I'll Look at the Options': Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin Says He May Not Vote for Obama

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said he might not vote for President Barack Obama come November.

In an interview with National Journal, the senator who won a special election in 2010 after the death Robert Byrd is up for re-election himself, and said a vote to give Obama another term is not open and shut for him.

“I’ll look at the options,” the former West Virginia governor told National Journal, saying the past three years “have made it pretty rough” for his state and that his vote will ultimately come down to what will be best for West Virginia.

“Right now in West Virginia, these first three-and-a-half years haven’t been that good to West Virginia. So, then you look [at] what the options will be, who will be on the other end," Manchin said.

Sen. John McCain won West Virginia in 2008 55 percent to 42 percent.

As National Journal pointed out, Manchin declined to say ahead of his 2010 election whether he would vote for Obama in 2012 or vote to keep Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as Senate Majority Leader.

As CNN pointed out, Manchin has at times been known to buck his own party -- being one of about a dozen Democrats to back the Keystone XL pipeline in March and voting against raising the debt ceiling. As a Senate candidate, he was featured in a campaign ad firing a rifle at the Democrat-backed cap and trade bill.