Manchin is today’s “Zell Miller”, playing to keep a “D” in a conservative state.
I respectfully disagree. Zell Miller was authoritatively a man of principle. Manchin is more like a chameleon IMO. He tailors his comments for the crowd he's in. If he really represented his home state's constituency he'd be railing against Schumer and Pelosi vociferously and at least attempting to lead a revolution in the Democrat party.
At the end of the day, Manchin says one thing, then votes the way Pelosi and Schumer tell him to.