Manchin’s Turn to the Center Has No Lane on West Virginia’s Country Roads

Republicans say the two-term senator’s centrist concessions ‘betrayed’ state voters, while Democrats claim he profited while leaving ‘a lot of people behind.’

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

FARMINGTON, W.V.—The sumac and sugar maples have lost their flaming red leaves and the hardwood forests marching up West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains are bare and gray the week after Thanksgiving.

In Farmington, where Little Lauren Run meets Buffalo Creek, the half-square-mile town of about 400 residents is preparing for the holidays. Candy canes line Main Street and a Christmas tree stands near a fire ring at City Hall. Buck hunting season is ending, and the state championship football game—pitting two local high schools—is days away.