by Rod Williams, May 8, 2023- If you missed the Face the Nation interview with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona yesterday, above is the full interview. I was impressed. Watching the interview, I started thinking she would make an attractive candidate for president.
I know third parties never come close to winning the presidency, but this year might be a good year for such an effort. Most Democrats would rather see somebody other than Biden as the Democrat nominee and most Republicans would rather see someone other than Trump as the Republican nominee.
If such an effort was attempted, I think Sen. Sinema would be a good choice for the top of the ticket or second place. She is reasonable, articulate, attractive, personable, female, and not older than dirt. If she were top of the ticket that would probably attract a lot of suburban female voters.
If this is a year for a third-party effort, who should be the candidates? I admire Liz Channey for her courage in standing up to Donald Trump, but she is going nowhere. She has alienated too many people. A third party would need someone who is a "not Trump" candidate but also is not a hated person by former Trump supporters, so Channey is out.
I would prefer the third-party effort be a combination of a Democrat and a Republican, but I cannot think of a Republican who has shown sufficient independence and is a fresh voice. There are several people who I would like to see run but they are too well known and have been too subservient to Donald Trump. Maybe New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu would make a good independent? He is the anti-Trump happy warrior candidate. I have no idea that he would be remotely interested. One thing that would make him attractive to a large segment of the population is that he is a pro-choice Republican but one who accepts federalism.
I also think Senator Joe Manchin would make a good candidate. He has occasionally voted independently, as when he broke with his party and voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. He once supported a Republican for governor of West Virginia over the Democratic nominee. He is currently at odds with the Biden administration over the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and feels betrayed by the administration over a deal he thinks he had with the administration to win his support. Manchin is a Democrat in a state that Trump carried by a heavy margin. Manchin had to win the vote of a lot of people who also voted for Trump. That shows he can appeal to a broad swath of voters. Manchin has been hinting at entering the Democrat primaries as a challenger to Biden. He also has been hinting that he may leave the Democrat Party and become an independent Senator. I think he could make an attractive third-party presidential candidate.
I know I will not vote for Trump. Even if he chooses as his running mate someone I like, I do not see any circumstance in which I could again vote for Donald Trump. His attempted coup was an act that trumps whatever good policy positions or other positive attributes he may have. Also, I will not vote for Biden-Harris. I am a conservative and the Biden administration has shown itself too far left. If those are the choices I may not vote, or I may write in a name, but I will not vote for either of those two choices. I never feel compelled to vote for the lesser of two evils. One does not have to take part. I do not feel a civic duty to vote just for the sake of voting.
I am ready to vote for a third party. I know I do not like Joe Manchin's protectionism, and I am sure there are things I disagree with Sinema on, but they are not Tump or Biden. A Sinema-Manchin third-party ticket would get my attention, maybe my vote.
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