Manchin eyes presidential bid as Democrat

[jack]

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.V.) is considering re-registering as a Democrat and entering the 2024 presidential race, Axios has learned. Manchin left the party in May, but could see an opening to run as a moderate option after President Biden withdrew from the race on Sunday.

• Manchin is considering coming back to the party and putting his name into the running for the Democratic nomination, two sources familiar with his thinking told Axios.
• The West Virginia centrist is retiring from the Senate when he term ends in January.

Democrats on Sunday rushed to coalesce around Vice President Harris, but it's still not certain that she will be the nominee.

• Manchin notably split with the Biden White House, especially in the last two years.
• The West Virginia lawmaker said in May when he left the Democratic party that the country's "national politics are broken and neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground."
• He flirted with an independent presidential bid earlier this year.

Manchin, 76, is a life-long (until recently) moderate Democrat, who carried a critical Senate seat in a red state for the party.

• He also served two terms as a Democratic governor in West Virginia.
• He continued to caucus with Senate Democrats, even after he left the party in May.
• Manchin earlier Sunday called on Biden to leave the race, saying on CNN's "State of the Union that it was time to "pass the torch to a new generation,"

Manchin would struggle to find any backing from more liberal Democrats, making a bd to unite the party a long shot.