West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) says he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and declaring himself an independent before the 2024 election, when he will have to decide whether to run for a fourth Senate term or wage a third-party bid for president.

Manchin, who earlier this year described himself as an independent Democrat, told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval on Thursday that the Democratic brand has “become so bad.”

“I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad — the D brand and R brand. In West Virginia, the D brand because it’s [the] national brand. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia, it’s the Democrats in Washington.

“You’ve heard me say a million times I’m not a Washington Democrat,” he said.

Pressed by Kercheval, the host of “Talkline” on West Virginia Metro News, whether he’s really serious about becoming an independent, Manchin said, “I would think very seriously about that.”

“I’ve been thinking about that for quite some time. I haven’t made any decisions whatsoever on any of my political direction. I want to make sure that my voice is truly an independent voice,” he said. “When I do speak, I want to be able to speak honestly about basically the extremes of the Democrat and Republican Party that’s harming our nation.”

The senator’s flirtation with becoming an independent comes eight months after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party and register as an Independent.

Sinema said in December, “I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to.”

Manchin, however, said Thursday that he’s not ready to make an announcement about his future with the Democratic Party immediately, telling Kercheval: “When I get ready to make a decision, I’ll come see you.”

Manchin says he will decide at the end of the year whether to run for a fourth Senate term or run for president as a third-party candidate backed by No Labels, a bipartisan centrist group that plans to raise $70 million to put an independent, third-party candidate on the presidential ballot next year.

The senior senator from West Virginia faces a tough reelection race in a state that former President Trump carried with 68 percent of the vote in 2016 and 29 percent in 2020.

An East Carolina Center for Survey Research poll published in May showed Manchin trailing West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ® by 22 percentage points in a hypothetical Senate race.


https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4147...tic-party/

State Lawmakers Across the Country Are Ditching the Democrats for the GOP: Report

Manchin has always been a pragmatist. He's managed to somehow keep winning as a democrat in Trump +45 West Virginia, but realizes that may be coming to an end (despite still being reasonably popular in the state). He's stupidly hated by the far-left wing of the party. His running as an independent makes a lot of sense.

He's a dead man walking. He BARELY won last time, and this time he completely dicked over WV when he slob-knobbed Biden* in his support of one of the bills that completely screwed over the energy sector of WV.

He could win as a D even in Deep Red WV. Conservative voters in Deep Red states are willing to vote for the D fairly regularly. D’s won’t do that for Rs even in Light Blue states.

(08-10-2023 12:32 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  He could win as a D even in Deep Red WV. Conservative voters in Deep Red states are willing to vote for the D fairly regularly. D’s won’t do that for Rs even in Light Blue states.

Susan Collins still exists right?

Glenn Youngkin is governor of Virginia, right?