COLUMBUS — West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is not on the ballot this year for his U.S. Senate seat, but could he end up on Ohio’s ballot as a third-party candidate for president?
He deflected such questions on Thursday before the City Club of Cleveland, a stop on his listening tour to promote moderate voices like his in politics.
“Guys, listen, I’m not running for anything,” he said. “I’m basically running to get people involved. … That’s today.”
But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about who might stand with him in an uphill battle as a third-party candidate.
“Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is [Utah Sen.] Mitt Romney,” Mr. Manchin said. “Maybe [former Ohio Sen.] Rob Portman. Rob Portman would be right there, too. Rob’s a dear friend of mine. What a good man.”
Later in Columbus, he acknowledged how hard a third-party run would be.
“That’s a very, very difficult situation,” he said. “Is there ever a chance that we might be able to open up to where a third party could be competitive? We need to examine that.”