Manchin to meet Biden, urge move to center as he eyes 2024 run

West Virginia senator and possible independent presidential candidate Joe Manchin said he will meet with President Biden in the coming days to try to "move him to the center," a possible determining factor in whether he will enter the race for the White House in 2024.

Manchin made these remarks at a private gathering in Darien, Connecticut, at the home of Robert Dilenschneider, a prominent communications specialist and founder of the Dilenschneider Group. Manchin spoke for about an hour, stressing the need for a return to civility in politics that is missing from the leadership of both major parties. 

Over the past year, Manchin has made no secret of the need for a third party in the form of No Labels, an independent organization aiming to represent the interests of more centrist Republicans and Democrats.   

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As FOX Business has reported, other potential No Labels candidates include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who just dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who continues to trail Trump in this week’s Iowa caucuses. 

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No Labels is said to be in the process of getting on the ballots in enough states to mount a serious challenge but will only likely run a candidate if President Biden and former President Trump are the representatives of their respective parties. As of today, both appear to be their party’s nominees; polling shows most Americans would rather have new blood in the 2024 race instead of a redo of the 2020 election.

A No Labels spokeswoman didn’t return calls for comment. A spokesman for Christie wouldn’t rule out a No Labels run; Haley press officials had no immediate comment.

During Manchin’s remarks, which have yet to be reported, he indicated his relationship with the president, a fellow Democrat, has been fraught after he opposed many of Biden’s spending initiatives, and a plan to ditch the so-called filibuster. He said he criticized Biden for turning the Democratic Party to the far left – giving politicians such as Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders an outsized role in shaping policy and regulatory appointments. 

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He will soon meet with Biden in the hope of trying to convince him to move to the center as the president prepares for a bitter 2024 contest against whoever the GOP nominates. In previous sit-downs, he says he told Biden he was just "handing people money," referring to the massive stimulus programs the president pushed through a Democrat controlled Congress in the early years of his presidency. 

Manchin said that during another meeting Biden bragged that he "appointed the most diverse administration in the nation’s history." Manchin said he then reminded Biden that his picks may be racially diverse, but their politics are all similar in that most of them represent the far left of the party. 

Manchin strongly suggested that the upcoming meeting with Biden will set the stage for a decision on his own 2024 presidential run on the No Labels ticket. West Virginia is a deep red state, and Manchin, a moderate Democrat, has already said he won’t seek re-election in 2024. 

"Most people are left of center and right of center," he said. "I’ve always met with both sides to get things done."

While polls show dissatisfaction with a redo of the 2020 contest between Biden and Trump, it’s unclear if enough voters really do want compromise in their politics. Plus, as Manchin pointed out, third parties have a poor record of success when it comes to the U.S. presidency; not one in recent history has won the presidency. Ross Perot’s independent run in 1992 garnered 19% of the vote, but he didn’t win a single elector.

But Manchin said there might be an opening given the level of discontent most Americans – who consider themselves politically independent – have with the current two-party system and the type of government it has produced. 

He reminded the group that Ross Perot – who also ran amid widespread disquiet with both major parties – was initially ahead in the polling until he dropped out and re-entered at a later date. Perot still managed to mount a strong challenge to the eventual winner, Bill Clinton, and President George H.W. Bush.

Manchin also pointed out that many voters worry that a vote for Biden is a vote for his unpopular vice president, Kamala Harris. Biden just turned 81 and questions swirl about his physical health and whether he will finish a full second term. 

But he said, Trump brings his own baggage: a presidency marred with petty feuds often on social media and a desire to move the GOP to the fringes of the political right. GOP contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have attacked Trump’s handling of COVID, runaway spending, failure to build a border wall, and his instigation of the Jan 6, Capitol Hill riot.

Manchin said No Labels will likely make a decision by Super Tuesday, the date in March when a number of states will hold their primaries and the outcome of the Republican nomination will be in sight. 

He said the GOP nomination may be over before then. He said Haley, the new runner-up to Trump, will likely drop out of the race before her home state’s primary in late February if she doesn’t do well in the New Hampshire primary.

"I don’t think Nikki will embarrass herself with a loss in her home state" if she doesn’t see a path to the nomination.

If Trump is the likely nominee, then No Labels will have to take a hard look at Biden and whether he will, as he says now, seek re-election. He conceded that Harris is a drag on the ticket and said it’s possible that she could be replaced by former first lady Michele Obama despite whispers that Obama might want to seek the presidency.

"One thing I can tell you, I’m not going to do this as a spoiler," he said. 

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