And if I was President….
Via Teagan Goddard: Manchin Pitches $100 Million Project to Boost Centrism
“Sen. Joe Manchin and his daughter Heather Manchin are pitching major political donors on a nascent effort to promote centrist policies and candidates that is projected to cost more than $100 million,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The project comes as Manchin, a 76-year-old West Virginia Democrat, is weighing whether to mount an uphill effort to win re-election to the Senate in 2024 or pursue a long-shot run for president—or take on a different role in politics altogether. The centrist senator, who represents a solidly Republican state, has been a pivotal deal maker in recent years and has flirted with becoming an independent, citing increasing frustration with both parties.”
Politico: A 6-figure Donald Trump donor is now a No Labels adviser
A major Republican donor and one-time financial backer of former President Donald Trump is now a leader in the Florida chapter of No Labels’ third-party presidential bid.
Allan Keen, a Florida-based real estate developer and investor who gave more than $137,000 to Trump-related election entities last cycle, has joined the centrist political group in a leadership role with its Florida chapter.
The not-a-party party is recently officially recognized as one in North Carolina.
The injection of a third-party candidate, David Graham writes in The Atlantic, “adds up to a race that is simple on the surface but strangely confusing just below it.” Graham has described Manchin as “a middle-of-the-road guy with good electoral instincts, decent intentions, and bad ideas.” Even if he doesn’t run as an independent (unlikely), Manchin is still making himself a stalking horse for No Labels.
“No one alive has seen a race like the 2024 presidential election,” Graham writes. But that’s been true since 2016. We’ve survived two. Pray we survive a third and it’s not our last.