Creators Syndicate

WASHINGTON -- Never in the history of the Senate have so many men and women hugged on the floor. Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin was in the middle of it all: Democrats delivering a record win.

Just think: Sept. 11 and Jan. 6 crashed into the first 21 years of the 21st century.

So, I dashed to the Capitol Sunday afternoon to see news break and history happen: a landmark bill that 50 out of 50 Senate Democrats passed on a hot, sweet summer day. I was swimming under the sun in the Georgetown pool.

Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat often seen as a spoiler, was now the life of the party.

Liberal Democrats embraced the 74-year-old after final passage. Young enough to be Manchin’s son, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, gripped his shoulders and shed tears.

Up in the press gallery, we were agog at the exuberance that burst out.

The bill breaks records for climate crisis funds, $370 billion; lowers the cost of prescription drugs; and adds fairness to the Trump-stamped tax code.

“This is my lucky blue suit,” lighthearted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters after the overnight voting session ended in triumph over the tightly organized Republicans.

“We are elated,” Schumer said, remarking on the solid unity “with a caucus from Bernie Sanders to Joe Manchin.”

The tense clash between the democratic socialist Sanders, I-Vt., and Manchin was on display through marathon votes.

To keep Manchin’s vote, Democrats had to scale back their most progressive plans. Irately, Sanders kept bringing them up, as painful reminders, in amendments that failed through the sleepless night on the floor.

The Brooklyn-born Vermonter, 80, did not hug Manchin, a side show.

This was a chance for character study in political drama, because the 100 senators gathered for partisan battle were too tired to act. Give them this: they all made it through the 28-hour ordeal, including gaunt Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., 89, the oldest member.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the formidable Kentucky Republican, sat utterly still. At 80, he looked like a weary Civil War general who had folded his tent.

Sen. John Thune, a lean South Dakota giant second in Republican leadership, took over floor statements. Granted, he is a leader of (mostly) men, but Thune’s band of 49 Republicans sitting at their desks looked beaten.

I was happy to see Democrats happy. They prevailed over real obstacles, two of them named Joe and Kyrsten (Sinema, a moderate Democratic senator from Arizona.)

In fact, most had given up hope for this moment, when Schumer and Manchin broke an impasse in top-secret negotiations. This deal was a long time coming.

In an evenly divided 50-50 Senate, every vote counts, with the vice president the tiebreaker.

Kamala Harris’ clipped monotone was off-key.

To witness substance at work advancing climate, health care and tax issues is a pleasure to one who knows how slow and lazy the body can be. Manchin claims it will reduce inflation, the campaign issue Republicans are running on this fall.

But to be honest, it didn’t hurt to see the Republican caucus lose.

Arrogant Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., were humbled. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sat at the corner edge of the Senate, as if he was slumming and barely there.

Politics ain’t beanbag, they say.

In the wee hours, Republicans made a mistake, refusing to cap insulin prices at $35.

My climate expert friends say the clean energy part falls short. That Manchin got away with protecting fossil fuels and building a gas pipeline in his home state.

Sure, he did. But the package moves us toward major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for the first time ever. We’re going in the right direction at least, at last.

Manchin’s style is to come to the table and bargain. He is what he is, an old-school Southern Democrat.

Sinema’s strange style is to keep her party and the press guessing until the last moment. She did that again to Schumer and her leadership.

Wearing a bright maxi dress and jean jacket, she held out for easier tax treatment for hedge fund managers and private equity firms. Very nice.

Sinema did not get many hugs.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieStiehm. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit Creators.com