"Joe [Manchin] is America's biggest political tease," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois told The Hill over the weekend.
Durbin was referring to the speculation growing by the day over what Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia will do in 2024: seek reelection as a Democrat ("I hope he will," said Durbin) or run for president on the new No Labels ticket.
With Manchin speaking at a No Labels forum in New Hampshire Monday, speculation grows that the West Virginian may forsake a reelection bid to make a third-party presidential run.
But a Mountaineer State source who has known Manchin for decades predicted to Newsmax that, at 75, the senator will run for the job he loved most: the governorship, which he held from 2005-2010.
"Joe will run again for governor with the argument that he can do more for West Virginia," our source told us flatly.
With incumbent GOP Gov. Jim Justice termed out and running for the Senate, no fewer than four "name" Republicans are vying to succeed him: State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who narrowly missed unseating Sen. Manchin in 2018; Secretary of State Mac Warner; State Delegate Moore Capito, son of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito; and Huntington businessman Chris Miller, son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller.
In contrast, only one Democrat, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, is seeking his party's gubernatorial nod and would almost surely defer to Manchin should the senator run for governor.
Of a third-party presidential bid, other West Virginians we spoke to were skeptical. As physician and former state GOP Chairman Doug McKinney told us, "He's smarter than that. Third-party candidates for president don't do well." McKinney also noted the strong pedigree of GOP candidates seeking the governorship and said Manchin may not run for governor because "he sees the handwriting on the wall."
"I personally don't think he'll run for governor or make the No Labels run [for president]," said conservative Republican and State Senate President Pro Tem Donna Boley, who came to the Senate will Manchin in 1984.
As for seeking reelection to the Senate, Boley said she wasn't at all sure about that because "he's made so many people mad on both sides of the aisle."
"I've known Joe a long time, and what you can say for sure is he listens to the last person he talks to," said Boley.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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