Posted on 02/16/2024 9:42:52 AM PST by billorites
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday that he is not running for president, according to his spokesman Jonathan Kott.
Manchin announced his decision in a speech at West Virginia University, as part of a national listening tour he was making.
“I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run,” he said in his speech in Morgantown.
The centrist Democrat who often bucked his party's leadership had been considering a run for the presidency and had said he thought it would be clear by March if there was a path for a third-party candidate this year.
His decision comes as the leadership of No Labels, a national political movement that could offer an independent presidential ticket in 2024, has worked privately to identify serious candidates to represent the group in the general election. Manchin was viewed as one of the top prospects.
Manchin is not running for reelection in 2024. His Senate seat in a heavily Republican state is expected to be a prime pickup opportunity for the GOP.
A group pushing for Manchin to partner with retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney to seek a third-party presidential bid filed paperwork last year to form a draft committee with the Federal Election Commission. Romney and Manchin did not sign on to the effort.
After Manchin announced last year that he would not run for reelection, he said he planned to travel the country "to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
He visited New Hampshire, an early voting state in the presidential primaries, in January. The senator is scheduled to speak in Arizona, a political battleground state, on Saturday.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips said last month that he would consider running on a No Labels ticket, though he is still challenging Biden in the Democratic primary ahead of the party’s primary in Michigan.
Another leading No Labels prospect, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, last week ruled out a 2024 presidential bid as well, announcing a Senate bid instead.
I’m relieved he cleared that up. :-)
I wonder if WV Joe got a visit in the middle of the night.
Pierre Dilecto must be disappointed.
Didn’t he just say that he would have Willard on his ticket?
I’d like to announce that I’m also not running
Like he had a snowball’s chance in hell of being elected president.
as part of a national listening tour he was making
Probably leveraged the the threat of a run into a multi-million dollar payoff.
I’m crushed. /s
You beat me to it.
The establishment has a Plan A and Plan B in place. Joe doesn’t aid either plan, so he is out.
Joe has always talked big and pretended to be a “Moderate”.
He is no moderate and saw the writing on the wall in WV.
Which is why he bailed on running for re-election.
Okay Joe, coincidentally, I’m not either
Go away Joe. And don’t come back no more, no more . . .
Joe was West Virginia’s gift of gonorrhea to the nation. . . You can thank us later.
He did indeed. The anonymous phone call made him aware of the recent “accident” that inflicted McConnell’s sister in law, Angela Chao. Everyone is now on notice.
No listening tour? No exploratory committee? LOL
I’m in Morgantown and I can’t find any announcements that he was here. It seems as well publicized and attended as a Biden rally.
I too have decided to announce my decision not to run for President in 2024.
And how about that idiot Mitt? Is he going to run?
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