Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) says he’s “not ruling anything out” about potentially making a third-party bid for the White House in 2024.
Manchin was asked during an appearance on Fox News Sunday whether such a bid was “in the realm of possibilities.”
“[I’m] not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out,” Manchin replied ambiguously.
Manchin, who markets himself as one of the Senate’s most centrist members and describes himself as a “conservative Democrat,” suggested that any such run would be a reaction to the rise of both the “far-left” and “far-right” over recent years.
“You better have Plan B because if Plan A shows that we’re going to the far reaches of both sides, the far left and the far right, and that people don’t want to go to the far left and the far right, they want to be governed from the middle,“ Manchin said. ”I think ... that you better have that Plan B available and ready to go.”
He continued, “I’m not saying who’s it going to include or exclude. I’m saying you better have Plan B ready, because that’s what it’s going to take for this country to remain the superpower of the world, to give confidence to people around the world that the reserve currency should be the U.S. dollar,” Manchin said.
“That support for freedom and democracy should be the U.S. government and the U.S. Defense Department. We can do that. You can’t do it from the extremes.”
Manchin was a senator who not many knew prior to the 117th Congress. But during that Congress, Manchin become the deciding swing vote on practically every Democrat-backed reconciliation spending bill that came to the upper chamber. His vote could make or break any policy pushed by his party, leading many to dub him “the most powerful man in Washington.”
The opposition to a series of Democrat initiatives during that Congress won him praise and respect from Republicans, but he was attacked by the left wing of his party for steamrolling Democrat aspirations.
If Manchin did enter the race on a third-party ticket, he'd be coming into a crowded field, and it’s not clear which party he could siphon more votes from.
On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have each announced a bid for the Oval Office, with former Vice President Mike Pence and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie expected to follow suit this week.
On the Democrat side, President Joe Biden, who has announced his intention to seek a second term, is facing a stiff primary challenge from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has polled in the double-digits among Democrats as a candidate they would support or consider.
The effect of a third-party run by Manchin would be unpredictable, and it’s unclear if he'd be able to win the political or financial backing for such an enterprise.
Manchin’s ambivalence toward a presidential run comes as his own political future remains uncertain. He is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats on a map already unfavorable to his party.
Though West Virginians have long sent Manchin back to Washington, his positions still stray from those espoused by most in the deep-red state. After his endorsement of the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate bill in U.S. history, Manchin’s political future is all the more uncertain in coal-reliant West Virginia.
In West Virginia, he’s facing a challenge for his Senate seat from West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice III, the richest man in the state.
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