Joe Manchin, the wild man of the mountains

AMERICAN POLITICS has provided little cause for levity in recent times. So give thanks for the campaign to primary Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia launched by a group of brave left-wingers. A recent email from No Excuses PAC, which was formed by a pair of former aides to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, threatens to “replace” Mr Manchin and other “conservative Democrats in the Senate who stand in the way of progress”. Without wishing to make excuses for No Excuses, its masterminds seem to know even less about Mr Manchin’s rugged little state than John Denver did, when he co-wrote his great “misty taste of moonshine” homage to West Virginia without ever having set foot there.