Is Joe Manchin running for president?: The West Virginia senator has been a Democrat for his entire career, but he’s also given Democrats fits.
Might he challenge Joe Biden, under the centrist banner of No Labels?
What is Joe Manchin Thinking?
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) occupied a unique space in the nation’s political life during President Biden’s first two years in office.
A Democrat from a very red state, Manchin was the most conservative of the 50 Democratic senators in the two years there was a 50/50 Senate.
This meant that Manchin had an effective veto over legislation backed by the other 49 Democrats.
Manchin, during that time, usually voted for Biden-appointed judges and backed such legislation as the American Rescue Plan Act, although he scuttled the Build Back Better legislation in late 2021. Manchin did, however, agree to support the Inflation Reduction Act, which resurrected some of the provisions of Build Back Better.
This year, things are a little bit different, as the Democrats have one more Senate seat, although they have lost control of the House. But Manchin has opposed some Biden-appointed judges and has even said that he would “repeal my own bill,” in reference to the Inflation Reduction Act.
What Will Manchin Do?
With Gov. Jim Justice, a popular Democrat-turned-Republican, announcing that he will run in 2024 for Manchin’s seat, it’s not clear if Manchin will seek another term. Now, the possibility has been raised that the senator could be running for president.
The New York Times reported late last week that the centrist interest group known as No Labels is hoping to field a presidential candidate in 2024 and that Manchin is their first choice to run.
Efforts like this to start with a centrist organization and bring a candidate to it have not been successful so far in the current century, with such efforts as Unity ’08 also petering out.
Successful political movements in the United States tend to start with a candidate, not with a group looking for one, and centrism isn’t really an ideology that moves minds.
No Labels, per the Times, won’t decide until next spring to nominate a candidate, and they plan to hold a convention in April of 2024.
Manchin is the group’s top choice but also included in its options are Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona, who left the Democratic Party last year to become an independent, and former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland.
No Labels’ leader, Nancy Jacobson, called the effort “an insurance policy in the event both major parties put forth presidential candidates the vast majority of Americans don’t support.” She added that “if our rigorously gathered data and polling suggests an independent unity ticket can’t win, we will not nominate a ticket.”
Of course, the nightmare scenario for Democrats is that Manchin takes away some of Biden’s vote, therefore handing the presidency to Donald Trump or another Republican candidate. There’s also a chance, however, that Manchin could win West Virginia in a general election, and therefore prevent Trump from winning that state.
“If No Labels runs a Joe Manchin against Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I think it will be a historic disaster,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) told the Times. “And I speak for just about every moderate Democrat and frankly most of my moderate Republican friends.”
The Times piece also said that Manchin’s friends doubt he would actually join such a ticket. They added that Manchin believes that he might have a chance to keep his seat since Justice is being challenged in the Republican primary by Trump-aligned Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV). Manchin, per the newspaper, sees a scenario where Mooney could beat Justice and then be beaten by Manchin.
No Labels had been heavily criticized for years, with the website The Outline, in 2018, calling it “the most useless force in American politics,” over a photograph of Manchin himself. The piece called the group “a malignant influence which exists to reinforce the worst excesses of the D.C. status quo.”
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Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
