Having lost control of the Senate, conservatives are now forced to watch Sen. Joe Manchin closely. In a 50-50 Senate, the West Virginia Democrat will decide which parts of President Biden’s agenda can become law. And in the coming weeks, he’ll be put to his first test of just how serious he is about wanting to work with Republicans.

With Republicans out of power during the first two years of the Obama administration, conservatives rested their hopes on so-called centrists such as Ben Nelson in the Senate and self-described pro-lifers such as Bart Stupak in the House. But the Right was disappointed in the end. All it took was a corrupt bargain, which quickly became known as the “Cornhusker Kickback” and a toothless executive order on public funding for abortions for these “centrists” to fold like cheap suitcases and vote for Obamacare.