CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Senator, the answer you gave on entitlements was quite at odds with what your party leadership would say. You’re ready to make reforms and they really aren’t. You’ve been appalled by the overreach of particularly the war on coal in your state. You have real issues with Obamacare and with a president who has run up the largest deficit in American history, you are a man who takes the deficit seriously.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Yes.

KRAUTHAMMER: So, my question is why don’t you fess up and become a Republican? …

MANCHIN: I can name a lot of West Virginians. You know, it’s just common sense. And you know, we’ve never put our colleagues in a difficult position. I’ve never tried to say something derogatory about my Republican friends. I’ve always tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and I’ve always tried to work with them. I believe deeply in my Democratic roots, as far as [being] a West Virginian, it might be a little different than the Washington Democrats, but it’s a true, hard-core West Virginian Democrat values. And I respect my Republican friends who have their strong West Virginian Republican values. We’ve always put our state first, Charles.