You may have seen this article by Ogden's editorial director, John McCabe, on the front page of this morning’s Wheeling Intelligencer:

Wide-ranging interview with @Sen_JoeManchin: “My whole movement is basically how do you save the nation? We’ve got to save this nation. And it can’t be about one party doing it by themselves. We all have to make this work.”https://t.co/k94iOAfLFP

— The Intelligencer (@IntelligencerWV) May 26, 2023

Since 2020, Manchin has assured us that he knows Republicans who want to work with Democrats, but none have stepped forward and typically, the Ogden reporter never asks about them. Today's article starts by repeating Manchin’s assertion:

For Sen. Joe Manchin, America’s path forward seems rather simple: Create a middle, and everything else will fall into place.

Throughout the article, McCabe uncritically accepts Manchin’s point of view; two-thirds of the article consists of direct quotes from Manchin with no pushback from McCabe on any of them.

Is Manchin running for president?

In addition to the possibility of running for reelection to the Senate, McCabe twice mentions the rumor that Manchin may run as a third-party candidate for president. The senator answers that, like deciding to run for the Senate, he has “an awful lot to do in the coming months” and will also leave that decision for later this year. Here is where we needed an actual reporter rather than another Ogden stenographer, albeit, in this case, an upper management one. Manchin needed to be asked: “If you are too busy to be concerned with the politics of a presidential run until later this year, what were you doing in Iowa two weeks ago?”

The @nolabelsorg Trump re-election plan continues:

Manchin stirs presidential speculation at event with Iowa voters https://t.co/wkH5tbUg1u

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 11, 2023

And Manchin was not done controlling the interview: a couple of paragraphs later he campaigns for reelection:

“The Inflation Reduction Act is bringing more opportunities to West Virginia,” Manchin said, noting Form Energy in Weirton as one of several businesses that have located here recently utilizing provisions of the IRA. “We have to have a trained workforce. We have to have an open mind to change our business climate. . . . There’s just so much opportunity right now for the state, but there’s one thing I want West Virginians to know: these new opportunities are not going to replace our fossil fuels market.”

Good job, Senator.

Just a thought: instead of wasting employee time serving up softballs to Manchin, wouldn’t it be more economical for the “newspaper” to periodically give him front page space to say whatever he wants?