Democrats are suggesting that a party-line vote that confirms the legislation would have become law were it not for Republican opposition, would force the West Virginian to confront a reckoning with the filibuster.

The Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has already started making the case for imposing new limits on the filibuster by lining up votes on measures certain to be blocked and demonstrate that Republicans have turned the rule into a weapon of bad-faith politics.

Schumers idea is to show Manchin, and a handful of other Democrats opposed to curbing the filibuster, that Republicans are only interested in sinking all Democratic policies, and that he has no choice but to defuse the rule in order to pass their legislative priorities.

The pressure to change Senate rules is also growing from Democrats in the House, where the majority whip Jim Clyburn is pushing for Manchin to support carving out an exception to the filibuster for election reform bills, according to a source familiar with the matter.

It was not immediately clear on Friday how Manchin might proceed should Republicans filibuster his own version of S1.

But as Republicans sounded the death knell for the bill, Manchin, on a recent Zoom call reported by the Intercept, told the centrist group No Labels that he was considering whether to call for lowering the filibuster threshold to 55 from 60 votes.

Such a change would still not pave the way for the passage of S1, but it would significantly improve the prospects of other Democratic measures just short of 60 votes, from narrower voting rights bills to a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol attack.

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Republicans dig in and prepare to sink Democrats voting rights bill - The Guardian

One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the absence of large-scale political events in Maryland for a year and a half. No schmoozing. No glad-handing. No speechifying.

One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the absence of large-scale political events in Maryland for a year and a half. No schmoozing. No glad-handing. No speechifying.

But that changed dramatically and emphatically on Thursday night, when seven of the eight Democratic candidates for governor gathered together in the open air outside Olney Theater in Montgomery County and spoke, one by one, to a crowd of politicians, party activists, donors and State House lobbyists.

Officially, it was a fundraiser for House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), a consequential figure in Annapolis. But Luedtke had the presence of mind to invite all the declared and likely Democratic candidates for governor.

Much to my surprise, most of them decided to show up, Luedtke said.

And suddenly, a nice political gathering on an unusually pleasant late spring evening became a happening.

This is my first actual, real-life campaign event, marveled one of the gubernatorial candidates, Michael Rosenbaum, a Baltimore tech entrepreneur and first-time candidate.

The evening was divided into four parts: First came the preliminary schmoozing, snacking and alcohol-free sipping, mostly maskless and featuring some awkward handshakes, fist bumps and hugs along with some more emphatic greetings.

Were shaking hands now? one campaign operative asked a man who extended a hand.

Then came the more traditional fundraising program: House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and U.S. Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) extolling Luedtkes virtues, Jones calling up every House member present, maybe 20 in all, to join her and Luedtke in front of the crowd. Then Luedtke spoke, sending praise Jones and Raskins way.

Luedtke quickly shifted gears and became the moderator of an impromptu gubernatorial forum. Of the candidates in the Democratic field, only former attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, who was attending a Democratic Attorneys General Association conference, did not appear.

Luedtke, like other party stalwarts, stressed the importance of electing a Democrat in 2022 after eight years of Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R).

Weve had a governor who in my opinion doesnt have a vision for this state and doesnt work well with others, Luedtke said. We need a governor who believes in people, in helping people.

Each candidate then made his pitch. The crowd, used to talking through speeches at political events because theyve heard all the lines before, was remarkably respectful, sizing up the candidates seriously, mindful that this was the publics first significant exposure to the Democrats who would be governor. They were dead silent when Wes Moore, the former foundation executive and best-selling author spoke.

In all, it was a useful barometer of where the candidates think they are and the messages they want to transmit to this small core of Democratic activists, the few who are actually paying attention to the contenders one year and 11 days before the primary:

I value results over rhetoric, he said. I want to restore Marylanders faith in the ability of government to deliver for them.

Franchot, who spent the better part of the Hogan administration cozying up to the governor, criticized Hogan for the delays in getting unemployment checks out to struggling Marylanders, and also laid out some aspects of his biography that voters may not know, including his work in opposition to the Vietnam War, his campaigning for presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in 1968, his anti-nuclear activism, and his time as director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

King talked about struggling as a youth after both his parents died, but also about his faith in the redemptive powers of education. And he described his work with a new progressive advocacy group, Strong Future Maryland, that worked on race and equity issues, climate change and tenant protections during the recent General Assembly session.

I didnt just talk about problems, he said. I didnt just tweet about problems. I didnt wax poetic on cable television about problems.

Baker said his career as a legislator and as county executive and now running an institute at the University of Maryland College Park that trains incoming public officials shows that he is prepared to tackle the challenges of the future.

It is in my DNA to run toward a problem and to stay there until the problem is solved, Baker said. He also name-checked the late House Appropriations Committee chairman Howard P. Pete Rawlings (D-Baltimore City), who, he said, taught him how to influence colleagues and become a more effective leader.

I took on these systems in business and won, he said. What we need to do as a state is take on these systems and win.

Baron also pledged: I wont take a dime of money from corporations or special interests.

Perez, who presided over the DNC during the 2020 presidential election cycle, joked about the size of the Democratic gubernatorial field. Theres a lot of people thinking about running for governor. But Im here to tell you, its 18 less than were running for president.

He outlined his familys history his parents moved from the Dominican Republic to Buffalo, N.Y., because of the similarities in the weather between Buffalo and the Dominican Republic and his philosophy about governments role to help others.

My parents taught me to make sure the ladders down, Perez said, adding, If you want to get to heaven, youve got to get letters of reference from the folks in the shadows.

In the Army, the first thing we learn is, we dont leave people behind, he said. In fact, we send a battalion in to get them. We dont leave people behind. Why as a state are we OK with that?

Moore said he has dedicated his life to fighting inequality and would bring the same resolve to the governors office.

Moore, more than the other candidates, was mobbed by well-wishers as the fundraiser concluded. Maybe that was a function of him not being present for the preliminaries. Maybe it was because he was less well-known to this particular political crowd than some of the other candidates. Or maybe its because he has a dash of celebrity that the other candidates do not possess.

But if there was a winner among the candidates on the audience applause-o-meter, it was none of the gubernatorial contenders. That distinction belonged to Del. Brooke E. Lierman (D-Baltimore City), a candidate for comptroller and the lone Democratic woman running for statewide office as of now.

Liermans quick speech, outlining the ways the comptrollers office can be a force for progressive change and exhorting the crowd to be bold and to think big, got the biggest cheer of the night.

jkurtz@marylandmatters.org

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Face-to-face fundraising returns, with a heavy dose of Democratic Gubernatorial campaigning - WTOP

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)Outraged by the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to preserve Barack Obamas signature legislative achievement, Senator Ted Cruz called the Affordable Care Act a thinly veiled Democratic plot to keep people alive so they can vote.

A long time ago, Democrats figured out that live people were far more likely to vote than dead ones, Cruz charged. Make no mistake: the Affordable Care Act is a calculated scheme to increase the number of live people.

He went on, Democrats will stop at nothing to get people to vote. They will get them ballots. They will get them bottled water. And, yes, if necessary, they will keep them from dying of a prexisting condition. It disgusts me.

Cruz added that, unlike Democrats, Republicans have no intention whatsoever of keeping people alive, and pointed to Texass new constitutional carry gun law as a shining example.

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Ted Cruz Calls Obamacare a Democratic Plot to Keep People Alive So They Can Vote - The New Yorker

It is often hard to try to derive a national message from a single byelection. The effect on party morale usually dwarfs that felt on government policy. The election of Liberal Democrat Sarah Green as the MP for Chesham and Amersham, a commuter-belt seat north-west of London, stuns on both counts. The result will make Conservative MPs in relatively liberal and educated constituencies very jumpy. But it will also slow the progress of Boris Johnsons planning reforms. Voters in bucolic Buckinghamshire plainly feared that these would make it easier for developers to concrete over the countryside.

What the result shows is that the Liberal Democrat cause is not a hopeless one. With just 11 parliamentarians and languishing at 7% in national polls, Sir Ed Davey appeared to be taking his depleted ranks and marching them towards the sound of gunfire. Chesham and Amersham has been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1974. Yet Ms Green overturned a 16,000-strong Tory majority to take the seat by just over 8,000 votes, a swing of 25%, and upset the odds. The energy of the Tories vaccine bounce seems dissipated. Clearly the death of Liberal England has been prematurely foretold.

But is this a successful revival or a false dawn? In 2016 a swing of 22% saw Londons Richmond Park won by the Lib Dems. Three years later the party won the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection in Wales with a swing of 14%. What was telling was that on both occasions, the Lib Dems benefited from electoral pacts that consolidated a part of the remain vote. These divisions have not been erased just because Britain has left the European Union. Chesham and Amersham voted remain, and it would appear that substantial numbers of pro-EU Labour supporters voted Lib Dem.

The Compass thinktank has identified two clear battlegrounds in England: one between Labour and the Conservatives, another between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. There are few seats where Labour and the Lib Dems square off. It makes sense to join hands to defeat a common enemy. This thought also dovetails with a creeping political realignment in British politics.

The trend is for older, school-leaver Brexit supporters in the north switching to the Conservatives while the ruling party is losing ground among the more middle-class suburban graduates who leaned towards remain. Mr Johnsons divisive nationalism and levelling up rhetoric risks trading red wall gains, such as in Hartlepool last month, for blue wall losses. The new Tory coalition can be divided in other ways: the HS2 high-speed railway is widely welcomed in the north and the Midlands where it ends, but less so in the leafy southern constituencies, such as Chesham and Amersham, that it runs through.

To keep the momentum going will require more than the politics of protest. Sir Ed must see the possibility of a major political restructuring and shape it. He should make a virtue of positions that decentralise power, free the individual citizen and promote quality in public services. He needs policies that are not only popular but also clearly associated in the minds of voters with the Lib Dems. Being a responsible partner to the EU, rather than a troublesome neighbour, would be a good start. Liberalism is its own creed, and its adherents ought to make the case that it remains the one most capable of meeting the challenges ahead.

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The Guardian view on the Liberal Democrats: seeing and shaping politics - The Guardian

Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke speaks before a Democratic Party fundraising dinner, the Liberty and Justice Celebration, in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. November 1, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

June 17 (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate Beto ORourke will headline a voting rights rally in Texas on Sunday, a day before Democrats in the U.S. Senate take up a sweeping bill aimed at combating new Republican-backed voting restrictions in that state and others across the country.

Democratic lawmakers in Texas staged a dramatic, 11th-hour walkout as the legislative session was ending last month, blocking the Republican majority from passing a wide-ranging bill that would have eliminated drive-through and overnight voting, made it easier for judges to overturn election results and given partisan poll watchers more access to polling sites.

Texas is part of a national push by Republicans to tighten voting laws after former President Donald Trump's false claim that he lost last year's presidential election due to voter fraud. Republican-controlled legislatures have passed new rules in several battleground states, including Georgia, Arizona and Florida.

The reprieve in Texas is likely temporary. Republican leaders, including Governor Greg Abbott, have said they will hold a special session to take up the legislation again.

But in an interview on Thursday, O'Rourke, a former Democratic congressman who ran for president in 2020 and has not ruled out a gubernatorial campaign challenging Abbott in 2022, said he has already seen signs that the grassroots effort against the bill is working.

A handful of Republican lawmakers have backed away from some provisions in the measure, such as a prohibition on early voting on Sundays before 1 p.m. a measure widely seen as targeting Black churches' "souls to the polls" drives.

"That's a good sign that this public pressure works," said O'Rourke, who has visited 18 cities and towns in recent weeks to hold voting rights events. "This state is the epicenter of the fight for voting rights, and if this state comes together in numbers large enough, I really do think that helps advance the cause."

Organizers say they expect thousands of attendees at the weekend rally in Austin, the state capital.

The U.S. Senate is expected on Monday to begin bringing a sweeping Democratic-sponsored election reform bill up for a vote. The legislation, known as the For the People Act, would expand ballot access and outlaw partisan redistricting, among other measures. read more

The bill's prospects in the Senate, however, are dim. Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote with Republicans universally opposed, and moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has already said he does not support the legislation.

On Wednesday, Manchin suggested a series of revisions to the bill, though any compromise would require at least 10 Republican votes under the Senate's filibuster rules.

O'Rourke said Manchin's proposal shows the bill's chances are improving.

"I think this is a very good sign, especially for everyone who was wanting us to believe the sky was falling and that this would never pass," he said.

O'Rourke said he has had conversations with members of the Biden administration, which has called on Congress to pass voting protections.

Democratic President Joe Biden has put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of a national voting rights push; she met on Wednesday with 16 Texas Democratic legislators who participated in last month's walkout. read more

O'Rourke, who became a Democratic star when he narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race in 2018 to Republican Ted Cruz, said he is focused on voting rights at the moment, not his political future.

After that work is done, I will think about what it is I can do to further help here in Texas, he said, adding that running for office is one possibility.

Reporting by Joseph AxEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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O'Rourke to host Texas voting rights rally as U.S. Democrats push reforms - Reuters