• StarServal@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Manchin will never get the DNC nomination if he runs as D, he’ll never get enough votes if he runs as a third party, and he’ll never get the Trump votes if he runs as R. There’s no way Manchin can become president in this current political landscape. He would need politics to return to the 80s to have a chance at any kind of success; when the parties weren’t so inflamed and divided.

      • Seasoned_Greetings@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        That seems like exactly what that guy would do. The only problem with that is you have to actually be an attractive candidate to be a spoiler. If he runs, he’s not really taking any votes from Biden because nobody who votes Biden is going to consider a party-line traitor like Manchin. If anything he’ll be spoiling the republican candidates who are looking for a less batshit alternative. But then again, that’s not how primaries work.

        • hark@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          He’s probably doing it to collect a paycheck from the people paying him to be a spoiler.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          You don’t get to a position like Manchin’s without having a massive ego. He already enjoys being a spoiler in the senate. It’s his thing now. He’s the Democrats’ Rand Paul. So extending that to a presidential race makes sense from his perspective.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          The only problem with that is you have to actually be an attractive candidate to be a spoiler. If he runs, he’s not really taking any votes from Biden because nobody who votes Biden is going to consider a party-line traitor like Manchin.

          I’m not so sure. Centrists have been defending Manchin ever since he killed BBB for them. I also recall 2008, when centrist Clinton supporters formed a PAC to oppose Obama and support McCain after he won the nomination.

          Meanwhile, Biden has been trying to get student loan forgiveness, something centrists oppose and progressives support, and worst of all made it clear with his second forgiveness plan that he wasn’t going to just announce that he tried and never try again.

          I’m sure there are some centrists who would crawl over broken glass for a chance to drink the bilge water from Manchin’s houseboat. 2008 showed that centrists will not only jump ship, they’ll organize. Progressives have never formed a PAC to support a Republican like centrists did.