"Manchin should switch parties or retire. He isn't welcome where he is."
He has been elected Governor and elected Senator of his state by real solid margins IIRC.
If/when the Reps gain majority he remains pivotally relevant.
Yes, he was Gov and won his Senate race most recently with nearly 70% of the vote. So did Trump. Neither won by being Sanders-AOC "progressives" in WV. The Trump map, county by county, (Manchin's looks the same with a different color) looks like this:
Manchin did not directly overlap with Biden in the Senate, only in Biden's role as VP.
Let's hope he holds the line on his opposition to the Build Back Leftist legislation.
The story is backwards. Biden's problem is that the Left isn't accepting Manchin's terms, but no one can say that aloud. If Biden turns on the Left, HE is is out because
they are in power.
I expect Manchin to at least switch to independent. The Left now hates him more than Ted Cruz, Rand Paul or Trump, who they hate more than Putin, Xi, Un or the Ayatollah. If he becomes Republican, he becomes our problem, although the balance in the Senate would switch instantly. It is definitely being discussed, but a safer move for him is to just declare he is an independent, because he already is, and be courted by both sides instead of hated.