“我不知道我到底属于哪里，”西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦周二在被问及可能在竞选中更换政党时表示与受挫的民主党同僚进行顽固的讨价还价和乔·拜登总统。

曼钦说，人们“每天”都会找他谈这件事，这将是一个简单的决定。但他在接受经济增长俱乐部主席大卫·鲁宾斯坦的采访时直言不讳，坚称自己不会。

“这就是参与公共服务的目的吗?因为很容易?”曼钦问。“你认为拥有一个“D”或“R”或“I”会改变我吗?”他说，并补充说，他不认为共和党人会比民主党人现在对他更满意。

德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂图像公司

参议员乔·曼钦在经济俱乐部的一次活动中与大卫·鲁宾斯坦交谈

他称自己是家乡州唯一的全州民主党公职人员“非常孤独”，但表示他理解为什么他的选民大多投票给共和党。

“我的小状态从来没有抱怨过。我们已经完成了所有繁重的工作——我们已经完成了采矿，我们已经制造了钢铁，我们已经尽了一切努力让这个国家成为世界超级大国，”曼钦说。“突然他们吸了一口气，回头一看，我们不够好，不够干净，不够环保，不够聪明，让你见鬼去吧。所以，他们说，‘好吧，你也去死吧。’"

随着民主党在参议院的微弱优势，曼钦已经成为民主党努力通过总统议程的关键人物。

他说，他不认为成为参议院决定性的一票有什么“乐趣”——但这导致了在拜登特拉华州的家中举行早餐会，并让他在推动大规模社会支出计划的方向上占据上风，包括对他不喜欢的条款的否决权。

这包括坚持他在开始时设定的低得多的1.5美元的社会支出上限，几个月后的本周，民主党人和拜登仍在与他就此进行谈判。

伊丽莎白·弗兰茨/路透社，文件

参议员乔·曼钦走过走廊，记者们跟着参议院提问..

他对多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer月份的决定发表了评论，该决定使用被称为和解的快速预算程序来绕过共和党的阻挠努力。

“我认为我们不应该通过和解来管理政府，因为这不会持久，”曼钦说，他告诉舒默。

他周二还重申，他反对改变参议院的阻挠议事规则——就在几天前，拜登本人表示，他可以支持投票权和选举改革等民主党基本优先事项的例外——也许还会更多。

虽然这将为民主党人提供通过关键议程项目的喘息空间，而共和党人不会阻止这些措施获得投票，但曼钦表示，重要的是少数党保留一些政治权力，各方都寻求两党合作。

他还对自己如何与渴望获得支持的拜登讨价还价提供了一些幕后色彩。

“总统和我进行了一次谈话，我说，‘总统先生，我不知道是谁把这个放出来的，但这是搞砸了，’”曼钦说，他谈到了一项提议，即让国税局跟踪个人银行账户每年600美元或更多的交易，以帮助支付他的支出计划。在共和党强烈反对后，政府上周放弃了抓捕逃税者的想法，将触发金额提高到1万多美元。

曼钦不高兴。

“你知道这有多糟糕吗?”他说他告诉了总统。“这不可能发生。它搞砸了。”

“他说，‘我认为乔是对的，’”曼钦告诉鲁宾斯坦。“所以，我认为那一个将会消失。”

Manchin speaks out about his tough bargaining with Biden, fellow Democrats

"I don’t know where in the hell I belong," Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat, said Tuesday when asked about possibly switching parties amid hisstubborn bargaining with frustrated fellow Democratsand President Joe Biden.

Manchin said people approach him "every day" about doing so, and that it would be an easy decision. But he insisted he won't, speaking out in a revealing interview with Economic Club for Growth Chairman David Rubenstein.

"Is that the purpose of being involved in public service? Because it’s easy?" Manchin asked. “Do you think by having a "D" or an "R" or an "I" is going to change who I am?” he said, adding he didn’t believe Republicans would be any more pleased with him than Democrats are right now.

He called being the only statewide Democratic public official in his home state "very lonely," but said he understands why his constituents mostly vote for Republicans.

"My little state has never complained. We’ve done all the heavy lifting -- we’ve done the mining, we’ve made the steel, we’ve done everything it took for this country to be a the superpower of the world," Manchin said. "And all of a sudden they took a breath and looked back and we’re not good enough, we’re not clean enough, we're not green enough, we’re not smart enough, so to hell with you. So, they said, 'Well, to hell with you, too.'"

With Democrats holding onto a razor-thin margin in the Senate, Manchin has emerged as a pivotal player in Democratic efforts to pass the president's agenda.

He said he doesn’t think there is anything "fun" about being the decisive vote in the Senate -- but it’s led to breakfast meetings at Biden’s Delaware home and given him the upper hand in driving the direction of the massive social spending package, including what amounts to a veto power over provisions he doesn't like.

That includes sticking to a much lower $1.5 top-line price tag for the social spending package he set at the start -- something Democrats and Biden are still negotiating with him about this week, months later.

He commented on Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's decision in June to use the fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to bypass Republican blocking efforts.

"I don’t think we should be running the government through reconciliation, because it’s not lasting," Manchin said he told Schumer.

He also reaffirmed Tuesday that he’s opposed to changing the Senate's filibuster rule -- just days after Biden himself suggested he could support exceptions for fundamental Democratic priorities such as voting rights and election reform -- and maybe more.

While that would give Democrats breathing room to pass key agenda items, without Republicans keeping the measures from even getting a vote, Manchin said it's important that the minority party retains some political power and that all sides pursue bipartisanship.

And he offered some behind-the-scenes color about how he's been bargaining with Biden, who's eager to secure his support.

"The president and I had this conversation, I said, 'Mister President, I don't know who put this out, but that's screwed up,'" Manchin said, speaking about a proposal to help pay for his spending plan by having the IRS track annual transactions of $600 or more from individual bank accounts. After GOP backlash, the administration last week backed off the idea to catch tax evaders, raising the triggering amount to more than $10,000.

Manchin wasn't happy.

"Do you understand how messed up that is?" he said he told the president. "This cannot happen. It’s screwed up."

"He says, 'I think Joe's right on that,'" Manchin told Rubenstein. "So, I think that one's going to be gone."