Jay Rockefeller: “you have just heard a classic Joe Manchin speech. It truly is. It is full of optimism, strength, common purpose, no…”

“you have just heard a classic Joe Manchin speech. It truly is. It is full of optimism, strength, common purpose, no problem cannot be solved, and the desire for bipartisan cooperation. If anybody can bring our two sides together, surely he can do that. He is aggressive, he is thoughtful, but above all he is optimistic. He has a positive approach, a constructive approach. He is unafraid of any problem and thrilled about doing whatever kinds of public service he does. We actually have fairly common careers. We both served in the State legislature. He served in both branches. I served in one branch. We were both Secretaries of State and we both ran for Governor. Now we are both in the Senate. So I have known the Manchin family for years. I have known Joe Manchin for years. I have always been proud of his work. He is fun. He loves sports. That is very important in life--very important in life. He loves sports. He is a devoted Mountaineer. Sometimes I think he calls the plays for our team. This is going to be a better Senate because of Joe Manchin, because of his personality. I have watched him in the couple of months he has been here--couple of weeks, a month, two--and he has been all over the floor. It is fun to watch him. Somebody sits down that side, this side, and all of a sudden Senator Joe Manchin is seated right beside him, grabbing an arm, making a point, establishing a friendship, bonding. That is the way he is with our people.…”