The Illusion of Joe Manchin’s “Common Sense”

Joe Manchin is as plainspoken as the day is long. He is a serious guy who does not like to waste time playing games. He has spent his entire career in defense of common sense. We know this because Manchin tells us as much on the first page of “ Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense ,” a new book that is part memoir, part manifesto (Manchinfesto?), part compendium of folksy and occasionally tautological aphorisms. The last of these are scattered throughout the text, in bold font: “You can always do better.” “The road to success is always under construction.” “When people stop caring, the only ones left are those who don’t care.”

This pompous and wholly uninsightful tome groans under the weight of such language—the next time I hear someone use the phrase “every cliché in the book,” I’ll