Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he might run for president, but will not compete for his party’s nomination and would rather launch a third-party bid.
“We’re here to make sure the American people have an option, and the option is can you move the American political parties off their respective sides. They’ve gone too far right and too far left,” he said.
Many Democrats fear his “unity ticket” might just help Donald Trump win the presidential election by taking out votes from Joe Biden’s side.
“I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win. And if I get in a race, I’m going to win,” Manchin said.
A town hall meeting marked the 2024 debut of No Labels, a bipartisan group that said it’s trying to offer Americans a third choice if a rematch emerges between Biden and Trump.
Manchin and Jon Huntsman, a former Republican governor from Utah, made their bipartisan pitch to move the United States beyond the two-party system.
“There’s been an implosion in trust towards our institutions and our leaders. People want more,” Huntsman said at the event held at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.
The nonprofit group which does not want to reveal its sponsors says it plans to raise $70 million for their candidate.
The group pushes for a middle ground on extreme and controversial issues like abortion rights, guns, and immigration, in what it calls a “common sense” policy book.
“We’re putting nation before party. We’re putting democracy before party,” said Benjamin Chavis, the national co-chair of No Labels.
No Labels currently has ballot access in Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado, and aims to reach 20 states by the end of the year.
Manchin is not alone in his third-party bid, Cornel West, a former Harvard scholar, also shares the same thought, but unlike Manchin, he is against the label of spoiler.
“I wish they would spend as much time focusing on the plight of poor and working people as they do focusing on the spoiler,” West said. “I don’t even like that category since so many of folk who vote third party don’t vote at all.”
The idea of a third party in America is gaining more ground, more than ever in the history of the nation, in the face of deep-rooted displeasure between Trump and Biden as well as their respective parties.
However, Manchin, who is yet to declare if he wants to seek reelection in the Senate or run for the presidency, says he is not taking advantage of the situation but is only out to save the country.
“I’m not here running for president tonight, I’m not. I’m here trying to basically save the nation,” he said.
Whatever he chooses, will be an uphill task, given that West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice is running for the Senate seat and leads him with a wide margin in recent polls.
