Sen. Joe Manchin.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
The Atlanticreports that No Labels hasn’t yet decided whether it will nominate a third-party candidate and plans to make the determination in the spring, after they examine polling data to determine the effect such a candidate might have on the race.
A potential Manchin ticket could split the Democratic vote in a race where PresidentJoe Bidenappears in a dead heat with presumed Republican nomineeDonald Trump, potentially taking down Biden’s campaign.
If Manchin were to vacate his Senate seat to run, the move could also help Republicans take control of the upper chamber, as West Virginia is a deeply conservative state where a newcomer Democrat would have a hard time securing a victory.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin speaks to reporters.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Manchin came to the Senate in 2010 and faces reelection in 2024, though he has not yet announced whether he plans to run again.
Speaking toCNN’s Manu Rajulast week, 75-year-old Manchin said the town hall event “is nothing about a third party, this is nothing about bringing up any office at all,” adding, “it’s about a dialogue for common sense, which is very hard to have here, finding commonality.
But Manchin didn’t exactly shut down speculation that he could be mulling a bid for the presidency under a third-party ticket, telling Raju, “I’ve never ruled out anything or ruled in anything.”
Manchin has fielded questions about switching parties in the past. Speaking to reporters in the wake of his colleagueKyrsten Sinema’s decision to become an independentearlier this year, Manchin said he had “no intention” of following suit — but that he wasn’t ruling out a party switch in the future.
“Whether I do something later, I can’t tell you what the future’s going to bring. I can only tell you where I am and my mindset,” he said, perThe Hill.
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A self-described “moderate Democrat,” Manchintold bothThe HillandFox Newsin 2021 that he had offered to leave the Democratic Party and become an independent (while still voting with the Democrats) during talks about PresidentJoe Biden’s sweeping spending package,the Build Back Better Act.
“If it is ‘embarrassing’ to them to have a moderate, centrist Democrat in the mix and if it would help them publicly, I could become an independent,” he toldThe Hillhe said, adding that the proposition never went anywhere and that it wasn’t meant as a threat.
“I’m not threatening to leave. Why would I? I’m very secure in my positions and honestly, I’m not the one stressed out,” Manchin toldThe Hill.
source: people.com
