Biden has talked about nominating a black female to SCOTUS. So here's the play: nominate Kamala Harris to the top bench. She's young (57), smart, with a strong legal background. But has been a somewhat invisible Veep, not terribly good at administrating. First, Biden gets Manchin to go ahead with a $2T BBB, in exchange for ... making Manchin VP, upping his profile significantly to become a legit contender for 2024. As long as Sinema is on board with this ...
Progressives get BBB passed and a woman of color on the SCt.
Conservatives get Manchin as Veep.
Biden gets to show that he can get things done and appeal to all factions.
Biden can ditch Manchin for 2024, or if he doesn't run, Manchin won't stand a chance in the primary, but would be a factor.
Hell, make Susan Collins Veep so the Maine Guv gets to appoint a Dem senator.
That might make Manchin happy enough to agree to BBB. Or make him irrelevant, by giving the Dems an extra 51st senator. And Biden would become Mr. Bipartisan and seen as getting things done.
Okay, none of that is remotely realistic. But I do think that Kamala would be a more natural fit at SCOTUS than Veep. Though with 6 conservatives, it's likely best to add a strong progressive, rather than the more moderate Harris.