Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has announced on Thursday he will not be seeking reelection in 2024, via a video posted on his social media account. This is news that will please a lot of his Democratic colleagues as Manchin has a bit of a reputation for not always being a team player, daring to think for himself on specific issues and vote on legislation and policy according to his personal beliefs and conscience. As we all know, the left is a hive mind. If you dare to take on issues individually you can no longer be a member of the collective.
“Manchin, who formerly served as the Governor of West Virginia until his special election to the Senate in 2010, has long been regarded as the most conservative Senate Democrat in the chamber. Amid a strong electoral challenge from his successor, Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, for his seat in 2024, Manchin released a video on Thursday announcing that he would not seek to run for re-election to a third term in the Senate,” the Daily Caller reported.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” Manchin went on to say in the announcement video, going on to toss in a a famous quote from President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. “I made a vow to serve all the people, friend or foe, and not just myself…I believe in my heart of hearts, that I have accomplished what I set out to do in West Virginia,” he added before announcing that “I’ve made one of the toughest decisions of my life, that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate.”
To the West Virginians who have put their trust in me and fought side by side to make our state better – it has been an honor of my life to serve you. Thank you. My statement on my political future: pic.twitter.com/dz8JuXAyTL
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 9, 2023
Don’t think for a second that Manchin’s retirement from the Senate means he’s going to sip drinks on the beach and collect sea shells. He stated he has plans to travel the nation and see if there is interest from regular folk about finding a way to bridge the gap between the parties and meet somewhere in the middle. Well, to do that, people will have to be reminded that extremes have a vested interest — financially especially — to keep people divided along lines that don’t really exist. They need to remember the common ground we all share, regardless of being Democrat or Republican. It’s a tall order in a day and age when narrative creation is what media excels in rather than being sources of information.
“That plan leaves open the possibility that Manchin may launch a campaign for president of the United States in the 2024 presidential election against President Joe Biden, which he has long been encouraged to do by donors and political operatives. A poll in July showed that, were a ‘moderate’ and independent candidate to run against Biden and former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, they would gain 21% of the national popular vote,” the DC reported.
After being asked time and again about whether or not he would be running for president in 2024, Manchin revealed that he has not ruled it out. Interesting given how deep we are into primary season. You’d think he would have announced by now if he was going to try to primary Biden.
Guess we’ll find out soon!