• Manchin told colleagues his phone has been lighting up with calls in recent days 
  • Moderate Sens. Jon Tester, Tim Kaine, and Angus King, were once leery of doing away with the 60-vote hurdle, now lead campaign to sway Manchin 
  • Tester, Kaine and King have reportedly met with Manchin at least three dozen times to discuss filibuster reform
  • Kaine likened the effort to persuade Manchin to him being trapped on Interstate 95 for 27 hours this week: ‘Slow progress toward a goal, like my commute’ 

Sen. Joe Manchin is taking heat from all sides as he resists eliminating the last stalwart against the Democratic agenda, the filibuster, including some of the biggest names in America.

Manchin has told colleagues his phone has been lighting up with calls in recent days, including from former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Though two former presidents and every Democrat in the Senate couldn’t budge the West Virginia senator, even TV host Oprah Winfrey phoned in to try to convince him to agree to filibuster reform, according to Politico.

Moderate Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Angus King, I-Maine, were once leery of doing away with the 60-vote hurdle for fears of what Republicans would do if they took back the majority, but now are leading the campaign to sway the West Virginia Democrat.

Tester, Kaine and King have reportedly met with Manchin at least three dozen times to discuss filibuster reform, sometimes joined by other Democrats, according to participants.

Kaine likened the effort to sway Manchin to being trapped on Interstate 95 on his drive through Virginia to Washington, D.C. for 27 hours. ‘Slow progress toward a goal, like my commute.’