chris. and i want to remind you that senator bernie sanders back in october also put an op-ed in manchin s hometown paper. i m holding one right here, the charleston gazette, where he basically tried to pressure senator joe manchin into voting for this build back better piece of legislation. obviously, that didn t work. and i heard from source even before i got down here last night, that said that senator bernie sanders comments, progressive s comments aren t going to move the needle. senator joe manchin s approval ratings have been growing here in the last couple of years, and it s because of the political makeup here. i m in charleston, west virginia, it s the capital of a state that has less than 2 million people in it. but i spoke to some folks on the ground today, and they re on pretty opposite sides of the pages. it s being moving more towards this redder landscape. as you said, more people voted for trump dramatically than biden, but let s take a listen to what wes cogger told
can barely put gas in my car now as it is. soy mean, anything any other drastic steps that would alter west virginia at all right now is just it s kind of scary. i can see why joe would be skeptical to do it. reporter: yeah, and people like wes, chris, are scared. he works multiple jobs. he told me he depends on the price of lumber being low so he can make the best bang for his buck in his side jobs as well as his main job, which is working for a health insurance company right behind me. but i also spoke to other voters, like sally roberts, like angie currans, who i just spoke to, and she s parade that her kids will choose to leave the state where her family has been for centuries. her family, by the way, many of them coal miners themselves, have dealt with black lung, have dealt with the effects of coal mining. once made a good living, now no more. and she said that senator joe manchin is out of touch with the people that he represents. so, yamiche, it shouldn t be lost on us