Senator Joe Manchin and his daughter Heather have something new that they are launching. It’s called Americans Together and the Wall Street Journal described it as a project to promote centrist policies and candidates.

They are talking to big donors and they say the project will cost $100M. Is this another vanity project like the No Labels schtick Manchin has been pushing? The Wall Street Journal viewed a memo that was shared with potential donors. The project proposes a coalition to mobilize the middle, to support a shift to the political middle. It isn’t associated with No Labels.

Heather Manchin is making it clear that she’s in charge. She is the former chief executive of EpiPen-maker Mylan. She said she registered the politically active nonprofit organization in late July. She plans to start staffing up in the coming weeks. Heather claims the project “isn’t tied to her father’s political prospects or possible campaigns.”

“What we both very much agree on is the system is very broken and actually in deep trouble,” Heather Manchin said in an interview. “We have been thinking about what can be done to bring people together.”

She said she envisions Americans Together as a way to give “the politically homeless a voice” at a time when she said many voters see the two major parties as “normalizing the extremes on the fringes.”

It sounds like No Labels.

Joe Manchin is 76-years-old and he’s having an identity crisis. Not only does he not know which job he wants, he isn’t sure about his political home, either. Does he run for re-election to the Senate in West Virginia, now a solidly red state? His chances for re-election are iffy as it stands. Does he run for president as a third party candidate? He’s been flirting with the No Labels gang for months and feasting on all the media attention he is getting as an independent-minded Democrat. Now he says he doesn’t identify with either major party. He said on a radio show earlier this month that he is seriously thinking about leaving the Democrat Party and becoming an independent before the 2024 election. Better get moving, Joe.

It looks like Joe and Heather are trying to poach big Republican donors. They have been asking for support but not a specific amount of money. Yet. Of course that is coming. They aren’t giving much in the way of specifics to potential donors but Americans Together is organized as a 501 (c) (4). It doesn’t have to publicly disclose its donors. It also can’t spend a majority of its budget on electoral projects.

Ken Langone, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot and a major Republican donor, said Manchin and his daughter have sought his backing for their endeavor. He said that he read their pitch and had a phone call with the senator earlier this month, and that their effort has his support.

“The overriding theme of what they’re trying to do is get a little bit, give a little bit, come together. He’s a worthy public servant. He has a wholesome message. It’s apple pie to me,” Langone said. He added that his understanding is that Manchin is leaving open several possibilities for his political future. He said the Manchins haven’t asked for a specific amount of money.

Other donors also said conversations with Manchin and his daughter were focused on a vaguely defined future effort. They said the senator and Heather Manchin had briefed them on the desire to boost moderates, but as with Langone hadn’t made any direct financial requests. Because Americans Together is organized as a 501(c)(4), it won’t be required to publicly disclose its donors and can’t spend a majority of its budget on electoral politics.

Old Joe is getting a little too cute by half. He is telling potential donors he is open to running as an independent or running for president. He said he’s open to “switching back and forth between parties” if he’s re-elected to the Senate. Excuse me, how does that work? Right now the Senate is almost evenly divided. What does that do to committee assignments and his seniority? It doesn’t make sense. It’s Manchin trying to play all sides. He’s done that on legislation as he sides with Republicans on some fiscal issues and energy policy but he’s gullible enough to still believe a slimy partisan like Chuck Schumer when he tells Manchin he will bring up his pet project, overhauling the energy permitting process, for a vote. That never happened but Manchin fell for it and voted yes – the deciding vote – on the huge climate change, health care, and tax bill. So much for fiscal constraint, right, Joe?

The kicker is that though the new project isn’t supposed to be aligned with Manchin’s political career, the father-daughter duo are hitting up donors who have given to Manchin’s Senate re-election campaign committee, or raised money for it.

Manchin has filed the necessary paperwork to allow him to fundraise despite being officially undecided on whether he plans to run in 2024. He has said he would make a decision before West Virginia’s filing deadline in January.

Manchin’s Senate campaign raised about $1.3 million in the second quarter of this year and had nearly $11 million on hand as of the end of June, according to its most recent campaign finance report.

Is this nonprofit a political grift? Is Manchin going to bow out of politics and move on to working against both Democrats and Republicans while putting his daughter at the helm? It’s been registered for over a month and they still aren’t giving details to potential donors. Something just sounds sketchy. A lot like No Labels. All hat, no cattle. They talk a big game about independents and centrists but then they don’t move forward with any action. What’s the point? As long as “independent” Joe Manchin caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and lets Schumer roll over him before big votes, he’s not an independent. He’s a Democrat.