Retiring Sen. Joe Manchin, a dissident Democrat, has sidestepped questions about a third-party run for president — but already has a running mate in mind.
Even without announcing a presidential campaign, Manchin named Mitt Romney, the outgoing senator from Utah, as his ideal running mate.
“Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney,” Manchin said.
The West Virginia Democrat made the remarks Thursday at a breakfast event hosted by Cleveland’s City Club.
Manchin also floated the possibility of picking former Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican of Ohio.
“Maybe Rob Portman,” Manchin said at the event in Portman’s old constituency. “Rob Portman would be right there, too. Rob’s a dear friend of mine. What a good man!”
Manchin, 77, has declined to run for re-election to the Senate. He has yet to announce a campaign for any other office, including the presidency. He emphasized this fact at the event.
He even described a third-party candidacy as very unlikely.
“Guys, listen, I’m not running for anything,” Manchin said. “The third party… that’s a tough road. It’s never been done. Never been done. The system was set up not for that to be done.”
Still, Manchin refused to rule out a third-party run. In fact, he named it as a distinct possibility.
“Third party run, everything is on the table,” Manchin said. “Nothing’s off the table. I’m still evaluating all that.”
Plus, Manchin remains open to recruiting other people to run for office, perhaps as part of an effort.
The bipartisan group No Labels also appears primed to recruit independent-minded candidates, and so does Americans Together, a group spearheaded by Manchin’s daughter.
“I’m basically running to try to get people involved,” Manchin added.
Manchin said that he would know what to do by Super Tuesday.
“Super Tuesday… pretty much would be a deadline that tells you where you are,” Manchin said.
“I think you’re going to have a Joe Biden and Donald Trump rematch if nothing changes… Things could change, you know, you have Super Tuesday is going to be what, about a month away? And that’s a lifetime in politics. So a lot could be changed. We’ll see.”
Manchin has been named by voters and pundits as a possible candidate in the 2024 election. In one poll about a hypothetical primary, Manchin was polling ahead of Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president.
Take a look at Manchin’s announcement about his ideal running mate —
“Really, who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney. Maybe Rob Portman.”
— Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), when asked who he would “hypothetically” choose as a running mate if he ran in the 2024 presidential election on an independent ticket pic.twitter.com/wiXHZe2M5N
— The Recount (@therecount) February 15, 2024
The Horn editorial team