Senator Joe Manchin says he’s going on the road to seek out the great American middle, but he is not yet committing to a third-party run for president — unless the middle asks him to.
“I will do whatever I can possibly do to bring my country back to some normality. Right now, my country is on the extremes. And you’re asking, is it going to be me? I’ll do whatever,” Manchin said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“There’s an awful lot of good people around the country; a lot of my friends, Republicans and Democrats who are moderates who’ve been shoved out — they’ve got nowhere to go.”
Manchin, a lifelong Democrat and the senior senator from West Virginia, announced last Thursday that he will not run for re-election.
“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” he said in his announcement, “but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
In the Senate, where 51 members caucus with Democrats and 49 with Republicans, Manchin’s independent-minded votes have often been both key to passing bills and a source of frustration to his colleagues.
Manchin’s name has been mentioned consistently in speculation about a third-party run for president, and he has openly dallied with the possibility of becoming an independent.
After making the announcement, Manchin appeared Wednesday on CBS Evening News and then participated today in an interview with veteran broadcaster Hoppy Kercheval on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Kercheval pressed Manchin to be more specific about a possible presidential run, but Manchin would go no farther than saying he is exploring.
“I’ll do whatever,” Manchin said. “I’ll do whatever.”
He continued, “I’m hoping we’ll get some people out there who will get riled up, and they have the experience and find out what the people want, who they believe. I’m just saying I’m going to be the messenger. I don’t think I can bow out and sit back and watch what’s happening to our country.”
Manchin later said, “I could be pulled into it. You could be pulled into it.”
And he said, “If I got pushed into it, I’d do whatever to save my country.”
Manchin and his daughter Heather have been pitching wealthy political donors on the possibility of launching a centrist political group and raising $100 million.
“I believe the money right now is sitting on the sidelines,” Manchin said today.
Manchin also has been linked with No Labels, an independent political organization trying to gain ballot access across the country to put up a ticket as an alternative to the possibility of a Biden-Trump rematch.
Asked this month by MetroNews whether Manchin is their guy, officials with No Labels said they’re focused on ballot access first and their actual flag bearers later.
“Well, the short answer is, we don’t know who the best candidate is,” said Ryan Clancy, chief strategist for No Labels in response to the specific Manchin question by MetroNews. “I mean, I’m not saying that to be coy. You know, for all this polling that we’ve done, we haven’t polled any named candidates.
“And there’s a reason for that, which is this far out it doesn’t really tell you much because it doesn’t really tell you much because nobody has name ID like the two incumbents. Right now, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Taylor Swift — those are the people in America with 100% name ID, and everybody else is way below that. So even a well-known governor, senator — half the public doesn’t know who they are.”
On “Talkline,” Manchin did not commit to running on a No Labels ticket, either.
Manchin said the most likely Democratic nominee, incumbent President Joe Biden, has moved too far to the left although Manchin did not cite any specific policy examples.
“Joe Biden being pushed clear to the left by the extremes — has he ever been an extreme in his life? — because he thinks that’s where he has to be politically?”
Manchin said the most likely Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, has embraced authoritarian impulses. Trump remains very popular in West Virginia, where he won by 42.1 points in 2016 and 38.9 points in 2020.
“If he gets re-elected, basically will end democracy as we know it. You can’t have a person who wants the power of an office for revenge. You can’t have a person who believes that the only fair election is one he wins. And you can’t have a person that believes the only laws pertain to you and not me,” Manchin said. “That would destroy our country.”