Recently Joe Manchin launched the Independent Leadership Council, an initiative to recruit and support independent candidates across the country.
From an article on MSN:
Midterm elections 2026: Five independent candidates to watch amid Joe Manchin's new political push
"With Midterm elections approaching rapidly, former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is making a return to the political spotlight—not as a candidate, but as a champion for independent voices....Speaking alongside his daughter Heather Manchin, who is also leading the effort, the former senator said the goal is not to create another political party but to empower candidates who are willing to work with both Democrats and Republicans. "We're not trying to start another party," Manchin said, adding that independent lawmakers should be free to support either party when they believe it is right and oppose them when necessary."
"The initiative comes at a time when political independence is on the rise. According to a Gallup poll, 45% of US adults now identify as political independents, the highest level recorded. Independents have also remained the country's largest political group for more than a decade as frustration with the two-party system continues to grow....Manchin believes that even a small number of independent lawmakers in Congress could influence legislation and encourage greater bipartisan cooperation."
"Among the candidates associated with or highlighted by the Independent Leadership Council are:
- "Kevin Kiley (California): Incumbent Republican-turned-Independent congressman seeking reelection in a Democratic-leaning district. Kiley continues to caucus with Republicans and is facing Democrat Richard Pan in November.
- "Seth Bodnar (Montana): An independent candidate for the US Senate who is competing in a race that also includes Republican Kurt Alme and Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead in a state Trump comfortbaly won in 2024. However, Montana has a long history of electing independent-leaning and centrist politicians to statewide offices.
- "Michael Bridgford (Iowa): Running as an independent candidate for the US House and participating in Manchin's initiative.
- "Dan Osborn (Nebraska): Osborn came close to beating Senator Deb Fischer in 2024 and is once again seeking Senate office as an independent. After Democratic nominee Cindy Burbank ended her campaign, Osborn is now in a direct contest with Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.
- "Bill Hill (Alaska): An independent candidate in Alaska's at-large congressional race. A commercial fisherman and former school superintendent, Hill describes himself as a lifelong independent, supports abortion rights and the Second Amendment, and says he does not fit neatly into either major political party."
One of the candidates on the list is from Nebraska, Dan Osborn, who is running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Pete Ricketts. Osborn actually has a chance to make it. You can tell Ricketts is a little nervous about it. He is tacking hard right to MAGA, I suppose he thinks he can't win without them.
There is another Nebraska independent candidate, Mark Cohen. He is running for the 3rd district seat currently occupied by Adrian Smith, who has held it since 2006. The 3rd district is notoriously hard to campaign in. It encompasses 65,000 square miles, 68.5 of 93 counties, and two time zones.
Since Cohen is a resident of the county where my hometown is, I asked my sister, who lives there, if she knows him. She said, "Well, I know who he is. He's the guy who goes everywhere with his Irish wolfhound." He sounds a bit eccentric. She wishes he was a little more of a serious candidate. Adrian Smith isn't a terrible person, but he votes a straight Republican line. However Cohen did get over 2000 signatures on his petition, which means he will be on the ballot. He isn't a write-in candidate. Time will tell, I guess.
I am not interested in cooperation between the two parties. I am interested in both their demises. They are both owned by AIPAC and rich donors. Neither responds to the needs of the working class. They both support genocide and war. And this is all fine with Manchin and is the type of cooperation he seeks. How any of this addresses the collapse of the American Empire, the over the top control of this country by Israel and the increasing desperation of the American people is beyond me. Manchin and his "movement" are a joke, one in very poor taste. What little hope I have is in Kshama Sawant's campaign for Seattle's House seat and some kind of general strike.
ReplyDeleteCentrism between Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun is going to get us all killed. This country needs radical change. It needs to repent.
ReplyDeleteI get what Stanley is saying, and my gut wants to burn everything down, too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm pretty skeptical that a Democratic Socialist utopia will rise from the ashes. Their vacuous "Medicare for all" mantra is popular, but low on specifics: I'm on Medicare, and I'd like candidates to tell me which Medicare they're talking about cuz mine ain't great.
My voting priorities this year are pretty modest:
1. Immigration: Overhaul ICE, restore protection status for Haitians et al, pass DACA, no detention centers for nonviolent immigratiin offenders, and no deportations without due process.
2. Worker benefits: Mandate that companies provide health care, day care assistance, and retirement contributions to all employees, not just full-timers. There can be loopholes for start-ups, but Wal-Mart et al should not make huge profits and make taxpayers pay benefits for employees.
3. Health and safety: Overhaul CDC to emphasize pandemic readiness and rejoin WHO. Purge HHS of anti-vaxxers and assorted kooks, restore medical research, restore NOAA services and climate research.
4. Address Social Security funding crisis.
5. Checks and balances: Impose hard guardrails on presidents so they can't rule by EO. Impose ethics standards on Supreme Court Justices and give them staggered terms of no more than 20 years with mandatory retirement at age 70. Set similar age limits on elected officials, and make missing a certain percentage of votes grounds for automatic expulsion. Make foreign treaties and agreements more binding so that presidents cannot just tear them up.
Jean, with that platform, you have my vote!
DeleteI have read that Medicare Advantage plans continue to get worse. We are quite satisfied with our Medicare plus AARP supplement, but it is getting very pricey. I don’t know what Advantage plans charge, but I know they require in- network docs. That’s why we didn’t get one years ago — we traveled too much within the US and overseas. Medicare doesn’t cover overseas medical care but our supplement plan covers all but $300. Advantage plans do offer some dental and hearing aid coverage which Medicare does not.
Jean, that all sounds good to me.
DeleteWe are doing regular Medicare with a supplement. What I have heard about Advantage plans is that some are better than others. The bad part is that in western Nebraska and Eastern Colorado, a lot of people were sold Advantage plans, and the available providers accepting them dwindled down to very few. You might have to drive 50 miles to see a doc, and if you have to see a specialist, it's 100 miles, in the opposite direction. I think it's important not to let them privatize Medicare any farther.
There will never be a utopia. But sociopaths are in power now. They have no desire to give you any of your mild requests, Jean. The billionaires are building luxury bunkers. We don’t have to burn it all down but radical open cavity surgery will be required and many tumors removed.
DeleteMy hope is that our system will eventually reduce the number of billionaires by forcing their companies to increase worker pay and benefits. But believe me I do take your point about the extent to which (obscene, imo) wealth controls government. The contempt they have for Americans and American institutions is pretty clear.
DeleteI registered as Independent about 25 years ago after an adult lifetime registered as GOP. As the GOP accelerated its rightward march in the 1990s I was no longer working for the GOP as a volunteer, nor donating, but voting very carefully for whichever candidates seemed less awful. I finally had to reregister as “Not Affiliated” to avoid endless junk calls and emails and fund raising letters. I could not become a Democrat either. I am among America’s many politically homeless. I think it’s unrealistic to bet that there will be enough Independents or third party representatives in Congress to make a dent in our gerrymandered two party system. Most districts are sure things for incumbents or their handpicked successors. And few are willing to buck their party, especially in the GOP.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, when compromise was still a viable practice in Congress, I often listened to a popular local radio station for traffic news during rush hour. John McCain and Ted Kennedy had a brief radio show every day for a few minutes. I really enjoyed that show. They debated (intelligently) whatever current issue was in Congress. They were close friends and apparently worked closely together to bring their respective party colleagues to compromise positions to get legislation passed. It was sadly ironic that both died of the same brain cancer within a few years of each other.. It seems that responsible politicians with integrity are a thing of the past. No politician is “ perfect” in my eyes or in anyone’s eyes. There will always be areas of disagreement on policy and priorities. But if there is to be any future for America the two dominant parties will have to find better candidates. The best have been driven out of both parties. Right now I will vote blue for every contest because another few years of MAGA control will be the end.
Our son and his family will be official residents of Spain in two weeks. I have researched emigration data and have read that there is a real trend of younger professionals emigrating, as my son and his family are doing, and that this represents a growing brain drain from the US. Many scientists are being lured abroad by universities and research institutes where they have the freedom they have lost here due to the trump administration politicizing their research, canceling funding for projects that don’t meet MAGA standards. Because of the absurd costs of a college education these days, more students are going to universities overseas, and many stay after graduation. And many return a few years after coming back to the US, emigrating due to the cost of healthcare in the US ( a huge issue with ex-pats) especially those who experienced life in a foreign country as students and realize that there are better places to live for overall quality of life than America now. And it’s getting worse in America, not better. Our son and his family are in the vanguard of a movement that may become a flood in a few years. Son # 3 will move in two years. There is also a trend among older people emigrating for retirement.
Time spent reading the comments of expat groups on Facebook is very enlightening.
Brain drain has plagued Michigan for at least three generations now, and I think you are absolutely right that MAGA is hastening it thru'out the nation. It's very apparent in the Michigan GOP, which used to be country club pro-biz boosters, but is now full of evangelical crazies, gun nuts, crypto pushers, and MAGAs. Not a surprise that my kid wanted to move to a blue state.
DeleteWell I'm not moving anywhere. Don't really want to and don't have anyplace else to go anyway..Nebraska has a brain drain, but a lot of it is from "outstate" to the more urban east end where there are jobs. Glad our kids aren't emigrating, at least not now.
DeleteThis country is so antiscientific with the suppression of climatology, immunology and the rest. DOGE went through our expertise like a wildfire. Just ripping out wires left and right. The vandals from within.
DeleteThose of us who converse here are pretty safe. ICE is unlikely to arrest us when we are doing errands. We are white. We are old. We are below the radar. As long as we don’t film ICE or police brutality we should be ok.
DeleteWe are retired. We don’t have to fight to be able to do our jobs, like teachers, even at the college level, who are being forced to teach only MAGA approved curricula.; we aren’t librarians being threatened with arrest for displaying the “wrong” books. We don’t work in museums being targeted and coerced into whitewashing history. Doctors, nurses and hospitals fear possible arrest if they care for women arriving at ERs with miscarriages. I had two and I’m grateful that I wasn’t turned away as some women have experienced in red states . Academics in higher education are losing their research funding if their projects aren’t acceptable to MAGA. Health research that targets women or minorities or non- hetero normative cohorts are eliminated because of the war on DEI even though scientists recognize that different groups are prone to differing health issues and respond differently to various treatments. Health research that goes against MAHA priorities is also being defunded. We aren’t running businesses and limited to hiring only staff that the government approves. None of us are at much risk from MAGA. But many younger people are rightfully concerned. Like Jean’s son, some are moving from red states to blue states. The son of one of our cousins teaches high school in Tennessee. The final push for him to begin job hunting in blue states was the mandated creation of Charlie Kirk Turning Point chapters in the public high schools. Our son and his wife finally made the final decision to move to Spain after considering it for several years because of the overt racism that is now official trump policy. Your blonde grandchildren are not at much risk. My son and his wife want their African American children to be safer than they are in the US these days - not be targeted — not just from everyday street comments and hostility types of racism, but especially from racism from police and other “ law” enforcement - the danger is greater because of the color of their skin.
I hope to join our sons in Europe at some point. But moving there with my husband’s health issues is challenging. He knows that the quality of medical care in both Spain and France is far superior to ours. He’s experienced it personally. Our sons and their children have also. But he worries about finding doctors who speak English fluently. I have researched this also. It seems that Barcelona has a solid network of hospitals, clinics and staff with excellent English speaking abilities because of the high number of expats from the UK who vacation and retire there. Many Northern Europeans do too and most of them speak English. They also seek out the English speaking doctors and facilities because there aren’t many who speak Danish or Finnish. 😉
Leftists are often accused of wanting to burn it all down. But hasn’t it been burned down already? Perhaps the effects haven’t been felt yet but they are beginning to. These outbreaks of food poisoning are just tge beginning.
DeleteI am probably safe, for now. But I consider myself eminently expendable. That is a superpower. I have not decided how to use it yet.
DeleteStanley, it’s burning but it’s a slow burn for now. If the GOP keeps control of Congress the fires will grow and spread and may become difficult to contain. It may be impossible to reverse by 2028 if Congress is controlled by MAGA for the next 2 1/2 years.
DeletePretty sure we've all heard of the horseshoe theory..it's about how the extreme right and extreme left are closer to each other than either are to the middle. I think it's funny (as in peculiar) how some of my MAGA relatives sound a lot like the far left.
DeleteThe left needs to be wary of populists on their side. See, for ex, Huey P. Long.
DeleteWell, if you want to fight fascists, communists do a pretty good job, like most of the killing and dying. 4 out of 5 Nazi Germany soldiers were killed by the CCCP. Some 26M Russians died in the conflict. And then we stepped in after they did the heavy lifting. Who powered the French resistance? The Commies. Who fought effectively against the Japanese in Vietnam and earned Allied admiration? Ho Chi Minh.
DeleteI think Manchin's initiative sounds worthwhile. Wish we had some people in Illinois whom he could get behind.
ReplyDeleteJim, yes. I don't agree with Manchin on some things, but I think he is right to seek out some less polarized people. The present situation isn't serving us well.
DeleteI sort of wish that guy with the Irish wolfhound had a chance. It sounds like years ago he would have been an Eisenhower Republican.
DeleteThe needle I'd like to see the country thread is to elect non-DSA Democrats. Center-left Democrats historically have been pretty responsible about governance. I think we'd be in good hands for at least a few years.
ReplyDeleteCenter-left Dems are just Limousine Libs, rich people with just slightly more noblesse oblige than Country Club Repubs. They believe in handouts, but never change the system that creates the need in the first place. Republican counterparts go along with it as long as they can impose vast bureaucracies on programs to ensure that only nice people get the help.
DeleteThat's all ducky if you like the status quo.
Jean you listed five pretty good priorities in your comment at 10:54 am. I think voting in some center left Democrats could accomplish at least some of those.
DeleteIn 1989, I and many saw the decline in US manufacturing heralding our military decline. Just like we outmanufactured the Germans, China can do the same to us and more so. We cannot war our way out of this unless one finds nuclear mutual annihilation a win. We can defend our own territory by taking lessons from Iran. But worldwide power projection is over, though our futile military adventures can still cause immense and unnecessary suffering. Neither party has what it takes to disabuse ourselves of the delusions characteristic of dying empires. And anything close to the “center” in US politics is just close to the center of the Land of Oz.
DeleteJean—“. They believe in handouts, but never change the system that creates the need in the first place. “
DeleteIn my Catholic parishes I was involved with the Social Concerns (parish #1) and Social Justice Committees (parish #2). I didn’t think much about the different nomenclature until the Social Justice Minister at parish #2 pointed it out to me. He said that he renamed the committee when he was hired because he wanted to highlight that charity isn’t enough. Food collections, backpack collections, and baby bottle campaigns aren’t enough. We have to address the systemic structures of injustice that underlie the problems addressed by the charitable programs. He said that addressing those structural issues requires political activism. Parish #2 may be the wealthiest parish in the archdiocese. If it isn’t the richest it’s close. But some members of the congregation were hostile to his efforts. For example, we (the committee) wanted to buy Fair Trade coffee for our Sunday coffee hours, perhaps invite a speaker at some point, and provide educational materials on Fair Trade. Some of the millionaires on the parish council opposed this. They also were opposed to the parish being part of an ecumenical coalition of churches that worked on local issues like county support for fair and affordable housing. We finally were given funds for Fair Trade coffee once/month
and permission to leave brochures on the coffee table. No speaker to address the parish even though it wouldn’t cost anything. (They volunteer). The parish was permitted to remain part of the coalition working on local justice issues. I don’t know if they still are because the Vatican II pastors of that era retired and have been replaced by conservative priests. The church’s social justice teachings were a focus of the committee when I was there, and included education for the entire parish. The Social Justice minister even managed to get Sr. Helen Prejean as a speaker. Immigration wasn’t an issue then. The only initiatives the rich members of the parish council supported was the food collection for a local food pantry at another parish, and the baby bottle campaign, as if the few dollars collected by that program would be enough to prevent poor women from seeking abortions.
"I think voting in some center left Democrats could accomplish at least some of those."
DeleteSure, and if they win the primaries here, I will vote for them. Some kid called a few minutes ago asking what I thought of Will Lawrence, an SDA fellow traveller. These guys are making a big deal about not taking money from special interests, esp AIPAC. I said I thought that was fine but looks like a virtue signaling stunt, gave him my five concerns above, and told him I was proud of all the young people getting involved.
Voting for any Repub is out for me this year cuz they can't measure up on my five issues. Even somewhat moderate Republicans like our current congressman can't win without the MAGAs, who are still a big chunk of the GOP vote, and their unwillingness to alienate the Trumpers shows in their record.