Reports have surfaced today that Senate Republicans are trying to convince Senator-elect Joe Manchin (D-WV) to switch parties and join the GOP caucus. But will the wooing work? At least one adviser to Manchin sounds receptive to the idea.

“He was elected as a Democrat and he has to go to Washington as a Democrat to try, in good faith, to make the changes in the party he campaigned on,” said one Manchin advisor. “Now, if that doesn’t work and Democrats aren’t receptive, I don’t know what possibilities that leaves open.”

I don’t expect Manchin to take the leap anytime soon. He’ll probably wait until 2012 gets closer, and then see where the Democratic Party brand stands. If it’s still in the ditch, and Republicans are likely to sweep again, I can see him switching sides.

But for the time being I’d say he remains in the Democratic Party.