It should come as a no great surprise that Joe Manchin, a West Virginia politician, has made it official that he is no longer a Democrat, registering now as an independent. The truth is that he has barely been a Democrat for some time if one considers his voting record.
First he announced he would not run for re-election for his Senate seat. Then he toyed with an independent run for the presidency, and now he’s officially an independent. Speculation is that he could run for his old Senate seat without the weight of the Democratic label, or perhaps for governor of West Virginia, where he would be going up against Republican Jim Justice.
As one of the reddest states in the Union, it seems like a pretty obvious move if Manchin hopes to have a future in politics. Not sure what took so long.