Ryan was not a good candidate.He promised to be another Senima/Manchin and democrat voters are sick of them.If I lived in Ohio I would not have voted for Ryan. Progressives who go along with every progressive democrat bill like Warnock,Kelly,and Sherrod Brown etc have a better chance in purple and red states than Tim Ryan/Manchin/Senima type democrats because progressives will come out and vote for them but wont for obstructionists like Ryan,Manchin and Senima Sherrod Brown will keep his seat in 2024 because he is an unapologetic progressive who will not obstruct the democrat agenda.
Tim Ryan was stylistically and surprisingly a good candidate. He pushed back hard on Vance. He also painted himself as progressive in issues where it's beneficial in places like OH (unions/trade). He pushed back in topics where it's extremely unpopular (like defunding the police/cultural issues). Obstructing Democrats has worked pretty well for Manchin in deep red WV. Peltola is probably the best example of a Democrat who won in unfriendly territory in 2022. She's also a moderate. Now look at Katie Porter who only won by 3.4% or the progressive candidate, Kara Eastman, in NE-2 candidate in 2020. Biden had over a 10 point margin on her. She was also the candidate in 2018, but did a few points worse in 2020 as it was a presidential year.
Yes, he tried to present himself as a moderate and away from Pelosi/Schumer who don't sell well in OH. Keep in mind, Trump's stance on trade was way more aligned with progressives than the GOP before he became the nominee. I think free trade being removed from the GOP's platform has helped Republicans significantly in the Rust Belt.
And you think a progressive would do better than Manchin in WV where Trump was +42 in 2016 and +39 in 2020? Manchin outperformed the Democratic POTUS nominees by 45 and 42 points.
I think Manchin would have done better had he not obstructed Bidens agenda.Manchin wasn't a major problem for Obama and he was able to eke out a win.He has been a huge problem for Biden and will lose badly in 2024.
I don't see this making one wit of difference now, but it will be good for Democrats eventually to have shed themselves of her.. See wanted to vote as a "Republican" when she called herself a "Democrat." Now she'll vote the same and call herself an "Independent." She's not an Independent. She's entirely in the pockets of special interests! Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. Were she honest, she'd call herself a Special Interest Shill. On Balance, this is good for the Democrats.