Manchin in the middle: Is he a "no" or a "not yet"?

Both Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, offered a sunny outlook, saying that they didn’t believe negotiations with Mr. Manchin were over. The White House, despite an extraordinary statement on Sunday that effectively called Mr. Manchin a liar, didn’t pull the plug, either. “Senator Manchin and I are going to get something done,” Biden said Tuesday.

I asked Mr. Kott if there was any reason to believe that there could be a future for Build Back Better. His answer seemed to be one of education — both for Democrats trying to understand what Mr. Manchin wants and for Mr. Manchin himself, if he does hope to be the guy who can make a deal, and a big one at that.

“I don’t ever say anything is dead in Washington,” Mr. Kott said. “But when he says, ‘I can’t go home and I can’t explain this to West Virginia,’ that’s a serious line from him. He means that.”