Democrats were exhausted and relieved. Senator Blumenthal noticed Schumer’s approach with Manchin. Yell, but keep him close, on the team. He and others wondered if Harry Reid, in the same position, would have been as patient. Manchin’s chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had never been threatened. Biden might have cursed—and the number of “fucks” Biden uttered seemed to multiply as the story went from senator to senator. But Biden or Schumer had never really threatened anything.
