Senator Joe Manchin, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia who champions many GOP-leaning causes in his mostly red state, announced he won’t seek another term in the Senate.
“I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Manchin said in a social media video. “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.”
Some Democrats — already accustomed to worrying about Manchin’s vote on progressive issues — immediately began to speculate that his “movement to mobilize” signaled a potential third party run for President — perhaps as the “No Labels” candidate. Manchin is 76, younger than both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Manchin Money Quote: He says instead of running for reelection in 2024 he'll travel the country to see if there is a "movement to mobilize the middle"
— Rick Newman (@rickjnewman) November 9, 2023
Does that mean running for prez as an Independent or 3d party?
Seems designed to torment the Biden reelection campaign
[Note: No Labels describes itself as the “commonsense majority” — a stance that fits with how Manchin portrays himself, as the Centrist who straddles the liberal/conservative line.]
Joe Manchin won’t seek re-election, but may seek the presidency?? He’s 76. He either knows he can’t win or he’s a damn fool. He has more power than anyone in DC w/ Democrats in power. Now he’ll end up with nothing, and could cost Ds the Senate & US its democracy.
— 🇺🇦Paula Chertok🗽 (@PaulaChertok) November 9, 2023
👋@BradPaisley? https://t.co/DLLFHSw42a
Manchin, who along with Arizona’s newly Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, already represented the vote Democrats had to fight hardest for, gave the Democrats a tenuous 51-49 majority in the Senate.
To the West Virginians who have put their trust in me and fought side by side to make our state better – it has been an honor of my life to serve you. Thank you. My statement on my political future: pic.twitter.com/dz8JuXAyTL
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 9, 2023
Third party candidate fears among Democrats aren’t new. Last week former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said: “I think that our democracy is at risk, and I think that No Labels is perilous to our democracy. I say that without any hesitation.”
In July, the Democrat Manchin and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) headlined a No Labels event in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney, another Republican who is not running for re-election said of the Manchin news: “I will miss this American patriot in the Senate. But our friendship and our commitment to American values will not end.”
Romney, the Republican nominee for President in 2012, could be valuable to Manchin in a presidential race — making an appeal to old school pre-MAGA conservative Republicans.
Already, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West are running for POTUS, with Kennedy looking as if he could take away as many voters from Trump as from Biden, despite his deep Democratic party association and the most famous name in Democratic politics.
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