Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a PBS interviewer today that given the choice between President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, she would vote for West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin for president.
“If it’s a match-up between Biden and Trump, I know exactly where I’d go. I would go with Joe Manchin,” Murkowski told Margaret Hoover, host of Firing Line.
“I am one who doesn’t like to use my vote for the lesser of two evils. I want to be proactive in who I think could do the job,” she said. Murkowski endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola for the House of Representatives in 2022.
Manchin, a centrist, has been for Democrats what Murkowski is for Republicans — an unreliable vote for their extreme platform.
Some have speculated that Manchin may run for president as a third-party and that rumor was given oxygen when he was featured at a town hall in New Hampshire, organized by No Labels, a new group pushing independent candidates.
Murkowski said people are hungry want a president who is “offering something in the middle.” She defended Alaska’s new open primary and ranked-choice voting general elections, saying she believes it is a model for other states to deliver results that are less partisan.
Murkowski’s idea of what it means to be less partisan may be at odds with the record of Peltola, who is extremely partisan, if she’s judged by her voting record, which is in line with radical House members of The Squad. Alaskans will be the judge in 2024, during the next congressional election.
Manchin appeared earlier this week at a town hall in New Hampshire that was sponsored by political organization No Labels, sparking conversation of a possible third-party bid for the West Virginia senator.
Manchin and Murkowski are considered allies in the Senate and have a close, collaborative relationship.
