Manchin remains mum on political future

Jun. 6—Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said only one poll matters, and that is the one on election day.

Manchin's office responded to a question about a political commentator on Monday who called him a "dead man walking," referring to his political future in West Virginia as the polls show him as much as 22 points behind Gov. Jim Justice if he decides to seek reelection next year.

"I don't want to be unkind to Sen. Manchin, but he's kind of dead man walking in West Virginia," David Axelrod, long-time political commentator and former advisor to President Barrack Obama said on CNN. "There's nowhere for him to go ... He's got a popular Republican governor in the state that Donald Trump carried by almost 40 points. He didn't win by very much last time. So he knows that he can't win reelection in that state."

"This is a funny comment about polls since the same smart pollsters said Barack Obama's poll numbers proved he had no chance against Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump could never win the first election, and Republicans would win huge in 2022," said a Manchin spokesperson. "Senator Manchin's focus is on doing the best job for West Virginia and the American people. The only poll that matters is the one on Election Day."

Manchin, who narrowly beat Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in 2018, has not yet announced his plans regarding running for reelection, but once again has also kept the door open for a third party presidential run.

The No Labels party, which would team a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican on the ballot for 2024, is reportedly considering Manchin as a possible candidate.

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Manchin would not commit, saying people with a "risk management team" should have a Plan A and a Plan B, referring to the No Labels party.

"I think with a risk management team, you better have Plan B. Because if Plan A shows that we're going to the far reaches of both sides, the far left and the far right, and the people don't want to go to the far left and the far right, they want to be governed from the middle, I think there is... you better have that Plan B available and ready to go," he said.

But Manchin didn't say if he would be included in a Plan B.

"I'm not saying who it's going to include or exclude," he said. "I'm saying you better have Plan B ready. Because that's what it's going to take for this country to remain the superpower of the world, to give confidence to people around the world that the reserve currency should be the U.S. dollar, that support for freedom and democracy should be the U.S. government and the U.S. Defense Department. We can do that. You can't do it from the extremes."

Manchin said that he is "not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out."

Justice and Rep. Alex Mooney, R-2nd District, have both filed for the GOP nomination to run for Manchin's seat.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com