West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s decision to retire at the end of his term makes it very likely Republicans will take back the Senate in 2024. But it also suggests something even bigger: It probably marks the end of the road for centrist senators.
Manchin—who polls seemed to indicate would lose his re-election bid to West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice—is a relic from a bygone era: a conservative-leaning Democrat who represents a state that Donald Trump won by 42 points in 2016.
So why should we mourn the end of squishy politicians like Manchin? Mainly, because our politics has become more dysfunctional as they have gone extinct.
