Manchin ain't going anywhere. WV needs to stop falling for his schtick.
Manchin will never switch parties. Being Democrat is in his blood. When he entered public life (on the coattails and name recognition of his corrupt uncle A. James Manchin), the Democrats controlled everything in W.Va. Joe now is at least 73 and that old dog won't learn any tricks at all. Even though W.Va. has voted R for president since 2000 and finally put a Republican majority in the state legislature a few years back, that doesn't mean voters still don't go for the ol' union-loving, gubmint benefits-promising Dems, especially those who were on the WVU football team for a couple of minutes, like Joe.
We have yet to find a conservative candidate who can challenge him effectively and get statewide attention.
Joe doesn't really stand for anything. He's stupid and probably an alcoholic. He does what he's told. These occasional "breaks" with the party are all theatre. The calls for him to switch to the GOP are nonsense.