Yesterday afternoon Politico reported that Senator Joe Manchin was being considered for the Secretary of Energy cabinet post in the Trump administration:

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is considering Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia for the energy secretary job, according to three sources close to the discussions.

The conservative Democrat “is being considered to show the coal people how serious Trump is about coal,” one source said.

Manchin told POLITICO Thursday afternoon that he and his staff haven’t been contacted by Trump’s transition team and he didn't have any trips to New York City on his calendar. But Manchin, who is up for reelection in 2018 in a state that has become increasingly more Republican over the past decade, also didn’t dismiss the notion of taking DOE’s top job in the Trump administration.

“If I can do anything that would help my state of West Virginia, and my country, I would be happy to talk to anybody,” he told POLITICO. “Other than that, I haven’t heard anything ... I have nothing scheduled.”

Since then, a number of sources have picked up the story including this morning's Charleston Gazette-Mail. This story was also on one of last night's local 10:00 PM news programs and yet there was no mention of it in this morning's paper. (I guess that we can figure that since it didn't happen in Wheeling, it doesn't become news until the AP reports it.)

I have no addition information except for what I read in Politico but I think the job will end up going to a rich energy insider. I believe floating Manchin's name is a win-win for both Trump and Manchin. Trump wins points in coal country for considering Democrat Manchin. (For example, look for a local editorial/Myer column pointing out how this proves that Trump still cares about West Virginia and its miners.) Trump also wins because it appears that he is "reaching across the aisle" even if the "aisle" is not very wide if you're picking DINO Manchin. The senator wins by appearing to do "anything that would help my state" and by looking like a Republican -- both of which will be important if he runs for reelection in 2018 as a Democrat.