Manchin Thinks Winning as a Third-Party Presidential Candidate ‘is Really a Long Shot’
“But if you can get a movement to where you can move the two established parties, the Democrat and Republican, back to where their roots are, where they’ve come from and what they’ve been able to produce over all these years, they can get back to some normality.”
Will he or won’t he?
A few weeks ago, retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) made people think he would eventually launch a third-party presidential campaign.
But on a recent radio broadcast, Manchin threw some cold water on the idea. Only some. From West Virginia Metro News:
“I’ve been invited to different areas up in different battleground states, just to be able to speak to different groups and if I can get them what you should be looking for,” Manchin said on “Watchdog Radio” in the Wheeling area.
“I know that a third-party candidate, myself or anyone else who wants to jump into that fray is really a long shot. But if you can get a movement to where you can move the two established parties, the Democrat and Republican, back to where their roots are, where they’ve come from and what they’ve been able to produce over all these years, they can get back to some normality.”
Manchin is a moderate. He’s teased before about leaving the Democrats and becoming an Independent. Fellow moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) became an independent.
The Intercept reported that Manchin and his daughter Heather Bresch have been testing the waters with a new nonprofit, targeting wealthy donors regarding a third-party run.
Some of Manchin’s longtime associates have taken the helm of the nonprofit:
Bresch, a former pharmaceutical executive, registered Americans Together in July as a 501(c)(4), a legal classification that means it is not required to publicly disclose its donors. While the senator’s daughter has said the organization will be set apart from Manchin’s political endeavors, few restrictions exist on how it can spend its money. Should Manchin run for president on the No Labels ticket, Americans Together could work to boost his candidacy or oppose other presidential campaigns through what’s known as an independent expenditure. But the nonprofit could also provide Manchin a financial cushion with few spending restrictions should he leave politics altogether.
In the same interview, Manchin voiced his support for term limits.
Manchin suggested two six-year terms for the Senate and two six-year terms for the House.
Manchin has a point. Once Election Day ends, you worry about the next election right away:
“I’ve never been a big supporter of term limits because I thought, there’s so many good people with so much experience to really be helpful. But I don’t know if that’s the fact any more so I’ve said, hey, wouldn’t it be great if we had one 18-year term for the Supreme Court? One 18-year term, that’s it. One six-year term for the president so you don’t have to worry about re-election. Don’t worry about getting re-elected; just get in there and do the right thing.”
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“That would be more than enough,” he said. “How are you going to change the root problem if you’ve got out of 435 congressional districts, 390 are not competitive. This is already cooked. The Democrat or Republican is going to win those.”
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Comments
It’s a long shot Manchin couldn’t make even if he were Matthew Quigley.
Watching him try will be pathetic.
Prior to 2020, energy won elections, particularly close elections. Whoever enjoyed the enthusiasm of voters, won. Moderates – almost definitionally – are not enthusiastic about politics, which is why they’re moderates. That’s not a winning combination.
Unfortunately, that all may be part of the electoral equation that is no longer operable. Instead, it’s been replaced by ballot harvesting, a system that can elect someone who almost literally never leaves their house during a campaign much less generates any kind of organic enthusiasm. Of course, I don’t see people spending a lot of time in America’s urban areas ‘collecting’ votes for Joe Manchin….
….Cornel West, OTOH is entirely different. There’s a guy the Dems simply cannot allow to be on the ballot in any capacity in 2024 especially in otherwise competitive states. He could be the most consequential 3rd-party candidate since Perot.
It’s been building for some time. Many.States have adopted far longer voting periods so election day has become election season in many places. A few States offer expanded IN PERSON early voting which seems far more reasonable to me than mail in balloting.
The horse is out of the barn in some States and IN those States the GoP and their voters must adapt to the new system and use it. If not they cede the initiative to our opposition. When a particular GoP voter has an option to early vote by mail or in person but stubbornly refuses to do so they put their vote at risk. Let’s say something goes wrong on election day; A flat tire, they get into an accident, some crisis occurs at work. Now they have real life crap competing for their time to go to the polls.
Now add in the potential for shenanigans at the polling place. ‘Oops we printed the ballots on the wrong type of paper and the tabulated won’t read it’ or ‘Oops we didn’t order the right kind of paper’ or ‘Oops the printer settings messed up the ballot causing tabulation errors’. Not to worry though the local election officials, who are totes not at all partisan, tell you to ‘come back later or go to different location’. Then you find out that b/c.you signed in at the first location you can’t sign in at another location despite what you we’re told.
All those things happened on election day. Totes not a conspiracy just a series of ‘coincidences’ that seemed to occur in heavy GoP precincts. Had voters taken advantage of early voting opportunities the impact of the shenanigans such as these would be considerably lessened. We must adapt or we get left behind.
He’s a grifter and grifters gunna grift
Yeah, this is a vanity campaign at best.
Manchin is a despicable POS who was the deciding vote on a number of anti-American, leftist bills that have done irreparable harm to this country. He is among the lowest of the low – and that’s pretty bad considering the scum his party (he is a democrat and will remain so) is infested with.
Manchin would have a better chance of winning if he bought a lottery ticket.
It will be virtually impossible to get on the ballot in some states. Texas for example
It reads like Kamala Harris is writing his material now.
Manchin/Harris 2023? Dare we dream?
Right now there are too many 3rd party candidates. The field needs to be consolidated. Once Biden dies, Kamala Harris can take Cornel West as her VP and go all-in for the Palestinians to consolidate the Dem base. Manchin should team up with RFK as his VP and take the pro-Israel position. Trump will be Trump. A 3-way matchup like this could get the election into the House.
At this point, Manchin winning anything with any party is a long shot. Or am I being hopeful again?