The West Virginia Republican is staying in the game. In a new web video, he details his concerns about the Senate. “My initial take is, I’ve heard a lot of deal-making already and they haven’t even been put into office,” he says. “I’m optimistic, but on the other hand, I think that America is not going to take a lot of patience with this situation. I think that the Republican party has an obligation, right now, to perform; let’s see if they do.”

Sen.-elect Joe Manchin is up in 2012; Sen. Jay Rockefeller is up in 2014.

Update: As numerous readers have pointed out, Manchin is already on the hot seat:

The Republican Party is wasting very little time going after one of their top Senate targets for 2012: West Virginia Sen.-elect Joe Manchin (D).
Manchin is already up for re-election because he was elected last Tuesday in a special election for the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D) seat.
Just a week after he defeated Republican John Raese by 10 percent, Manchin is already being put on the defensive by rumors that he has been courted by the GOP to switch parties.
More, the National Republican Senatorial Committee also jumped on him on Tuesday, targeting him with its first attack statement of the 2012 cycle. In it, Republicans preemptively criticized Manchin for considering backing Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to retain his position as Senate Majority Leader. Reid supports cap and trade energy legislation, a proposal that Manchin has campaigned against and that is deeply unpopular in West Virginia, where coal mining is the top industry.