Joe Manchin remains undecided on whether to seek another term in the Senate or opt for a third-party presidential run, something he will toy with again next Monday. It turns out that the West Virginia senator will be attending an event in New Hampshire organized by No Labels, a political group that seeks to recruit a strong candidate who will compete outside the traditional parties.
It is no secret to anyone that the moderate is seriously considering jumping into the presidential race. "It is clear that most Americans are exceedingly frustrated by the growing divide in our political parties and toxic political rhetoric from our elected leaders," he said about the event.
"Our political discourse is lacking engaged debates around common sense solutions to solve the pressing issues facing our nation. I am looking forward to modeling this type of conversation with my good friend, Gov. Huntsman, and the No Labels community. The things that unite Americans are much stronger than the things that divide us, and I am confident that will be evident throughout our discussion," he added in a campaign tone.
This situation is of great concern to the leadership of the Democratic Party. A Washington Post poll found that a competitive third-party candidate would take more votes away from Joe Biden than Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin told CNN that his decision to travel to New Hampshire with the group No Labels – which is pushing for a third-party centrist candidate – is not related to any such plans to seek the White House as an independent. https://t.co/0Tm7oBvgjp pic.twitter.com/qic0pMV5TF
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 13, 2023
Manchin and an uphill re-election bid in the Senate
If he opts for another run for the Senate, the Democrat will have a more challenging time than in past years. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), has successfully recruited Gov. Jim Justice to enter the race.
The latest survey conducted by ECU shows the Republican 22 points ahead of Manchin in a hypothetical showdown. "A closer look at the approval numbers shows that barely half (51%) self-identified Democrats in West Virginia approve of Senator Manchin's job performance. The senator's approval drops to 37% among independents and just 22% among Republicans," the poll indicated.
Despite Manchin's classic strategy of leaning more moderate ahead of the general elections, the fact that his next encounter with the polls coincides with the presidential election is a factor that could be a determining factor in the race. Donald Trump carried his state by 38.9%. If that margin of victory is repeated for the Republican candidate, Manchin should get nearly 40% of the electorate to vote for the GOP for president and a Democrat for Senate.
His seat is one of the most coveted (perhaps the most) by the Republican leadership in the upper chamber. "What we know about West Virginia is that it's very, very red, and we have an extremely popular incumbent governor who has announced his candidacy for the Senate. And we're going to go all out to win it," said Mitch McConnell in an interview with CNN.
