He voted how his electorate would have wanted him to vote. He probably also hoodwinked some rich people to pay him some bucks while he was at it.

He's about as "shades of gray" as a politician gets.

That was always my impression of him. It was easy to feel like he was breaking ranks, but realistically he seemed to vote exactly how his electorate wanted him to.

He voted in line with Democrats when it mattered, but was enough of a visible pain in the ass to satisfy his constituents.

Without Manchin the Inflation Reduction Act would not have passed. Arguably Biden‘s biggest accomplishment.