There was a time when the Democrat party was a well-oiled machine. Everything from messaging to the strategy was coordinated and cohesive. Looking at them now, the Democrats are a shadow of their former self. It’s their fault, really. They made a deal with the woke devil and now the devil wants his due.

The price is high, too. The old guard has, more or less, lost its grip on the party as it descended further and further into radicalism. While Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer might be leaders within it, the people actually calling the shots are the radicals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the activists that back her. It’s radical activists like these that are actually calling the shots in the White House as well.

(READ: The Biden Administration’s Actions Don’t Make Sense Unless You View It Through a Troubling Lens)

This shift in power has led the Democrat party far away from any moderate type of moderate action, but there are a couple of Senate holdouts, namely in the form of Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin.

The interesting thing about these two is that despite the radicals taking power within the Democrat Party, Manchin and Sinema have achieved great power of their own, becoming the politicians that every Democrat agenda item lives or dies on. This especially goes for Manchin who has become something of a party unto himself.

Needless to say, it drives the Democrats and the left into rage fits. An endless stream of articles focus on their Manchin problem, including attempts at coercion, intimidation, and shifting public opinion on him. Yet, despite their best efforts, Manchin only seems to get stronger and more popular.

Case in point, The Hill released an article today highlighting the fact that Democrat Senators are losing faith in Manchin when it comes to supporting things like the Build Back Better agenda, wherein the publication lists all the noble and virtuous things it does that Manchin is standing in the way of:

The lack of negotiations with Manchin since Congress returned from the Christmas recess and Manchin’s definitive statements of opposition are raising serious doubts about whether he would be willing to support any version of the Build Back Better Act, which would provide new funding for health care, child care and a host of other initiatives.

Manchin says he has tried to be as clear as possible about where he is, but fellow Senate Democratic colleagues feel confused about whether the West Virginia senator can be counted on to support some version of Biden’s sweeping agenda.

The answer to the Manchin problem seems to escape them, but it’s not that hard to figure out. It’s a two-fold answer.

For one, the left as it is today isn’t exactly representative of America as we know it. The nation is a far more moderate beast than a leftist one, and despite what the mainstream media attempts to sell the people, America just isn’t that excited about what people like AOC believe. For the majority of America, she seems like an out-of-control car barreling down neighborhood streets liable to crash the car and hurt people in the process. Manchin seems far more in control of his vehicle. His moves are more thought out and he slows it down so he has enough time to figure out whether or not the move is wise.

It seems more and more apparent that the media does more to convince the left and itself that the country is leftist than it does the people.

This leads to the second issue. The left is self-obsessed.

At some point, the left forgot that their power isn’t absolute, nor are they entitled to it. Their concerns begin and end with the power of the party. What they forgot, and what Manchin seems to remember, is that at the end of the day it’s about the will of the people.

People like Pelosi and AOC have such a built-in voting base that losing their jobs is about as unlikely as a barking alligator. They don’t need to pay attention to the will of the people because the will of the people is whatever they say it is. These leaders are fooled into thinking this applies to everyone in blue areas and the will of the Democrat Party is absolute, but it’s just not the truth. Manchin and Sinema prove this. The victory of Glenn Youngkin over Terry McCauliffe proves this. The loss of long-held Democrat territory to Republicans in Texas proves this.

Democrat politicians, the media, and these activists have forgotten that they serve the people, not the party. It’s an issue that is going to cost them in the midterm elections and beyond as the patience of the people wears more and more thin.