Denouncing the political divide in Washington, D.C., Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., now wants to take advantage of it, potentially running for president as an independent or third-party candidate and leading the "radical middle."
"Joe Biden has been pulled so far to the left, the extreme left, as far as liberal," Manchin told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y. "It makes no sense at all.
"It's not the person we thought was going to bring the country together. So we're in a heck of a mess here."
Manchin announced he is not going to run again for Senate, vowing to weigh a presidential run instead.
"I just said, Enough's enough," he told host John Catsimatidis. "So, I'm going to see, go around and talk to them. I don't know what that will lead to. And people ask, 'What are you going to do?' I said, 'Listen, I'm an American first, I'm a West Virginian second, and I'm the most independent, centrist, moderate, Democrat you've ever seen.'
"It's big business up here. The Democrat business and the Republican business up here as been profitable and doing quite well."
Manchin is seeking to capitalize on age-old supply and demand. With America pushing more independent and centrist, Manchin wants to be one of the few moderates to gobble up support in a presidential candidacy.
"Neither side can win, John, without the middle," Manchin told host Catsimatidis. "I'm going to call it the radical middle. You're either going far left or far right. There's not that many of us left. Not that many that you can identify with.
"So maybe we're radical to think that we can be a centrist, moderate, common-sense type of a person who would be in public service, because we're not getting that any more."
Political warfare has sought to divide America and it has been successful in doing so, Manchin said.
"Washington wants you and I to be divided, and the rest of America to be divided because it's a better business model for them," he said. "So, I came to the conclusion I can't change — I've been here 13 years. I'm not going to change it from within. And I've decided to go around and see if I can mobilize the radical middle.
"Isn't that something, John? The radical, moderate, sensible, middle, moderate part of this country."