Manchin mentions Romney, Portman when asked about potential White House running mates

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday floated Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as two possible running mates in response to a question about his his top choices for a hypothetical third-party ticket for the White House.

In a conversation at the City Club of Cleveland, Manchin said he did not have any intention to run for office at this moment, but he did not rule out that prospect entirely.

“So hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney,” Manchin said.

“Maybe Rob Portman,” Manchin quickly added. “Rob Portman would be right there, too. Rob’s a dear friend of mine. What a good man. What a good man.”

Manchin, a self-described “conservative Democrat,” has bucked his party on several occasions in recent years and has been critical of both political parties and their leaders.

He announced he would not seek reelection this year, following a sharp drop in his approval rating, sparking speculation about a possible third-party run for the White House.

He also launched his “listening tour” at the start of the calendar year and has been speaking throughout the country — often at forums prospective presidential candidates are known to frequent.

At the Thursday event, he was asked numerous times whether he would launch a hypothetical third-party bid. He mostly avoided answering directly but left the door open to a possible run.

“Guys, listen, I’m not running for anything. I’m basically running to try to get people involved. Okay? So we’ll get, we’ll make sure of that right now, that’s today,” Manchin said.

Manchin expressed skepticism about the likelihood of a successful third-party campaign. He looked to Super Tuesday as the date for which “everyone’s waiting, to see what happens on Super Tuesday.”

“The third party,” Manchin said, “that’s a tough road. It’s never been done. Never been done. The system was set up not for that to be done.”

“I think you’re going to have a Joe Biden and Donald Trump rematch if nothing changes,” he said. “Things could change, you know, you have Super Tuesday is going to be what, about a month away? And that’s a lifetime in politics. So a lot could be changed. We’ll see.”